Fulvifomes wrightii (Hymenochaetales), a new species related to F. robiniae from Argentina and Paraguay.

Morphological revision and phylogenetic analysis based on nITS and nLSU of specimens previously considered to be a species related to Fulvifomes robiniae from South America revealed a new species of Fulvifomes, i.e. Fulvifomes wrightii. It grows on Libidibia paraguariensis, a Fabaceae distributed in the Chaco Region. The new species is characterised by a perennial, ungulate basidioma with a rimose pileal surface, 6-7 pores per mm, a homogenous context, indistinct stratified tubes and abundant crystals in tube trama and hymenia. Illustrations, taxonomic analyses and a key to the Fulvifomes species recorded from the Americas is provided. Citation: Martínez M, Salvador-Montoya CA, de Errasti A, Popoff OF, Rajchenberg M (2023). Fulvifomes wrightii (Hymenochaetales), a new species related to F. robiniae from Argentina and Paraguay. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 12: 47-57. doi: 10.3114/fuse.2023.12.03.

A re-evaluation of Neotropical Junghuhnia s.lat. (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) based on morphological and multigene analyses.

Junghuhnia is a genus of polypores traditionally characterised by a dimitic hyphal system with clamped generative hyphae and presence of encrusted skeletocystidia. However, recent molecular studies revealed that Junghuhnia is polyphyletic and most of the species cluster with Steccherinum, a morphologically similar genus separated only by a hydnoid hymenophore. In the Neotropics, very little is known about the evolutionary relationships of Junghuhnia s.lat. taxa and very few species have been included in molecular studies. In order to test the proper phylogenetic placement of Neotropical species of this group, morphological and molecular analyses were carried out. Specimens were collected in Brazil and used for DNA sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer and the large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene, the translation elongation factor 1-α gene, and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II gene. Herbarium collections, including type specimens, were studied for morphological comparison and to confirm the identity of collections. The molecular data obtained revealed that the studied species are placed in three different genera. Specimens of Junghuhnia carneola represent two distinct species that group in a lineage within the phlebioid clade, separated from Junghuhnia and Steccherinum, which belong to the residual polyporoid clade. Therefore, the new genus Geesterania is proposed including two species, G. carneola comb. nov. and G. davidii sp. nov. Neotropical specimens identified as Junghuhnia nitida represent a different lineage from the European species and are described as Steccherinum neonitidum sp. nov. In addition, the new combinations Steccherinum meridionale, Steccherinum polycystidiferum and Steccherinum undigerum, as well as the new name Flaviporus tenuis, are proposed.

Huntiella decorticans sp. nov. (Ceratocystidaceae) associated with dying Nothofagus in Patagonia.

During a survey of ophiostomatoid fungi in native forests of southern Argentina, several isolates of Huntiella species were obtained from Nothofagus trees. Sequences of multiple gene regions were used to identify these fungi, and their pathogenicity was tested on N. pumilio and N. dombeyi. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a novel taxon described here as H. decorticans sp. nov. Inoculations on N. dombeyi and N. pumilio in the forest showed that H. decorticans is able to produce localized lesions on healthy Nothofagus trees.

The phylogenetic position of Postia s.l. (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) from Patagonia, Argentina.

We investigated the phylogenetic relationships of Postia species from Patagonia with rDNA ITS and LSU sequences, together with morphological, cultural and biological features. All species in the genus were included in a "Postia clade" irrespective of whether their spores were thin- or thick-walled. This clade is characterized by tetrapolar mating, a normal nuclear behavior, metachromatic generative hyphae and absence of fiber hyphae in culture. One subclade merged the austral taxa P. pelliculosa and P. punctata, but otherwise no distinct relationships were found regarding spore shape, spore wall thickness and geographical distribution of taxa. The austral P. venata and the endemic P. carbophila, with thin-walled basidiospores, occupied variable positions in both analyses. Postia caesia from Patagonia grouped within the P. caesia species complex but on a separate branch. In contrast, P. rennyi and P. balsamea from Patagonia corresponded well with strains from other geographic areas. The two austral species in Ryvardenia, R. cretacea and R. campyla, characterized by non-metachromatic hyphae, bipolar mating and an astatocoenocytic nuclear behavior, formed an independent subclade among the dimitic genera of the "Antrodia clade", far from other Postia taxa within which they had been placed previously, supporting their inclusion in a genus of their own. Postia carbophila grouped with other Postia species and not with Postia (Rhodonia) placenta as suggested previously on the basis of morphological comparisons. Instead, the latter species grouped with taxa in the dimitic genus Amyloporia with which it shares heterocytic nuclear behavior. A separation between specimens of Postia pelliculosa and Ryvardenia cretacea from either side of the Pacific (i.e. SE Australia/New Zealand and S Argentina/S Chile) suggests they could be considered different at the species level from a phylogenetic point of view.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir: a comparison of species richness in native western North American forests and Patagonian plantations from Argentina.

The putative ectomycorrhizal fungal species registered from sporocarps associated with ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests in their natural range distribution (i.e., western Canada, USA, and Mexico) and from plantations in south Argentina and other parts of the world are listed. One hundred and fifty seven taxa are reported for native ponderosa pine forests and 514 taxa for native Douglas-fir forests based on available literature and databases. A small group of genera comprises a high proportion of the species richness for native Douglas-fir (i.e., Cortinarius, Inocybe, and Russula), whereas in native ponderosa pine, the species richness is more evenly distributed among several genera. The comparison between ectomycorrhizal species richness associated with both trees in native forests and in Patagonia (Argentina) shows far fewer species in the latter, with 18 taxa for the ponderosa pine and 15 for the Douglas-fir. Epigeous species richness is clearly dominant in native Douglas-fir, whereas a more balanced relation epigeous/hypogeous richness is observed for native ponderosa pine; a similar trend was observed for Patagonian plantations. Most fungi in Patagonian Douglas-fir plantations have not been recorded in plantations elsewhere, except Suillus lakei and Thelephora terrestris, and only 56% of the fungal taxa recorded in Douglas-fir plantations around the world are known from native forests, the other taxa being new associations for this host, suggesting that new tree + ectomycorrhizal fungal taxa associations are favored in artificial situations as plantations.