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Blastosporella zonata is one of the few basidiomycete fungi that produce asexual spores (conidia) on the mushroom. The role of these conidia in the fungal lifecycle is not known. We tested whether conidia are being utilized in local dispersal by looking for signatures of clonality in 21 samples from three localities separated by about three kilometres in Murillo, Colombia. To identify clonally related individuals, we sequenced three polymorphic markers at two unlinked loci (nuclear rRNA: ITS and LSU, and TEF1a) for all collections plus three herbarium samples. We identified two sets of clonally related individuals growing closely together in one of the three localities, and only one pair shared between localities. In all three localities we observed multiple non-clonally related dikaryons showing that sexual reproduction is also important. Our results indicate that the conidia on the mushroom are primarily important for local dispersal. Unexpectedly, our results also indicate two reproductively isolated populations, possibly representing cryptic biological species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fungus-growing termites live in obligate mutualistic symbiosis with species of the basidiomycete genus Termitomyces, which are cultivated on a substrate of dead plant material. When the termite colony dies, or when nest material is incubated without termites in the laboratory, fruiting bodies of the ascomycete genus Xylaria appear and rapidly cover the fungus garden. This raises the question whether certain Xylaria species are specialised in occupying termite nests or whether they are just occasional visitors. We tested Xylaria specificity at four levels: (1) fungus-growing termites, (2) termite genera, (3) termite species, and (4) colonies. In South Africa, 108 colonies of eight termite species from three termite genera were sampled for Xylaria. Xylaria was isolated from 69% of the sampled nests and from 57% of the incubated fungus comb samples, confirming high prevalence. Phylogenetic analysis of the ITS region revealed 16 operational taxonomic units of Xylaria, indicating high levels of Xylaria species richness. Not much of this variation was explained by termite genus, species, or colony; thus, at level 2–4 the specificity is low. Analysis of the large subunit rDNA region, showed that all termite-associated Xylaria belong to a single clade, together with only three of the 26 non-termite-associated strains. Termite-associated Xylaria thus show specificity for fungus-growing termites (level 1). We did not find evidence for geographic or temporal structuring in these Xylaria phylogenies. Based on our results, we conclude that termite-associated Xylaria are specific for fungus-growing termites, without having specificity for lower taxonomic levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reconstruct the evolution of reproductive isolation in the ectomycorrhizal Hebeloma crustuliniforme aggregate (Basidiomycetes), phylogenetic relationships were determined between strains that belong to a clade consisting of nine intercompatibility groups (ICGs, biological species). Four of these nine ICGs are partially compatible and belong to the H. crustuliniforme aggregate. Different levels of partial compatibility have been found between these four ICGs. Between ICGs 3 and 4, 15% of the combinations were compatible. One strain was compatible with all isolates of both ICGs 3 and 4 and also with one isolate of ICG 2. Both a nuclear phylogeny, based on ribosomal IGS sequence data, and a mitochondrial phylogeny, based on a group-I intron located in the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LrRNA), were reconstructed. The level of incompatibility was compared with the phylogenetic history of individuals belonging to this clade. Different relationships were found between the level of compatibility and the relative age of the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) for different ICGs. On the one hand, the evolution of incompatibility between ICGs 2 and 3/4 is most consistent with the class of "divergence- first" models because a positive correlation was found between the relative age of the MRCA and the level of incompatibility for ICG 2 versus 3/4. On the other hand, the lack of such a correlation for ICGs 3 and 4 shows that (partial) incompatibility between these ICGs has arisen without strong divergence. The ecological (and to a lesser extent geographical) differences found between ICGs 3 and 4 suggest that selection for incompatibility, associated with host tree preference, has been important in the evolution of incompatibility between these two ICGs. The incongruence between the nuclear and mitochondrial trees for ICG 1 could be explained by a hybrid origin of this ICG, with different donors of the mitochondrial and nuclear sequences.