Description and identification of Alnus acuminata ectomycorrhizae from Argentinean alder stands

• Published in: Mycologia Vol. 102; no. 6; pp. 1263 - 1273
• Main Authors: Pritsch, Karin, Becerra, Alejandra, Põlme, Sergei, Tedersoo, Leho, Schloter, Michael, Agerer, Reinhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.11.2010; Mycological Society of America
• Subjects: Alnus - microbiology; Alnus acuminata; Anatomy; Andean alder; Animal organs; Biological taxonomies; Cell walls; DNA, Fungal - genetics; DNA, Ribosomal - genetics; ECOLOGY; Ectomycorrhizae; ectomycorrhizas; Epidermal cells; fruiting bodies; Fungal anatomy; Fungi; Fungi - classification; Fungi - genetics; Fungi - isolation & purification; genetic databases; Hyphae; internal transcribed spacers; ITS sequence analysis; Lactarius; Molecular Sequence Data; morphological anatomical characterization; morphotyping; Mycological Typing Techniques; Mycorrhizae - classification; Mycorrhizae - genetics; Mycorrhizae - isolation & purification; mycorrhizal fungi; Mycorrhizas; Phylogeny; Russula; sequence analysis; surveys; Tomentella
• ISSN: 0027-5514; 1557-2536; 1557-2536
• DOI: 10.3852/09-311

The objective of this study was to describe the morphological and anatomical features of five unidentified ectomycorrhizal types of Alnus acuminata and to complement their identification based on ITS-rDNA sequence analysis. The combined approach of morphotyping and sequence analysis based on ITS sequence comparison with sequences contained in GenBank and the UNITE database let us assign three of the five field-collected ectomycorrhiza morphotypes to the tomentella-thelephora lineage that closely matched European and North American species. The sequencing results within Tomentella point toward alder specific clades within T. sublilacina, T. ellisii and T. stuposa sensu lato. The two other EcM morphotypes matched Lactarius omphaliiformis and a Russula sp. Better focused, concomitant fruit body surveys are needed for accurate identification of South American ectomycorrhizal fungi because of the evidence of cryptic speciation in both agaricoid and resupinate mycobionts.