Category Archives: Volume 54(2) 2014

Hygrophorus exiguus, a new species in subgenus Colorati section Olivageoumbrini, subsection Tephroleuci

Authors: Larsson, Ellen & Campo, Emanuele & Carbone, Matteo
Journal: Karstenia, Volume 54 (2014), Issue 2, pages 41-48.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.29203/ka.2014.462
Full text: PDF
Key words: Agaricales, Hygrophoraceae, Hygrophorus exiguus, Tricholoma inamoenum, phylogenetic systematics, taxonomy, ITS

Hygrophorus exiguus, a new species, is described and illustrated. In Fennoscandia this species is associated with rather moist old growth mixed Picea abies forests of the Vaccinium myrtillus type. In Southern Europe it is associated with mixed P. abies and Abies alba forests on higher elevations. It seems to be growing solitarily deep in mosses, often among Tricholoma inamoenum. The species is likely to be rare but may be overlooked, has a broad distribution in Europe and is found in Finland, Sweden, Italy and France. It is closely related to H. agathosmus, H. hyacinthinus and H. odoratus, but can be segregated from these by its small fruiting bodies, with a cap diameter rarely exceeding 20–25 mm and the pinkish tint of the lamellae. Like H. agathosmus, it has the odour of marzipan or bitter almonds but less pronounced.

 

Octospora mnii (Pezizales), a new ascomycete on the persistent protonema of Rhizomnium punctatum

Authors: Döbbeler, Peter & Facher, Eva
Journal: Karstenia, Volume 54 (2014), Issue 2, pages 49-56.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.29203/ka.2014.463
Full text: PDF
Key words: appressoria, biotrophic parasites, bryophilous fungi, muscicolous fungi, protonema as substrate, Mniaceae

Octospora mnii (Pezizales) is a biotrophic parasite of operculate discomycetes and is described here for the first time. This novel species infects the persistent protonema of Rhizomnium punctatum (Mniaceae, Bryopsida). It has exceptionally small, inconspicuous, scattered apothecia that form between the protonemal filaments. The hyphae develop large, septate, thick-walled appressoria that are closely attached to the filaments of the caulonema and chloronema. An infection peg perforates the host cell wall and develops an intracellular haustorium. The host belongs to a family hitherto not recorded as a substrate for octo- sporaceous fungi. Apothecia have been repeatedly observed during the autumn over the last few years in the same gorge near Starnberg, in Upper Bavaria. Octospora mnii is one of the few fruit-body forming ascomycetes that appear to be restricted to the protonemata of bryophytes.

 

 

Phylogenetic relationships in Cortinarius with focus on North European species

Authors: Stensrud, Øyvind & Reier-Røberg, Kjetil & Schumacher, Trond & Orr, Russell & Høiland, Klaus
Journal: Karstenia, Volume 54 (2014), Issue 2, pages 57-71.
Doi: https://doi.org/10.29203/ka.2014.464
Full text: PDF
Key words: Cortinarius, phylogeny, morphology, secondary compounds, ecology

Cortinarius is an ectomycorrhizal Agaricales genus with high diversity of which rDNA sequences of 86 species together with four outgroup taxa were investigated phylogenetically by aid of Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses. The Cortinarius data set represents 81 taxa from the Northern Hemisphere showing the main variation spectrum among the species. In addition, five species from the Southern Hemisphere are included. The phylogenetic tree of Cortinarius gives statistical support to twelve monophyletic groups in the upper level. They are discussed in context of morphology, chemistry (secondary compounds), and ecology. The phylogenetic tree lacks, however, satisfactory support for its backbone. Several species could not be included in any group, especially those forming the basal framework of the tree. Of special interest is a “superclade” comprising eight of our monophyletic clades and two singletons. Here we find the majority of species with soluble pigments of octaketide origin, all species with compounds of nonaketide origin, the majority of species with hygrophaneous pileus, few species with viscid pileus, and no species with bulbous stipe base. Moreover, all species except one have duplex pileus cuticle. The morphological traits are not indicative for any clade, although some are more frequent in some clades than others. During the evolution they have been gained and lost several times. The chemical characteristics are – to a certain degree – more indicative for the clades. The evolution and ecological role of these compounds are discussed. Concerning the North European species, there are ecological differences between the clades, especially between clades specializing to rich or calcareous forests and clades specializing to poor forests or arctic-alpine environments.