Molecular Identification and Characterization of the Edible and Medicinal Morchellaceae Germplasm Collection of "Mulch Morels"

Abstract

The accessions of the morel (Morchellaceae, Ascomycota) germplasm collection were genetically analyzed, in order to determine both their inter- and intraspecific relationships. This was done as a starting point for cultivation experiments, as well as to provide a genetic description of invasive morel populations linked to mulched garden patches, as compared with outdoor morels. The phylogenetic data, which was based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences and supported by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses, divided the germplasm isolates and accessions from the sequence database into three groups of yellow morels, and three groups of black morels, involving a remarkable monotypic genus of half-free morels (Mitrophora semilibera), the groups Morchella conica and M. angusticeps. Both Morchella groups include morel samples that use mulch bark as a vector for their spread across gardens in various locations in the Czech Republic. The AFLP analysis supported the ITS-based phylogenetic data and determined the intraspecific genetic profile of these, as a rule, almost entirely unstudied isolates.