Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
Volume 97, Issue 9, Pages 1474-1484Publisher
BOTANICAL SOC AMER INC
DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1000097
Keywords
Agaricomycetes; basidiomycetes; fungal taxonomy; gasteromycete syndrome; Guyana; neotropics; rDNA systematics; sequestrate fungi; statismosporic fungi
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Funding
- National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration
- NSF [DEB-0918591, DEB-0732968]
- Harvard University Herbaria
- Division Of Environmental Biology
- Direct For Biological Sciences [0918730, 0918591] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Premise of the study : Sequestrate basidiomycete fungi (e. g. gasteromycetes) have foregone ballistospory and evolved alternative, often elaborate mechanisms of basidiospore dispersal with highly altered basidioma morphology. Sequestrate fungi have independently evolved in numerous Agaricomycete lineages, confounding taxonomic arrangements of these fungi for decades. Understanding the multiple origins and taxonomic affinities of sequestrate fungi provides insight into the evolutionary forces that can drastically alter basidioma morphology. In the neotropical rainforests of the Guiana Shield, we encountered a remarkable sequestrate fungus fruiting directly on decaying hardwood roots. The fungus 'singular combination of traits include a wood-decaying habit; black, verrucose peridium; reduced stipe; and gelatinized basidiospore mass. Methods : Guyanagaster necrorhiza gen. et sp. nov. is described. Macro-and micromorphological characters were assessed and compared to most similar taxa. To determine the phylogenetic affinities of the fungus, DNA sequence data were obtained for the 18S, ITS, and 28S rDNA, RBP2, and EF1 alpha regions and subjected to single-and multi-gene analyses. DNA sequences from fungal vegetative organs growing on decaying woody roots confirmed the wood-inhabiting lifestyle of Guyanagaster. Key results : Guyanagaster is morphologically unique among sequestrate fungi worldwide. Phylogenetic evidence places Guyanagaster in close relation to the wood-decaying mushroom genus Armillaria in the Physalacriaceae (Agaricales, Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota). Conclusions : Guyanagaster represents an independently evolved sequestrate form within the Physalacriaceae. Although molecular data confirm that Guyanagaster is closely related to Armillaria, the unusual features of this fungus suggest a case of radically divergent morphological evolution.
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