Megaphylogeny resolves global patterns of mushroom evolution.

Mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) have the greatest morphological diversity and complexity of any group of fungi. They have radiated into most niches and fulfil diverse roles in the ecosystem, including wood decomposers, pathogens or mycorrhizal mutualists. Despite the importance of mushroom-forming fungi, large-scale patterns of their evolutionary history are poorly known, in part due to the lack of a comprehensive and dated molecular phylogeny. Here, using multigene and genome-based data, we assemble a 5,284-species phylogenetic tree and infer ages and broad patterns of speciation/extinction and morphological innovation in mushroom-forming fungi. Agaricomycetes started a rapid class-wide radiation in the Jurassic, coinciding with the spread of (sub)tropical coniferous forests and a warming climate. A possible mass extinction, several clade-specific adaptive radiations and morphological diversification of fruiting bodies followed during the Cretaceous and the Paleogene, convergently giving rise to the classic toadstool morphology, with a cap, stalk and gills (pileate-stipitate morphology). This morphology is associated with increased rates of lineage diversification, suggesting it represents a key innovation in the evolution of mushroom-forming fungi. The increase in mushroom diversity started during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic radiation event, an era of humid climate when terrestrial communities dominated by gymnosperms and reptiles were also expanding.

A global view of Gyroporus: molecular phylogenetics, diversity patterns, and new species.

Gyroporus (Gyroporaceae, Boletales) is a highly diverse genus of poroid ectomycorrhizal mushrooms with a nearly worldwide distribution. Previous attempts to unravel the diversity within this genus proved difficult due to the presence of semicryptic species and ambiguous results from analysis of ribosomal RNA markers. In this study, we employ a combined morphotaxonomic and phylogenetic approach to delimit species and elucidate geographic and evolutionary patterns in Gyroporus. For phylogenetic analyses, the protein-coding genes atp6 (mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate [ATP] synthase subunit 6) and rpb2 (nuclear second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II) were selected based on their utility in studies of Boletales. We infer several distinct clades, most notably one corresponding to G. castaneus as a speciose Northern Hemisphere group, another unifying G. cyanescens and like entities, and a third group unifying G. longicystidiatus and a New World sister species. Also notable is the recovery of a sister relationship between the cyanescens and longicystidiatus clades. We formally describe five new species of Gyroporus, outline a number of provisional species, and briefly discuss distributional patterns. This study provides an important scaffold for future work on this well-known but poorly understood genus of fungi.

Long-distance dispersal and speciation of Australasian and American species of Cortinarius sect. Cortinarius.

We present a multigene phylogeny (partial nuc rDNA and RPB2) of Cortinarius sect. Cortinarius (i.e. the C. violaceus group), which reveals eight species distributed in Europe, Australasia, South America, Central America and North America. Relaxed molecular clock analyses suggested that diversification began during the Miocene, thus rejecting more ancient Gondwanan origin scenarios among the taxa currently occurring in the northern and southern hemispheres. There was strong support for an Australasian origin of the C. violaceus group with initial dispersal to the Neotropics, followed by migration into North America and Europe. A dispersal-extinction cladogenesis model that includes a parameter for founder effects was the most highly supported biogeographic model in the program BioGeoBEARS. A maximum likelihood analysis showed the most recent common ancestor of sect. Cortinarius was an angiosperm ectomycorrhizal associate. Ancestral associations at the plant family level, however, were ambiguous. Of eight recovered species-level lineages, C. violaceus is the only one that associates with Pinaceae and the only species to associate with both Pinaceae and angiosperms. This analysis showed that long-distance dispersal and founder event speciation have been important factors during evolution of the C. violaceus group.

Morchella australiana sp. nov., an apparent Australian endemic from New South Wales and Victoria.

An abundant fruiting of a black morel was encountered in temperate northwestern New South Wales (NSW), Australia, during a mycological survey in Sep 2010. The site was west of the Great Dividing Range in a young, dry sclerophyll forest dominated by Eucalyptus and Callitris north of Coonabarabran in an area known as the Pilliga Scrub. Although the Pilliga Scrub is characterized by frequent and often large, intense wildfires, the site showed no sign of recent fire, which suggests this species is not a postfire morel. Caps of the Morchella elata-like morel were brown with blackish ridges supported by a pubescent stipe that became brown at maturity. Because no morel has been described as native to Australia, the collections were subjected to multilocus molecular phylogenetic and morphological analyses to assess its identity. Results of these analyses indicated that our collection, together with collections from NSW and Victoria, represented a novel, genealogically exclusive lineage, which is described and illustrated here as Morchella australiana T. F. Elliott, Bougher, O'Donnell & Trappe, sp. nov.

Taxonomy of displaced species of Tubaria.

A taxonomic treatment of vinaceous and reddish species of Tubaria (Agaricales) is presented based on morphology and nucleotide sequences. Accessions from western North America, Europe, Central America, the Caribbean and Australia are compared. Phylogenetic analysis of the 25S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions demonstrates that Tubaria is not monophyletic. However the autonomy of six brown-spored, saprotrophic species-Naucoria vinicolor, Pholiota serrulata, Phaeomarasmius confragosus, Pholiota punicea, Tubaria rufofulva and T. bispora sp. nov.-is affirmed. All six species form a strongly supported monophyletic group that we label section Confragosae in the genus Tubaria. This section is related to T. dispersa, T. albostipitata and numerous representatives of the T. furfuracea complex. Tubaria minima is related to other lineages of dark-spored Agaricales. Taxonomic descriptions, illustrations and a key to confirmed species of section Confragosae are provided. Four new combinations are proposed, and one new species, T. bispora, is described as new from Costa Rica and Martinique. A lectotype is designated for Pholiota serrulata.

Major clades of Agaricales: a multilocus phylogenetic overview.

An overview of the phylogeny of the Agaricales is presented based on a multilocus analysis of a six-gene region supermatrix. Bayesian analyses of 5611 nucleotide characters of rpb1, rpb1-intron 2, rpb2 and 18S, 25S, and 5.8S ribosomal RNA genes recovered six major clades, which are recognized informally and labeled the Agaricoid, Tricholomatoid, Marasmioid, Pluteoid, Hygrophoroid and Plicaturopsidoid clades. Each clade is discussed in terms of key morphological and ecological traits. At least 11 origins of the ectomycorrhizal habit appear to have evolved in the Agaricales, with possibly as many as nine origins in the Agaricoid plus Tricholomatoid clade alone. A family-based phylogenetic classification is sketched for the Agaricales, in which 30 families, four unplaced tribes and two informally named clades are recognized.

The genus Thecotheus (Pezizales) in Australia: T. urinamans sp. nov. from urea-treated jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest.

The genus Thecotheus is reported in Australia for the first time. A new species, Thecotheus urinamans is described and illustrated and included in a key to all known species of the genus. Critical macro- and micromorphological comparisons are presented to distinguish the new species from several closely related species, particularly the widespread fungus Thecotheus crustaceus. Thecotheus urinamans was growing on rotting, moist, plant litter from an experimental plot treated with urea (ammonia) in the indigenous jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia.