Arbutoid mycorrhizas of the genus Cortinarius from Costa Rica.

K Kühdorf,R F Hüttl,B Münzenberger,D Begerow,J Gómez-Laurito

doi:10.1007/s00572-016-0688-1

Abstract

Arbutoid mycorrhizas of Comarostaphylis arbutoides (Arbutoidea, Ericaceae) from neotropical montane forests are rarely described. To date, only mycorrhizal associations with the fungal species Leccinum monticola, Leotia lubrica and Sebacina sp. are known from literature. The genus Cortinarius is one of the most species-rich ectomycorrhizal taxa with over 2000 assumed species. In this study, two sites in the Cordillera de Talamanca of Costa Rica were sampled, where Com. arbutoides is endemic and grows together with Quercus costaricensis. Using a combined method of rDNA sequence analysis and morphotyping, 33 sampled mycorrhizal systems of Cortinarius were assigned to the subgenera Dermocybe, Phlegmacium and Telamonia. Specific plant primers were used to identify the host plant. Here, we present the phylogenetic data of all found Cortinarii and describe four of the arbutoid mycorrhizal systems morphologically and anatomically.

Highlights

Comarostaphylis arbutoides is a tropical woody plant of Central America, occurring in dry oak-pine and cloud forests, as well as in the páramo at an elevation of c. 2500– 3430 m a.s.l
The genus Cortinarius is assumed to be the species-richest genus of Agaricales, containing over 2000 species (Garnica et al 2005) with a worldwide distribution (Peintner et al 2004)
At the University of Costa Rica, turgid and apparently healthy morphotypes were sorted out using a stereomicroscope

Summary

Introduction

Comarostaphylis arbutoides is a tropical woody plant of Central America, occurring in dry oak-pine and cloud forests, as well as in the páramo at an elevation of c. 2500– 3430 m a.s.l. 2500– 3430 m a.s.l. Together with Arbutus and Arctostaphylos, it belongs to the ericaceous subfamily Arbutoidea, which are known to form arbutoid mycorrhizas with ectomycorrhizal fungi (Molina and Trappe 1982). Bidartondo and Bruns (2001) infer that Com. arbutoides forms arbutoid mycorrhizas with diverse species of Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes, only mycorrhizal associations with Leccinum monticola, Sebacina sp. Typical as well as presumable ectomycorrhizal forming species of the genera Cortinarius, Hysterangium, Laccaria, Tricholoma and Phaeocollybia, have been mentioned from the páramo by Halling and Mueller (1999). Further mycorrhizal associations with other fungal species for Com. arbutoides can be assumed. The genus Cortinarius is assumed to be the species-richest genus of Agaricales, containing over 2000 species (Garnica et al 2005) with a worldwide distribution (Peintner et al 2004). As proposed by Peintner et al (2004), studies should, first of all, focus on natural units (e.g. sections), bringing DNA sequence data as well as morphological and ecological data in accordance, as already done by several authors (e.g. Garnica et al 2009, 2011; Suárez-Santiago et al 2009; Niskanen et al 2013a, b; Dima et al 2014; Stensrud et al 2014; Liimatainen et al 2015)

Methods

Results

Conclusion