Abstract
Knowledge on the diversity of hypogeous sequestrate ascomycetes is still limited in the Balkan Peninsula. A new species of truffle, Tuberpulchrosporum, is described from Greece and Bulgaria. Specimens were collected from habitats dominated by various oak species (i.e. Quercusilex, Q.coccifera, Q.robur) and other angiosperms. They are morphologically characterised by subglobose, ovoid to irregularly lobed, yellowish-brown to dark brown ascomata, usually with a shallow basal cavity and surface with fissures and small, dense, almost flat, trihedral to polyhedral warts. Ascospores are ellipsoid to subfusiform, uniquely ornamented, crested to incompletely reticulate and are produced in (1–)2–8-spored asci. Hair-like, hyaline to light yellow hyphae protrude from the peridium surface. According to the outcome of ITS rDNA sequence analysis, this species forms a distinct well-supported group in the Aestivum clade, with T.panniferum being the closest phylogenetic taxon.
Highlights
The genus is known for the symbiotic ectomycorrhizal associations that its members form with several gymnosperm and angiosperm forest-tree species as well as with orchids (Riousset et al 2001; Selosse et al 2004; Mello et al 2006; Trappe et al 2009)
A total of 62 Tuber internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences were used for phylogenetic analysis by including eight sequences of T. pulchrosporum sp. nov. and 54 sequences from GenBank which correspond to 31 Tuber taxa mainly of European distribution (Table 1)
The molecular analysis evidenced that the eight sequences representing T. pulchrosporum are grouped within the Aestivum clade by forming a distinct terminal group supported with high bootstrap support (BS) and posterior probability (PP) values
Summary
2010a, Ceruti et al 2003, Jeandroz et al 2008), the south-eastern part of the continent and especially the Balkan Peninsula was until recently poorly investigated Indicative of this fact is that, by the end of the last century, only three Tuber species had been recorded in Greece (Zervakis et al 1999). 12 truffle species were reported to occur in Serbia, including one recently described (Marjanović et al 2010; Milenković et al 2015), while six Tuber spp. were recorded in Montenegro, five in FYROM and four in Albania (Pacioni 1984; Marjanović et al 2010). Tuber pulchrosporum sp. nov., a black truffle of the Aestivum clade
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