Abstract
Kombocles bakaiana gen. sp. nov. is described as new to science. This sequestrate, partially hypogeous fungus was collected around and within the stilt root system of an ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree of the genus Uapaca (Phyllanthaceae) in a Guineo-Congolian mixed tropical rainforest in Cameroon. Molecular data place this fungus in Boletaceae (Boletales, Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) with no clear relationship to previously described taxa within the family. Macro- and micromorphological characters, habitat, and DNA sequence data are provided. Unique morphological features and a molecular phylogenetic analysis of 304 sequences across the Boletales justify the recognition of the new taxa. Kombocles bakaiana is the fourth sequestrate Boletaceae described from the greater African tropics, and the first to be described from Cameroon.
Highlights
Numerous genera of sequestrate fungi within Boletaceae (Boletales) have been recognized from various regions of the world, including the widely distributed north temperate Chamonixia, Gastroboletus, and Octaviania, Australasian Rossbeevera, South-East Asian Durianella, Spongiforma, and Rhodactina, Australian Solioccasus and Royoungia, and tropical South American Castellanea, Costatisporus, and Jimtrappea (Binder & Bresinski 2002, Desjardin et al 2008, 2009, Halling et al 2012, Lebel et al 2012, Orihara et al 2012a, b, Moreau et al 2013, Trappe et al 2013, Smith et al 2015)
For the African tropics, despite a high diversity of non-sequestrate, epigeous Boletaceae known from some areas (e.g. Heinemann & Goossens-Fontana 1954), known sequestrate Boletaceae are currently limited to a single species each of Mackintoshia, Mycoamaranthus, and Octaviania (Dissing & Lange 1962, Castellano et al 2000, Mueller et al 2007, Pacioni & Sharp 2000, Tedersoo & Smith 2013)
Basidiomata were collected during the August–September early rainy season of 2014 from Cameroon’s Dja Biosphere Reserve, Northwest Sector near the village of Somalomo, Upper Dja River Basin, ~1.4 km west of a base camp located at 3o21’29.8” N 12o43’46.9” W, 650 m a.s.l., in mixed forest containing Uapaca species (Peh et al 2014)
Summary
Numerous genera of sequestrate fungi within Boletaceae (Boletales) have been recognized from various regions of the world, including the widely distributed north temperate Chamonixia, Gastroboletus, and Octaviania, Australasian Rossbeevera, South-East Asian Durianella, Spongiforma, and Rhodactina, Australian Solioccasus and Royoungia, and tropical South American Castellanea, Costatisporus, and Jimtrappea (Binder & Bresinski 2002, Desjardin et al 2008, 2009, Halling et al 2012, Lebel et al 2012, Orihara et al 2012a, b, Moreau et al 2013, Trappe et al 2013, Smith et al 2015). The sequestrate Lactarius megalopterus (Russulaceae) was described from lowland rainforests of Cameroon Our recent collecting in the Dja Biosphere Reserve of southern Cameroon discovered a number of sequestrate fungi, LQFOXGLQJ WKH ¿UVW FRQWLQHQWDO $IULFDQ UHFRUGV IRU Elaphomyces ascomata from native plant communities (Castellano et al 2016). Included in the Dja Biosphere Reserve collections is a morphologically distinctive fungus that produces basidiomata gregariously in soil in lowland, mixed tropical rainforests in close proximity to ectomycorrhizal (ECM) trees of the genus Uapaca (Phyllanthaceae). Molecular and morphological data indicate that this Cameroonian sequestrate fungus is a member of Boletaceae but is evolutionarily distinct from all other described epigeous and sequestrate genera and species within the family
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