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The biogeography of neotropical fungi remains poorly understood. Here, we reconstruct the origins and diversification of neotropical lineages in one of the largest clades of ectomycorrhizal fungi in the globally widespread family Russulaceae. We inferred a supertree of 3285 operational taxonomic units, representing worldwide internal transcribed spacer sequences. We reconstructed biogeographic history and diversification and identified lineages in the Neotropics and adjacent Patagonia. The ectomycorrhizal Russulaceae have a tropical African origin. The oldest lineages in tropical South America, most with African sister groups, date to the mid-Eocene, possibly coinciding with a boreotropical migration corridor. There were several transatlantic dispersal events from Africa more recently. Andean and Central American lineages mostly have north-temperate origins and are associated with North Andean uplift and the general north-south biotic interchange across the Panama isthmus, respectively. Patagonian lineages have Australasian affinities. Diversification rates in tropical South America and other tropical areas are lower than in temperate areas. Neotropical Russulaceae have multiple biogeographic origins since the mid-Eocene involving dispersal and co-migration. Discontinuous distributions of host plants may explain low diversification rates of tropical lowland ectomycorrhizal fungi. Deeply diverging neotropical fungal lineages need to be better documented., (© 2022 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2022 New Phytologist Foundation.)

In Amazonia, the knowledge about Fungi remains patchy and biased towards accessible sites. This is particularly the case in French Guiana where the existing collections have been confined to few coastal localities. Here, we aimed at filling the gaps of knowledge in undersampled areas of this region, particularly focusing on the Basidiomycota. From 2011, we comprehensively collected fruiting-bodies with a stratified and reproducible sampling scheme in 126 plots. Sites of sampling reflected the main forest habitats of French Guiana in terms of soil fertility and topography. The dataset of 5219 specimens gathers 245 genera belonging to 75 families, 642 specimens are barcoded. The dataset is not a checklist as only 27% of the specimens are identified at the species level but 96% are identified at the genus level. We found an extraordinary diversity distributed across forest habitats. The dataset is an unprecedented and original collection of Basidiomycota for the region, making specimens available for taxonomists and ecologists. The database is publicly available in the GBIF repository ( https://doi.org/10.15468/ymvlrp ).

The genus Alnicola (Hymenogastraceae) contains a majority of host-specific ectomycorrhizal species, associated with various species of alders (Alnus spp.). Three species associated specifically with Alnus alnobetula are described as new and illustrated: Alnicola badiofusca P.-A. Moreau sp. nov., A. pallidifolia P.-A. Moreau & Peintner sp. nov., and A. spectabilis P.-A. Moreau & Peintner sp. nov., and a key is provided for Alnicola species associated with A. alnobetula in the Alps and Corsica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphological analysis of basidiomata of gastroid Boletales (Alpova and Melanogaster) found in relation with Alnus trees in France revealed the existence of five distinct Alnus-associated species: Alpova alpestris sp. nov., A. corsicus sp. nov., Melanogaster luteus Zeller, M. rivularis sp. nov., and an unnamed species (Alpova sp. related to the North American A. cinnamomeus). The genus Alpova is here restricted to its original sense, as Alnus-associated species with small spores and pseudoparenchymatic subpellis, and the presence of "buffer cells" in gleba. Phylogenetic position, host specificity and geographical distribution of each species are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The molecular evolution of the V6 and V9 domains of the mitochondrial SSU-rDNA was investigated to evaluate the use of these sequences for DNA barcodes in the Basidiomycota division. The PCR products from 27 isolates belonging to 11 Tricholoma species were sequenced. Both domains in the isolates belonging to the same species had identical sequences. All the species possess distinctive V9 sequences due to point mutations and insertion/deletion events. Secondary structures revealed that the insertion–deletion events occurred in regions not directly involved in the maintenance of the standard SSU-rRNA structure. The inserted sequences possess conserved motifs that enable their alignment among phylogenetically distant species. Hence, the V9 domain by displaying identical sequences within species, an adequate divergence level, easy amplification, and alignment represents an alternative molecular marker for the Basidiomycota division and opens the way for this sequence to be used as specific molecular markers of the fungal kingdom. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]