Ganoderma is a large and diverse, cosmopolitan fungal genus in the Basidiomycota, comprises species with prized medicinal properties, valuable biotechnological applications and of significant ...phytopathological interest. In Europe, the number of Ganoderma species is low compared to North America, East Asia or the tropics. Among the seven accepted Ganoderma species in Europe, only one has a perennial basidiome with a resinous layer on the pileus surface and dark brown context. In the scientific literature, this species appears under the name G. pfeifferi or G. cupreolaccatum. However, Quélet provided a detailed watercolour painting of a single basidiome under the name Fomes advena in 1872, which shows similar morphological features. Considering that F. advena was validly and effectively published well before G. pfeifferi and “Polyporus cupreolaccatus”, the nomenclatural status of this forgotten and overlooked name is discussed.
Mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) have the greatest morphological diversity and complexity of any group of fungi. They have radiated into most niches and fulfil diverse roles in the ecosystem, ...including wood decomposers, pathogens or mycorrhizal mutualists. Despite the importance of mushroom-forming fungi, large-scale patterns of their evolutionary history are poorly known, in part due to the lack of a comprehensive and dated molecular phylogeny. Here, using multigene and genome-based data, we assemble a 5,284-species phylogenetic tree and infer ages and broad patterns of speciation/extinction and morphological innovation in mushroom-forming fungi. Agaricomycetes started a rapid class-wide radiation in the Jurassic, coinciding with the spread of (sub)tropical coniferous forests and a warming climate. A possible mass extinction, several clade-specific adaptive radiations and morphological diversification of fruiting bodies followed during the Cretaceous and the Paleogene, convergently giving rise to the classic toadstool morphology, with a cap, stalk and gills (pileate-stipitate morphology). This morphology is associated with increased rates of lineage diversification, suggesting it represents a key innovation in the evolution of mushroom-forming fungi. The increase in mushroom diversity started during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic radiation event, an era of humid climate when terrestrial communities dominated by gymnosperms and reptiles were also expanding.
The recently revised
Geastrum minimum
species complex in sect.
Geastrum
subsect.
Quadrifida
revealed that the name
G. minimum
is a
nomen ambiguum
and
dubium
and was collectively used for at least two ...European species (viz.
G. granulosum
and
G. marginatum
). During the morphological revision of the Hungarian materials labelled as
G. minimum
, different crystal structures were found on the endoperidial body of some specimens than those of characteristic for
G. granulosum
and
G. marginatum
. These collections were exclusively found on open rocky grassy vegetation on dolomite bedrock in Hungary. Multigene phylogenetic analyses involving nrITS, nrLSU,
rpb
1,
atp
6 and
tef
1-α sequences of the collections with unique crystal morphology and ecology revealed that these form a distinct clade in close relationship with
G. granulosum
s.l. (i.e. specimens from Europe and North America). Based on molecular evidence, macro- and micromorphology as well as X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) characterisation of the mesoperidial crystals, here we propose the new species
Geastrum dolomiticum
.
The authors describe a new bisporic basidiomycete, Gymnopus inusitatus var. cystidiatus, collected in Hungary. It differs morphologically from var. inusitatus by the presence of well-developed ...cheilocystidia and ecologically by growing in the sandy grassland under
Salix. Its taxonomic position is confirmed by DNA studies.
Steppe vegetation on sandy soil in Hungary has recently been revealed as one of the hot spots in Europe for the stalked puffballs (genus
). In the framework of the taxonomic revision of gasteroid ...fungi in Hungary, four
species are described here as new to science:
,
,
and
. The study is based on detailed macro- and micromorphological investigations (including light and scanning electron microscopy), as well as a three-locus phylogeny of nrDNA ITS, nrDNA LSU and
sequences. The ITS and LSU sequences generated from the type specimen of
are provided and this resolved partly the taxonomy of the difficult species complex of T.aff.cretaceum.
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