Cortinarius pakistanicus and C. pseudotorvus: two new species in oak forests in the Pakistan Himalayas

By

Naseer, Arooj
Benavent, Isaac
Khan, Junaid
Ballara, Joseph
Mahiques, Rafael
Khalid, Abdul Nasir
Sher, Hassan

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

74

Pages

91--108

Subjects

Biodiversity , ectomycorrhizal fungi , ITS , Phylogeny , systematics , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.74.49734

 

Abstract

The genus of basidiomycetous fungiCortinarius occurs worldwide, from subtropical to boreal latitudes. Although molecular systematics has triggered the study of these fungi in the Americas and Europe in the last two decades, there is still limited research on its diversity in large portions of the planet, such as the high mountain ranges of Asia. Several collections of Cortinarius were made during mycological field trips conducted between 2014 and 2018 in pure oak forests in the Pakistan Himalayas. An integrative framework combining morphological and phylogenetic data was employed for their study. As a result, the two species C. pakistanicus and C. pseudotorvus are here described as new to science. Detailed macro- and micro-morphological descriptions, including SEM images of spores, and a molecular phylogenetic reconstruction based on nrITS sequence data are provided and used to discriminate the new species from morphologically and phylogenetically close taxa. Whereas our phylogenetic tree inference gave unequivocal support for the inclusion of C. pseudotorvus within C. sect. Telamonia, the assignment of C. pakistanicus to any known sections remained elusive. These species likely establish ectomycorrhizal associations with trees in the genus Quercus, making this type of forest in the Pakistan Himalayas a promising focus for future research on the diversity of Cortinarius.