Rhizopogon togasawariana sp. nov., the first report of Rhizopogon associated with an Asian species of Pseudotsuga

Rhizopogon subgenus Villosuli are the only members of the genus known to form an ectomycorrhizal relationship exclusively with Pseudotsuga. The specificity of this host relationship is unusual in that Rhizopogon is broadly associated with several tree genera within the Pinaceae and relationships with a host genus are typically distributed across Rhizopogon subgenera. Naturally occurring specimens of R. subg. Villosuli have been described only from North American collections, and the unique host relationship with Pseudotsuga is demonstrated only for Rhizopogon associated with P. menziesii (Douglas-fir), the dominant species of Pseudotsuga in North America. Species of Pseudotsuga are naturally distributed around the northern Pacific Rim, and Rhizopogon associates of other Pseudotsuga spp. are not yet described. Here we present the results of field sampling conducted in P. japonica forests throughout the Japanese archipelago and describe Rhizopogon togasawariana sp. nov., which occurs in ectomycorrhizal association with P. japonica. Placement of this new species within R. subg. Villosuli is supported by morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis, and its implications to Pseudotsuga-Rhizopogon biogeography are discussed.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The article is copyrighted by the Mycological Society of America and published by Allen Press Inc. It can be found at: http://www.mycologia.org/.Keywords: Truffle, Japan, Rhizopogon subgenus Villosuli, Biogeography, Ectomycorrhizae, Hypogeou

First Detection of the Larval Chalkbrood Disease Pathogen Ascosphaera apis (Ascomycota: Eurotiomycetes: Ascosphaerales) in Adult Bumble Bees

Fungi in the genus Ascosphaera (Ascomycota: Eurotiomycetes: Ascosphaerales) cause chalkbrood disease in larvae of bees. Here, we report the first-ever detection of the fungus in adult bumble bees that were raised in captivity for studies on colony development. Wild queens of Bombus griseocollis, B. nevadensis and B. vosnesenskii were collected and maintained for establishment of nests. Queens that died during rearing or that did not lay eggs within one month of capture were dissected, and tissues were examined microscopically for the presence of pathogens. Filamentous fungi that were detected were plated on artificial media containing broad spectrum antibiotics for isolation and identification. Based on morphological characters, the fungus was identified as Ascosphaera apis (Maasen ex Claussen) Olive and Spiltoir, a species that has been reported earlier only from larvae of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, and the carpenter bee Xylocopa californica arizonensis. The identity of the fungus was confirmed using molecular markers and phylogenetic analysis. Ascosphaera apis was detected in queens of all three bumble bee species examined. Of 150 queens dissected, 12 (8%) contained vegetative and reproductive stages of the fungus. Both fungal stages were also detected in two workers collected from colonies with Ascosphaera-infected B. nevadensis queens. In this study, wild bees could have been infected prior to capture for rearing, or, the A. apis infection could have originated via contaminated European honey bee pollen fed to the bumble bees in captivity. Thus, the discovery of A. apis in adult bumble bees in the current study has important implications for commercial production of bumble bee colonies and highlights potential risks to native bees via pathogen spillover from infected bees and infected pollen

First detection of the larval chalkbrood disease pathogen Ascosphaera apis (Ascomycota: Eurotiomycetes: Ascosphaerales) in adult bumble bees.

Fungi in the genus Ascosphaera (Ascomycota: Eurotiomycetes: Ascosphaerales) cause chalkbrood disease in larvae of bees. Here, we report the first-ever detection of the fungus in adult bumble bees that were raised in captivity for studies on colony development. Wild queens of Bombus griseocollis, B. nevadensis and B. vosnesenskii were collected and maintained for establishment of nests. Queens that died during rearing or that did not lay eggs within one month of capture were dissected, and tissues were examined microscopically for the presence of pathogens. Filamentous fungi that were detected were plated on artificial media containing broad spectrum antibiotics for isolation and identification. Based on morphological characters, the fungus was identified as Ascosphaera apis (Maasen ex Claussen) Olive and Spiltoir, a species that has been reported earlier only from larvae of the European honey bee, Apis mellifera, the Asian honey bee, Apis cerana, and the carpenter bee Xylocopa californica arizonensis. The identity of the fungus was confirmed using molecular markers and phylogenetic analysis. Ascosphaera apis was detected in queens of all three bumble bee species examined. Of 150 queens dissected, 12 (8%) contained vegetative and reproductive stages of the fungus. Both fungal stages were also detected in two workers collected from colonies with Ascosphaera-infected B. nevadensis queens. In this study, wild bees could have been infected prior to capture for rearing, or, the A. apis infection could have originated via contaminated European honey bee pollen fed to the bumble bees in captivity. Thus, the discovery of A. apis in adult bumble bees in the current study has important implications for commercial production of bumble bee colonies and highlights potential risks to native bees via pathogen spillover from infected bees and infected pollen

Phylogeny of the internal transcribed spacer region for selected <i>Ascosphaera</i> species.

<p>The phylogeny was inferred under both the maximum likelihood methodology in RAxML and Bayesian methodology in MrBayes using the GTRGAMMA model of evolution. 1,000 RAxML bootstrap replicates were used and MrBayes was run for 1,000,000 generations with 1000 sample points. Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP) greater than 0.70 and Bootstrap support (BS) values greater than 50 are shown for major phylogram branches (PP/BS). Genbank accession numbers precede taxon name for those sequences that were derived from Genbank. Taxa denoted in bold face as “fungal culture” represent novel sequence data from this study that are derived from cultures of <i>Ascosphaera apis</i> isolated from bumble bee queens. Fungal culture A1 has been deposited at the USDA ARSEF insect pathogen collection (culture ID ST-OR11-A1) and the ITS sequence for this culture is deposited in Genbank (accession #KJ158165). Sequences for <i>Aspergillus terreus</i> and <i>Ascosphaera apis</i> USDA-ARSEF 7405 were derived from the genome sequences available at <a href="http://www.aspgd.org/" target="_blank">http://www.aspgd.org</a> and <a href="http://www.beebase.org/" target="_blank">http://www.beebase.org</a>.</p

Stages of <i>A</i>. <i>apis</i> colonization of abdominal tissue of <i>B</i>. <i>vosnesenskii</i>.

<p>(A) Healthy tissues. (B) Near complete colonization with cleistothecia (darkened areas) visible. (C) Complete colonization; internal organs no longer visible. (D) Internal spore balls visible in cleistothecia (400X).</p

Ectomycorrhizal fungi and soil enzymes exhibit contrasting patterns along elevation gradients in southern Patagonia

The biological and functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) associations remain largely unknown in South America. In Patagonia, the ECM tree Nothofagus pumilio forms monospecific forests along mountain slopes without confounding effects of vegetation on plant fungi interactions.To determine how fungal diversity and function are linked to elevation, we characterized fungal communities, edaphic variables, and eight extracellular enzyme activities along six elevation transects in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile). We also tested whether pairing ITS1 rDNA Illumina sequences generated taxonomic biases related to sequence length.Fungal community shifts across elevations were mediated primarily by soil pH with the most species‐rich fungal families occurring mostly within a narrow pH range. By contrast, enzyme activities were minimally influenced by elevation but correlated with soil factors, especially total soil carbon. The activity of leucine aminopeptidase was positively correlated with ECM fungal richness and abundance, and acid phosphatase was correlated with nonECM fungal abundance. Several fungal lineages were undetected when using exclusively paired or unpaired forward ITS1 sequences, and these taxonomic biases need reconsideration for future studies.Our results suggest that soil fungi in N. pumilio forests are functionally similar across elevations and that these diverse communities help to maintain nutrient mobilization across the elevation gradient.The biological and functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) associations remain largely unknown in South America. In Patagonia, the ECM tree Nothofagus pumilio forms monospecific forests along mountain slopes without confounding effects of vegetation on plant fungi interactions.To determine how fungal diversity and function are linked to elevation, we characterized fungal communities, edaphic variables, and eight extracellular enzyme activities along six elevation transects in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile). We also tested whether pairing ITS1 rDNA Illumina sequences generated taxonomic biases related to sequence length.Fungal community shifts across elevations were mediated primarily by soil pH with the most species‐rich fungal families occurring mostly within a narrow pH range. By contrast, enzyme activities were minimally influenced by elevation but correlated with soil factors, especially total soil carbon. The activity of leucine aminopeptidase was positively correlated with ECM fungal richness and abundance, and acid phosphatase was correlated with nonECM fungal abundance. Several fungal lineages were undetected when using exclusively paired or unpaired forward ITS1 sequences, and these taxonomic biases need reconsideration for future studies.Our results suggest that soil fungi in N. pumilio forests are functionally similar across elevations and that these diverse communities help to maintain nutrient mobilization across the elevation gradient.The biological and functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) associations remain largely unknown in South America. In Patagonia, the ECM tree Nothofagus pumilio forms monospecific forests along mountain slopes without confounding effects of vegetation on plant fungi interactions.To determine how fungal diversity and function are linked to elevation, we characterized fungal communities, edaphic variables, and eight extracellular enzyme activities along six elevation transects in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina and Chile). We also tested whether pairing ITS1 rDNA Illumina sequences generated taxonomic biases related to sequence length.Fungal community shifts across elevations were mediated primarily by soil pH with the most species‐rich fungal families occurring mostly within a narrow pH range. By contrast, enzyme activities were minimally influenced by elevation but correlated with soil factors, especially total soil carbon. The activity of leucine aminopeptidase was positively correlated with ECM fungal richness and abundance, and acid phosphatase was correlated with nonECM fungal abundance. Several fungal lineages were undetected when using exclusively paired or unpaired forward ITS1 sequences, and these taxonomic biases need reconsideration for future studies.Our results suggest that soil fungi in N. pumilio forests are functionally similar across elevations and that these diverse communities help to maintain nutrient mobilization across the elevation gradient.Fil: Truong, Camille. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Truong, Camille. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Truong, Camille. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Gabbarini, Luciano Andres. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gabbarini, Luciano Andres. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gabbarini, Luciano Andres. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Corrales, Adriana. Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario; ColombiaFil: Corrales, Adriana. Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario; ColombiaFil: Corrales, Adriana. Universidad Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario; ColombiaFil: Mujic, Alija B.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Mujic, Alija B.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Mujic, Alija B.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Escobar, Julio Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Escobar, Julio Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Escobar, Julio Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Moretto, Alicia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; ArgentinaFil: Moretto, Alicia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; ArgentinaFil: Moretto, Alicia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; ArgentinaFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados Unido

Systematic study of truffles in the genus Ruhlandiella, with the description of two new species from Patagonia

Ruhlandiella is a genus of exothecial, ectomycorrhizal fungi in the order Pezizales. Ascomata of exothecial fungi typically lack a peridium and are covered with a hymenial layer instead. Ruhlandiella species have nonoperculate asci and highly ornamented ascospores. The genus was first described by Hennings in 1903 to include the single species, R. berolinensis. Since then, mycologists have uncovered Ruhlandiella species in many locations around the globe, including Australia, Spain, Italy, and the USA. Currently, there are four recognized species: R. berolinensis, R. peregrina, R. reticulata, and R. truncata. All were found near Eucalyptus or Melaleuca trees of Australasian origin. Recently, we discovered two new species of Ruhlandiella in Nothofagaceae forests in South America. They regularly form mitotic spore mats directly on soil in the forests of Patagonia. Here, we formally describe these new species and construct the phylogeny of Ruhlandiella and related genera using a multilocus phylogenetic analysis. We also revise the taxonomy of Ruhlandiella and provide an identification key to accepted species of Ruhlandiella.Fil: Kraisitudomsook, Nattapol. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Healy, Rosanne A.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Mujic, Alija B.. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Pfister, Donald H.. Harvard University; Estados UnidosFil: Nouhra, Eduardo Ramon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados Unido

Cortinarius section Thaumasti in South American Nothofagaceae forests

We studied the South American species of Cortinarius section Thaumasti based on morphological and molecular data. Members of this group can easily be identified in the field because the basidiomata are small and Phlegmacium-like with a bulbous stipe and the universal veil in most species forms a distinct volva at the base of the stipe. The phylogenetic delimitation of the clade was mostly in concordance with the earlier, morphology-based grouping of the South American taxa except that C. chrysophaeus was resolved outside of the clade. Altogether nine species were recognized in the section. Four species, C. chlorophanus, C. coleopus, C. cosmoxanthus, and C. vaginatus, were previously described by other authors, whereas three species, C. chlorosplendidus, C. olivaceovaginatus, and C. subcosmoxanthus, are described here as new. We were able to identify two remaining taxa, but we do not have sufficient morphological data to allow for a formal description. All of the species in C. section Thaumasti form ectomycorrhizal associations with Nothofagaceae. They have been documented from South America and New Zealand. The Patagonian species are considered endemic to the region. A key to the described species is provided.Fil: Liimatainen, Kare. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Niskanen, Tuula. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: San-Fabian, Beatriz. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Mujic, Alija B.. California State University, Fresno; Estados UnidosFil: Peintner, Ursula. Universidad de Innsbruck; AustriaFil: Dresch, Philipp. Universidad de Innsbruck; AustriaFil: Furci, Giuliana. Fundación Fungi; ChileFil: Nouhra, Eduardo Ramon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Matheny, P. Brandon. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados Unido

New species of Cortinarius sect. Austroamericani, sect. nov., from South American Nothofagaceae forests

In this study, we document and describe the new Cortinarius section Austroamericani. Our results reveal high species diversity within this clade, with a total of 12 recognized species. Of these, only C. rufus was previously documented. Seven species are described as new based on basidiomata collections. The four remaining species are only known from environmental sequences. All examined species form ectomycorrhizal associations with species of Nothofagaceae and are currently only known from Argentinean and Chilean Patagonia. The phylogenetic analysis based on the nuc rDNA internal transcriber spacer (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 = ITS) and partial 28S gene (28S) sequences shows that this section is related to other taxa from the Southern Hemisphere. Species in this group do not belong to subg. Telamonia, where C. rufus was initially placed. Cortinarius rufus and the newly described C. subrufus form a basal clade within sect. Austroamericani that has a weakly supported relationship with the core clade. Because the two species are morphologically similar to species from the core clade and share their distribution and Nothofagaceae associations, we include them here as part of sect. Austroamericani sensu lato (s.l.) until more material is available to refine the delimitation.Fil: San-Fabian, Beatriz. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Niskanen, Tuula. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Liimatainen, Kare. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Kooij, Pepijn W.. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Mujic, Alija B.. University of Florida; Estados Unidos. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Truong, Camille. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; México. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Peintner, Ursula. University Of Innsbruck Institute Of Microbiology; AustriaFil: Dresch, Philipp. University Of Innsbruck Institute Of Microbiology; AustriaFil: Nouhra, Eduardo Ramon. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Matheny, P. Brandon. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Smith, Matthew E.. University of Florida; Estados Unido