New Species of Tomentella (Thelephorales, Basidiomycota) from Temperate Continental Mountain Climate of China (Xinjiang Region)

Hai-Sheng Yuan,Xu Lu

doi:10.3390/f12111531

Abstract

Species in the genus Tomentella are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical regions worldwide, but few studies associated with the taxonomy and phylogeny of this genus had been reported from Northwest China. In this paper, molecular phylogenetic analyses of the nuclear ribosomal ITS (internal transcribed spacer: ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and LSU (large subunit: 28S) sequences combined with morphological characteristics identified three new species from Xinjiang Autonomous Region in Northwest China, which were named T. aurantispora, T. kanasensis, and T. schrenkiana. Similar macromorphological and anatomical characteristics are shared by these new species: arachnoid basidiocarps; byssoid sterile margins; utriform basidia with a clamp connection at the base; the absence of rhizomorphs and cystidia; and slightly thick-walled, subglobose to globose basidiospores. Among these new species, the color of the hymenophoral surface, the size of the basidiospores, and some other features can be used for species delimitation. The new species and closely related species in the phylogenetic tree were discussed, and a key to the identified species of Tomentella from China was provided.

Highlights

Studies on the genus Tomentella Pers. have undergone a long and convoluted history in several regions worldwide
The initial studies on taxonomy of this genus were mainly from North America and Eurasia [3,4], and some species were reported from West India, Australia, and New Zealand [5,6,7]
The specimens were collected from the Kanas National Nature Reserve (KNNR), Tianshan Tianchi National Park (TTNP), and Tianshan Grand Canyon National Forest Park (TGCNFP) in Xinjiang Autonomous Region of Northwest China and were deposited at the herbarium of the Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IFP)

Summary

Introduction

Studies on the genus Tomentella Pers. have undergone a long and convoluted history in several regions worldwide. Odontia is morphologically similar to Tomentella by the resupinate basidiocarps with gray to brown colors and the generative hyphae with simple septa or clamps [3,12]. The similar morphological features and habitats make it difficult to distinguish these two genera, and species of Odontia were originally recognized as Tomentella. Thelephora was categorized as an ectomycorrhizal genus slightly earlier than Tomentella [16,17], and species in this group often form paraphyletic clades in the phylogenetic trees [9,18]. The tomentella-thelephora lineage has been found to be one of the most species-rich ectomycorrhizal (ECM) lineages in forest ecosystems [18,20,21]

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