A Survey of the Cantharellus Species in Western Virginia.

Chanterelle mushrooms (Cantharellus spp.) are among the most popular wild edible mushrooms worldwide, with C. cibarius being the most well-known. Efforts to understand chanterelle diversity, however, have been somewhat limited by issues with the standardly used nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) fungal DNA barcode. Although considered the universal barcode for fungal species, ITS is problematic for Cantharellus identification due to high levels of diversity and length variation, particularly in the ITS1 region. Alternative markers, including RPB2 and tef1-α have been identified and utilized as supplemental markers for the analysis of Cantharellus species. Recent studies using these regions have shown that C. cibarius s.s. is a European species and that the North American collections of this complex represent many cryptic species. This study explores collections of the C. "cibarius" complex from the Shenandoah Valley to determine what species are represented in western Virginia and what, if any, genetic variation might be present. At least five species were identified in a small area northern Augusta Co., VA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]