The phylogenetic placement of Picoa, with a first report on Picoa lefebvrei (Pat.) Maire (=Phaeangium lefebvrei) from Iran

Abstract

Desert truffles, hypogeous Pezizales (Ascomycota), are difficult to identify due to evolutionary convergence of morphological characters among taxa that share a similar habitat and mode of spore dispersal. In this paper we document the presence of Picoa lefebvrei (Pat.) Maire (=Phaeangium lefebvrei) in Iran and use phylogenetic analysis of the ITS and 28s rDNA to show that this species belongs to the Geopora- Tricharina clade of the Pyronemataceae (Pezizales, Ascomycota). Picoa lefebvrei was originally placed in the genus Phaeangium because of notable spore ornamentation not present in other species of Picoa. However, our analyses of both phylogenetic and morphological data suggest that P. lefebvrei is closely related to Picoa juniperi Vittad, the type species for the genus Picoa.