Distribution and Molecular Characterization of an Alien Fungus, Clathrus archeri, in Poland

Clathrus archeri is a saprotrophic fungus native to Australia and New Zealand and known in Europe since the beginning of the 20th century. In Poland, C. archeri was recorded for the first time in 1973 and since then basidiomata of this fungus have been recorded almost 90 times, mostly in the southern part of the country. In the present study, we update the distribution of C. archeri in Poland and include the latest records from Central Poland. We show a significant increase in the number of C. archeri observations in recent years (R-2 = 0.400, p<0.001). Our research shows that precipitation should be regarded as an important factor in the spread of C. archeri. Additionally, intraspecific genetic variability of nrRNA of C. archeri from different localities in Poland has been determined. Obtained results indicate zero to low levels of diversity in the nrITS and nrLSU sequences obtained from 16 C. archeri basidiomata from different localities in Poland (evolutionary divergence between sequences up to 0.002 and 0.001 for nrITS and nrLSU, respectively). Finally we identify some limitations in this research and make suggestions for future studies of pathways of the distribution of this fungus in the new area.