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Mushrooms named Gymnopilus spectabilis and G. junonius have been reported widely in North America on both dead hardwood or dead or living conifers. Based on DNA sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and large ribosomal subunit (LSU), we found that although Gymnopilus junonius (= G. spectabilis s. auct.) is widespread in Europe, South America, and Australia, none of the limited sequences available from North America represent this species. We report five species of this group from North America, including three previously described species, G. luteus, G. subspectabilis, and G. ventricosus, and two new species, Gymnopilus voitkii and Gymnopilus speciosissimus. We recognize a sister species to G. luteus, based on sequences previously reported as G. spectabilis from China, Japan, and the Russian Far East, but, lacking material to describe it as a new species, we give it an informal clade name, /sororiluteus. Another new species in this complex is described from Japan, as Gymnopilus orientispectabilis. Species in this group may be distinguished by their ITS sequences as well as by macro- and micromorphology, substrate, and geography. Key words: Gymnopilus spectabilis, Pholiota ventricosa, host associations, phylogeny, psilocybin, three new species. Les champignons identifiés Gymnopilus spectabilis et G. junonius ont été largement rapportés en Amérique du Nord, tant sur des bois durs morts que sur des conifères morts ou vivants. À partir des séquences d'ADN de la région de l'espaceur interne transcrit (ITS) et de la grande sous-unité ribosomale (LSU), les auteurs ont découvert que, bien que Gymnopilus junonius (= G. spectabilis s. auct.) soit répandu en Europe, en Amérique du Sud et en Australie, aucune des quelques séquences disponibles en Amérique du Nord ne représente cette espèce. Ils rapportent cinq espèces appartenant à ce groupe en Amérique du Nord, dont trois espèces décrites précédemment, G. luteus, G. subspectabilis et G. ventricosus ainsi que deux nouvelles espèces, Gymnopilus voitkii et Gymnopilus speciosissimus. Ils reconnaissent une espèce saeur de G. luteus à partir de séquences précédemment rapportées pour correspondre à G. spectabilis de Chine, du Japon et de l'Extrême-Orient russe, mais faute de matériel pour la décrire comme nouvelle espèce, ils lui donnent un nom de clade informel, /sororiluteus. Une autre nouvelle espèce membre de ce complexe est décrite au Japon comme Gymnopilus orientispectabilis. Les espèces membres de ce groupe peuvent se distinguer par les séquences de leur ITS ainsi que par leur macro- et micromorphologie, leur substrat et leur géographie. [Traduit par la Rédaction] Mots-clés : Gymnopilus spectabilis, Pholiota ventricosa, association d'hôtes, phylogénie, psilocybine, trois nouvelles espèces., Introduction Collectors in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador have repeatedly observed large basidiomata of a mushroom growing on living and recently dead wood of Abies [...]

The metabarcoding of prokaryotic and fungal (Ascomycota only) ribosomal DNA was used to describe the microbial communities in soils of a remnant equatorial rainforest, maize–bean intercrop, and sugarcane in western Kenya. Cropping systems influenced the microbial community composition and functional traits (energy source and nutrient cycling) of bulk soil in each crop. Microbial richness and diversity tended to increase with cultivation intensity. The soil of the maize–bean intercrop had lower percentages and sugarcane had higher percentages of unique amplicon sequence variants of both bacteria and fungi compared to the remnant forest. Functional traits were altered by cultivation intensity. Compared to remnant forest soils, maize–bean intercrop soil had lower percentages of aerobic chemoheterotrophic bacteria and higher percentages of N-cycling bacteria, while sugarcane had higher percentages of aerobic chemoheterotrophic bacteria and lower percentages of N-cycling bacteria. In the face of increasing forest loss and pressures for agricultural productivity, this landscape provides a rich site for studying the impacts of cropping systems on soil health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Three species of golden chanterelles were found in Newfoundland and Labrador and were compared with other Cantharellus species by macromorphology, microscopy, and multilocus phylogenetic studies. The commonest species is [...]

Fungi in the Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota) are the primary decomposers in temperate forests of dead wood on and in the forest soil. Through the use of isolation techniques selective for saprotrophic Agaricomycetes, a variety of wood decay fungi were isolated from a northern hardwood stand in the Bartlett Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA. In particular, Hypholoma lateritium (Schaeff.: Fr.) P. Kumm. was isolated from basidiocarps, decaying Acer rubrum L. logs, the Oe organic soil horizon, and the E and BC mineral soil horizons. Identification was confirmed by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region of nuclear ribosomal DNA. All isolates had identical sequences in this region to previously published sequences for the species; some were monokaryotic and simple-septate and others were dikaryotic, with clamp connections. Isolates were further characterized by banding patterns (DNA fingerprints) produced with PCR primers based in simple repetitive sequences and the minisatellite M13. Nine dikaryotic isolates from basidiocarps and from soil horizons Oe, E, and BC had identical fingerprint patterns with all primers tested. The confirmed presence of H. lateritium suggests that this fungus could form a mycelial translocation network that bridges mineral and organic soil horizons and decaying logs. Key words: Hypholoma sublateritium, DNA fingerprinting, nutrient recycling, coarse woody debris, DAPI. Les champignons appartenant aux Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota) venant sur le bois mort et les sols forestiers representent les decomposeurs primaires des forets temperees. A l'aide d'une technique d'isolement selective pour les Agaricomycetes, les auteurs ont obtenu une variete de champignons decomposeurs du bois, dans un peuplement nordique de bois feuillus de la Foret experimentale de Bartlett, dans l' etat du New Hampshire aux Etats-Unis. Ils ont obtenu en particulier l'Hypholoma lateritium (Schaeff. : Fr.) P. Kumm, a partir de basidiocarpes, de billes d Acer rubrum L. en decomposition, ainsi que de l horizon organique Oe et des horizons mineraux E et BC du sol. Ils en ont confirme l identification par l analyse des sequences de la region de l espaceur interne transcrit de l ADN ribosomal nucleique. Tous les isolats montrent pour cette region des sequences identiques aux sequences deja publiees pour cette espece; on y trouve des isolats a monocaryons avec septations simples et d autres a dicaryons avec anses d anastomose. Les auteurs ont poursuivi la caracterisation a partir de patrons de bandes (empreintes ADN) produits avec des amorces et PCR basees sur des sequences repetitives simples et du microsatellite M13. Neuf isolats dicaryotiques provenant de basidiocarpes et des horizons Oe, E, et BC du sol montrent des empreintes identiques, avec toutes les amorces. La presence confirmee du H. lateritius suggere que ce champignon pourrait former un reseau mycelien de translocation, faisant le pont entre les horizons mineraux et organiques du sol, avec le bois en decomposition. Mots-cles : Hypholoma sublateritium, empreinte ADN, recyclage des elements, debris ligneux grossiers, DAPI. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Coarse woody debris (CWD), defined as fallen limbs and tree boles having a diameter greater than 10 cm (Harmon et al. 1986), is a major element of the carbon [...]

The wild edible mushroom Cantharellus enelensis is a recently described species of the golden chanterelles found in eastern North America. At present, the genetic diversity and population structure of C. enelensis are not known. In this study, we analyzed a total of 230 fruiting bodies of C. enelensis that were collected from three regions of Canada: near the east and west coasts of Newfoundland (NFLD), with 110 fruiting bodies each, and around Hamilton, Ontario (10 fruiting bodies). Among the 110 fruiting bodies from each coast in NFLD, 10 from 2009 were without specific site information, while 100 sampled in 2010 were from each of five patches separated by at least 100 m from each other. Each fruiting body was genotyped at three microsatellite loci. Among the total 28 multilocus genotypes (MLGs) identified, 2 were shared among all three regions, 4 were shared between 2 of the 3 regions, and the remaining 22 were each found in only 1 region. Minimal spanning network analyses revealed several region-specific MLG clusters, consistent with geographic specific mutation and expansion. Though the most frequently observed MLGs were shared among local (patch) and regional populations, population genetic analyses revealed that both local and regional geographic separations contributed significantly to the observed genetic variation in the total sample. All three regional populations showed excess heterozygosity; for the eastern NFLD population, we reject the null hypothesis of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) at all three loci. However, the analyses of clone-corrected samples revealed that most loci were in HWE. Together, our results suggest that the three discrete regional populations of C. enelensis were likely colonized from a common refugium since the last ice age. However, the local and regional populations are diverging from each other through mutation, drift, and selection at least partly due to heterozygous advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Hohenbuehelia (Agaricales, Pleurotaceae) and Nematoctonus (Hyphomycetes) are the names for the sexual and asexual stages of a genus of nematode-destroying fungi (Basidiomycota). We obtained partial sequences of nuclear ribosomal [...]

Abstract: Nematoctonus (Hyphomycetes) and Hohenbuehelia (Agaricales, Pleurotaceae) are the names for the asexual and sexual stages of a genus of nematode-destroying fungi (Basidiomycota). Six morphospecies of Nematoctonus, all previously described, [...]

The isolation of saprophytic basidiomycetes from soil involves selective inhibitors, an indicator substrate and soil particle washing. The washed organic particles are plated on a medium containing lignin, guaiacol and benomyl to reduce mold growth and allow detection of basidiomycetes producing laccase. The method is useful for the investigation of biodiversity of soil basidiomycetes and gives organisms for bioremediation of soils contaminated with pesticides.

Simple nucleotide matching identification methods are not as accurate as once thought at identifying environmental fungal sequences. This is largely because of incorrect naming and the underrepresentation of various fungal groups in reference datasets. Here, we explore these issues by examining an environmental metabarcoding dataset of partial large subunit rRNA sequences of Basidiomycota and basal fungi. We employed the simple matching method using the QIIME 2 classifier and the RDP Classifier in conjunction with the latest releases of the SILVA (138.1, 2020) and RDP (11, 2014) reference datasets and then compared the results with a manual phylogenetic binning approach. Of the 71 query sequences tested, 21 and 42% were misidentified using QIIME 2 and the RDP Classifier, respectively. Of these simple matching misidentifications, more than half resulted from the underrepresentation of various groups of fungi in the SILVA and RDP reference datasets. More comprehensive reference datasets with fewer misidentified sequences will increase the accuracy of simple matching identifications. However, we argue that the phylogenetic binning approach is a better alternative to simple matching since, in addition to better accuracy, it provides evolutionary information about query sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, wood-inhabiting jelly fungus from China is described as a new species, Exidia qinghaiensis (Basidiomycota: Auriculariaceae). Phylogenetic analyses were based on sequences of the nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer (nrITS) and large subunit (nrLSU), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2), and translation elongation factor 1-a (Tef1) regions. Sequences of the new taxon formed a sister group to Exidia thuretiana, a species known from Europe and Asia, and distant to sequences of Exidia repanda from Europe. Fruiting bodies are cushion-shaped to irregularly lobed and yellowish brown, basidiospores are hyaline, allantoid (averaging 12.7 × 3.4 μm; average length/width is 3.7), and the host is Betula. The new species also can be distinguished by nrITS, nrLSU, RPB2, and Tef1 sequences. Our multigene phylogeny supports an Exidia including Exidia japonica, type species of Tremellochaete, but defining generic limits in Auriculariaceae will require more extensive taxon sampling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The communities of soil basidiomycetes in agroecosystems that differ in tillage history at the Kellog Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site near Battle Creek, Michigan are analyzed. Results reveal that only 24 of 241 species had 99% or greater sequence similarity to named reference sequences in GenBank, and several clades with multiple 'species' could not be identified at the genus level by phylogenetic comparisons with named sequences.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is the most abundant and broadly distributed thrush in North America. Both sexes likely engage in mate choice, and there is some evidence of assortative mating based on breast colour in this species. Over two breeding seasons, we documented a case of partial leucism, primarily of the breast feathers, in a male American Robin in London, Ontario, Canada. We report evidence that the leucistic robin was capable of successful breeding. How the fitness of leucistic versus normal robins compares and how leucism influences mate choice in this and other species remain to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The fungal composition of North America's grasslands is poorly known, but an important area of study due to grassland conservation concerns and their close relation to agricultural lands. This study is a survey of Agaricomcyetes from fifteen diverse tallgrass prairies across southwestern Ontario, determined through fruiting body surveys (above-ground) and next-generation sequencing of soil ribosomal DNA (below-ground), and compares the results of these two techniques. The most species rich taxa were the Clavariaceae, Hygrophoraceae, and Entolomataceae, each detected by both techniques, with the addition of the Sebacinaceae and Polyporaceae sensu lato below-ground, and Hymenogastraceae (Hebeloma spp.) and Mycenaceae above-ground. Many of the most abundant species belonged to these species-rich taxa and were highly abundant by either technique. The above-ground surveys found at least 73 species and the below-ground technique 238 operatonal taxonomic units. Although many fine-scale taxa (species and approximate families) were unique to one technique or the other (only eight genetic species were shared between both), the below-ground technique uncovered a greater breadth of higher taxa (mostly equivalent to orders), including ones undetected by the above-ground technique. A review of grassland fungi surveys around the world shows many similarities and the potential for grassland fungal conservation in North America. Given current technological advancements and grassland conservation concerns, it is prudent to further study North America's grassland fungi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungi play a pivotal role in the carbon sequestration potential of boreal peatlands through the process of decomposition. As such, climate-driven changes in the diversity and community composition of peatland fungal communities could have substantial impacts on carbon release from these ecosystems, especially in subsurface peat that represents an important global carbon stock. We used Illumina MiSeq sequencing of rDNA to examine fungal communities after 18 months in intact peatland mesocosms subjected to conditions associated with Canada's future climate, including: warming, elevated atmospheric CO 2 and lowered water table. Warming was the main driver of changes in fungal communities across three depths of the peat profile with both Ascomycota- and Basidiomycota-dominated groups becoming more homogenous under warming conditions. Specific changes in fungal functional groups, however, were temperature dependent with potential cellulose decomposers and mycorrhizal root-associated fungi from Basidiomycota dominant under warming of +4 °C, whereas there was a prevalence of potential lignocellulose decomposers and mycorrhizal root-associated fungi from Ascomycota under +8 °C warming. These climate change-induced shifts in the structure of fungal communities in favour of recalcitrant compound decomposers observed across a depth gradient, may reduce long-term carbon storage of boreal peatlands under future climate change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular studies have shown the type collection of Omphalina oreades to be conspecific with a small brown basidiolichen from the Appalachian range in Newfoundland, both with 4-spored basidia. Two sequences deposited in GenBank, originally identified as O. grisella, fell in the same clade. Sequences of the type collection of Omphalia grisella, with 2-spored basidia, formed a sister clade together with two GenBank deposits, one identified as O. grisella and the other as Omphalina velutina. Omphalina oreades is recombined here as Lichenomphalia oreades comb. nov., and the species redescribed and illustrated. Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) from the algae associated with two collections of L. oreades fell within a highly supported clade with members of an undetermined species of Coccomyxa. The most abundant algal ribosomal large subunit sequence from granules at the base of a different collection matched GenBank sequences identified as Chloroidium ellipsoideum, which is probably either a free-living algal species or a partner to a species of Trapeliopsis. The second most abundant sequence matched Coccomyxa subellipsoidea and is the most likely photobiont of L. oreades. Further studies are required to elucidate the relationship of L. velutina to these taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hollows and hummocks of boreal peatlands differ in water table position, pH, plant community composition and biochemical properties that might affect the structure of their fungal communities. The community composition of fungi at three depths (0–5 cm, 15–20 cm, 30–35 cm) in hollows and hummocks of a nutrient-poor fen in northern Ontario, Canada were assessed by Illumina sequencing of 28S amplicons. Our metabarcoding results revealed statistically distinct fungal community composition between hollows and hummocks. Hollows contained a more diverse fungal community than hummocks. However, the middle horizon of hollows and the bottom horizon of hummocks were comparable in terms of fungal biodiversity. These layers were identified as the areas bearing the most diverse community composition of fungi, most likely driven by their similarly respective distance from the water table position. This optimum area is expected to be most affected following water table drawdown under future climate change conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabarcoding has become an important tool in the discovery of biodiversity, including fungi, which are the second most speciose group of eukaryotes, with diverse and important ecological roles in terrestrial ecosystems. We have designed and tested new PCR primers that target the D1 variable region of nuclear large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA; one set that targets the phylum Ascomycota and another that recovers all other fungal phyla. The primers yield amplicons compatible with the Illumina MiSeq platform, which is cost-effective and has a lower error rate than other high throughput sequencing platforms. The new primer set LSU200A-F/LSU476A-R (Ascomycota) yielded 95–98% of reads of target taxa from environmental samples, and primers LSU200-F/LSU481-R (all other fungi) yielded 72–80% of target reads. Both primer sets have fairly low rates of data loss, and together they cover a wide variety of fungal taxa. We compared our results with these primers by amplifying and sequencing a subset of samples using the previously described ITS3_KYO2/ITS4_KYO3 primers, which amplify the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. With approximately equivalent read depth, our LSU primers recovered a greater number and phylogenetic diversity of sequences than the ITS2 primers. For instance, ITS3_KYO2/ITS4_KYO3 primers failed to pick up any members of Eurotiales, Mytilinidiales, Pezizales, Saccharomycetales, or Venturiales within Ascomycota, or members of Exobasidiomycetes, Microbotryomycetes, Pucciniomycetes, or Tremellomycetes within Basidiomycota, which were retrieved in good numbers from the same samples by our LSU primers. Among the OTUs recovered using the LSU primers were 127 genera and 28 species that were not obtained using the ITS2 primers, although the ITS2 primers recovered 10 unique genera and 16 species that were not obtained using either of the LSU primers These features identify the new primer sets developed in this study as useful complements to other universal primers for the study of fungal diversity and community composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Tallgrass prairie is one of the most critically endangered habitats in Canada, with less than one percent of its original extent remaining. Information on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in Canadian prairie, which may be beneficial to tallgrass prairie restoration, is lacking. We conducted a descriptive ecological study of the communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and vascular plants at five former or extant tallgrass prairie sites on Walpole Island First Nation, Ontario: one undisturbed prairie, two naturally recovered prairies and two old fields abandoned from agriculture 19 and 3 years ago, respectively. The AMF were identified morphologically using spores from trap cultured soil samples, and the number of spores of each taxon was used as an estimate of their abundance. We performed ester linked extraction and measured fungal lipid biomarkers to assay the biomass of AMF. Sixteen species of AMF and 111 plant species were identified. Species composition, richness and diversity of both AMF and plants varied among sites. Principal component analysis distinguished fungal and plant communities at tallgrass prairie sites from those at more recently disturbed fields. However, AMF biomass, as assessed by the concentration of the fatty acid methyl esters C16:1cis11 and C18:1cis11, was not significantly different between old fields and tallgrass prairie. Community composition of AMF was a better indicator of agricultural disturbance than AMF abundance, species richness, or biomass. Therefore, if AMF play an important role in the reestablishment of tallgrass prairie plant species, it is most likely through plant host specificity with particular species or taxonomic groups in the AMF community. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We analyzed the communities of soil basidiomycetes in agroecosystems that differ in tillage history at the Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site near Battle Creek, Michigan. The approach combined soil DNA extraction through a bead-beating method modified to increase recovery of fungal DNA, PCR amplification with basidiomycete-specific primers, cloning and restriction fragment length polymorphism screening of mixed PCR products, and sequencing of unique clones. Much greater diversity was detected than was anticipated in this habitat on the basis of culture-based methods or surveys of fruiting bodies. With ‘species’ defined as organisms yielding PCR products with ≥99% identity in the 5′ 650 bases of the nuclear large-subunit ribosomal DNA, 241 ‘species’ were detected among 409 unique basidiomycete sequences recovered. Almost all major clades of basidiomycetes from basidiomycetous yeasts and other heterobasidiomycetes through polypores and euagarics (gilled mushrooms and relatives) were represented, with a majority from the latter clade. Only 24 of 241 ‘species’ had 99% or greater sequence similarity to named reference sequences in GenBank, and several clades with multiple ‘species’ could not be identified at the genus level by phylogenetic comparisons with named sequences. The total estimated ‘species’ richness for this 11.2-ha site was 367 ‘species’ of basidiomycetes. Since >99% of the study area has not been sampled, the accuracy of our diversity estimate is uncertain. Replication in time and space is required to detect additional diversity and the underlying community structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide the first analysis of the fungi associated with a very special habitat, the aeroponic roots found in caves and mines in New Brunswick, Canada. Fungal diversity was assessed by Illumina sequencing using three complementary primer sets targeting ribosomal RNA genes, and roots were identified using the non-coding trnH - psbA spacer. Early colonizing ectomycorrhizal fungi such as Agaricales, Helotiales, Pezizales, and Thelephorales were predominant. Saprotrophs, endophytes and plant pathogens were also present, but Glomeromycota (arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) were not detected. Fungal root communities were generally most similar within sites. Fungal diversity was inversely correlated with winter dark zone temperatures and distance from the entrance. By using a combination of three primer sets, we detected more fungal taxa than with any one primer set. This study adds to the understanding of these subterranean ecosystems and suggests that future studies investigate factors limiting the presence of late-stage ectomycorrhizal fungi and Glomeromycota. • We provide a first analysis of fungi associated with aeroponic roots in caves and mines. • We detected ectomycorrhizal fungi, endophytes, saprotrophs and plant pathogens. • Late-stage ectomycorrhizal fungi and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi were not found. • Similarity of fungal communities was related more to site than host or proximity. • Combining three NGS primer sets detected more fungi than any single primer set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]