Report on a New Truffle Species, Tuber koreanum sp. nov., from Korea

ABSTRACT

The truffle and ectomycorrhizal roots formed by Tuber sp. were collected from the rhizosphere of Quercus aliena in Korea. The morphological characteristics of the ascoma, and molecular phylogenetic analysis using sequences from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit (LSU) of ribosomal DNA, translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), and RNA polymerase second largest subunit (RPB2) regions confirmed the distinct morphology of the truffle. This truffle belongs to a monophyletic clade among the other Tuber species in the phylogeny. This study describes the truffle, Tuber koreanum, as a new species reported from Korea.