Search

Abstract:Sections Lanatuliand Atramentariiof the genus Coprinopsiscontain some of the best known and most important agaric species, including C. cinereaand C. lagopus,yet a critical, phylogeny-based assessment of the species limits has not been carried out. Taxa have been characterized chiefly on the basis of morphological characters, which however show little discriminatory power and/or considerable overlap between several species pairs. We used ITS and LSU sequence data of 29 described taxa in Coprinopsissections Lanatuliand Atramentariito infer species limits and the correspondence between morphological characters and species lineages, as well as to examine the phylogenetic affinities of sections Lanatuliand Atramentarii.Our analyses recovered three large clades, implying a paraphyly for section Lanatuli.Based on morphology and clade structure, we estimate ca. 38 species in the two sections, including several potentially new taxa, three of which are described herein. Coprinopsis pachyderma, C. lagopus var. vacillans, C. acuminata, C. spelaiophila, Coprinus citrinovelatusand Cop. brunneistrangulatuswere found to be synonymous with other, earlier described species. Congruent with previous mating studies, our analyses recovered multiple, morphologically indistinguishable lineages within C. lagopus,which included C. lagopusvar. vacillans,an ephemeral, developmental variant. Morphological traits supporting the inferred clade structure are discussed. Three new taxa (C. fusispora, C. babosiae, C. villosa), and one new combination (C. mitraespora) are proposed.

We inferred the phylogenetic structure and species limits within Coprinellusby using a newly generated multigene alignment of LSU, ITS and β-tubulin sequences. We sampled 154 specimens of 71 species out of ca. 80 known taxa in Coprinellusand inferred phylogenetic relationships by Bayesian MCMC and ML bootstrapping. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses revealed 17 new species, five of which are described herein. Coprinelluswas split into three large clades, one comprising species with an initially continuous sheath of veil (Domestici/Micacei clade) and two consisting of primarily setulose (haired) species (eurysporoid and Core Setulosi clades). The separation of veiled species and the clade structure therein corresponds well to the morphology-based sectional classification, although the inclusion of certain setulose taxa (e.g. C. disseminatus, C. verrucispermus, C. curtusetc.) in these clades necessitates a new morphological definition for the sections. Morphological traits are discussed for all clades of Coprinellus. Species limits in the eurysporoid and Core Setulosi clades are scrutinized in detail. Future directions of species-rank research and an artificial key to the recovered setulose species of Coprinellusis presented.