Sebacina sp is a mycorrhizal partner of Comarostaphylis arbutoides (Ericaceae)

Sebacina (Sebacinales) forms ectomycorrhiza, arbutoid, ericoid, jungermannioid, cavendishioid and orchid mycorrhiza with diverse plant species. The woody plant Comarostaphylis arbutoides (Ericaceae) forms arbutoid mycorrhiza with Leccinum monticola. However, further morphotypes have hitherto not been described. C. arbutoides grows in tropical Central America at an elevation of 2,500-3,430 m a.s.l., where it is found as understory vegetation in forests or forms extensive thickets. It shares ectomycorrhizal fungi with Quercus species, thereby being a refuge for these fungi after forest clearance of the oaks. We collected arbutoid mycorrhizas of C. arbutoides from the Cerro de la Muerte (Cordillera de Talamanca) in Costa Rica, where it grows together with Quercus costaricensis. Sebacina sp. was identified after sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit (LSU) rDNA regions, and their phylogenetic analyses. The morphotype Sebacina sp.-C. arbutoides was described morphologically and anatomically.