Rhizoglomus venetianum, a new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species from a heavy metal-contaminated site, downtown Venice in Italy

Abstract

Rhizoglomus venetianum, a new arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species, has been isolated and propagated from a heavy metal-contaminated site in Sacca San Biagio island, downtown Venice, Italy. Interestingly, under the high levels of heavy metals occurring in the site, the new fungus was able to grow only intraradically. In greenhouse trap and single species cultures under low heavy metal levels, the fungus produced innumerous spores, clusters, and sporocarps extraradically, which were formed terminally on subtending hyphae either singly, in small spore clusters, or, preferably, in loose to compact non-organized sporocarps up to 2500 × 2000 × 2000 μm. Spores are golden-yellow to bright yellow brown, globose to subglobose to rarely oblong, 75–145 × 72–140 μm in diameter, and have four spore wall layers. Morphologically, the new fungus is similar to R. intraradices, and phylogenetically, it forms a monophyletic clade next to R. irregulare, which generally forms irregular spores and lacks, like R. intraradices, the flexible innermost wall layer beneath the structural/persistent third wall layer. A key for the species identification is presented comprising all 18 Rhizoglomus species, so far described or newly combined.