Two new species of Russula (Russulales) from India

Russula brunneoaurantiaca, a novel taxon of Russula subg. Crassotunicata from West Bengal, India, with morpho-molecular analysis and scanning electron microscopy

This paper describes a new Russula species, R. brunneoaurantiaca, from India with morphological and molecular sequence (nrITS) data, field pictures of basidiocarps, and comparisons with close relatives. Russula brunneoaurantiaca has a brownish orange pileus with a mucilaginous surface, sub-decurrent lamellae that are white to pale orange, a white stipe that turns yellowish brown to brown when bruised, a strong, unpleasant smell, globose to subglobose basidiospores (5.0-9.0 5.0-7.8 m) with an inamyloid suprahilar spot and ornamentation of small isolated conical warts, fusiform hymenial cystidia on gill sides (62.5-82 × 7.5-12.5 μm) and lageniform to sub-lageniform cystidia with filiform apex near the gill edge (80-113 × 7.5-10 μm), fusiform to spindle-shaped pileocystidia, and habitat in association with Castanopsis sp. A complete morphological description, photographs, and molecular sequence-based phylogenetic trees demarcating the position of the novel taxon are provided. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and subsequent DNA analysis revealed a new species of the genus Russula. SEM analysis is an additional technique to describe the size and shape of its basidiospores as well as their ornamentation. The diagnostic characteristics, habit, habitat, and similarities to related species are given.

Four New Species of Russula Subsection Sardoninae from China

Four new species of Russula subsection Sardoninae from northern and southwestern China under coniferous and deciduous trees are proposed as R. begonia, R. photinia, R. rhodochroa, and R. rufa. Illustrations and descriptions of R. gracillima, R. leucomarginata, R. roseola, and the above four new species are provided based on evidence of morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), as well as the multi-locus of mtSSU, nLSU, rpb1, rpb2 and tef1-α. The relationships between these new species and allied taxa are discussed.

Morphological Characters and Molecular Phylogeny Reveal Three New Species of Subgenus Russula from China

Three new species are described and illustrated here based on morphological evidence and phylogenetic analysis from China. Russula leucomarginata is recognized by a yellowish red to reddish brown pileus center, a yellowish white to reddish white and sometimes cracked margin, and a reddish white to pastel pink stipe. Russula roseola is characterized by its reddish white to ruby red pileus center, pink to rose margin, adnate to slightly decurrent lamellae with unequal-length lamellulae, reddish white to pink stipe, and occasionally three-celled pileocystidia. Russula subsanguinaria is morphologically characterized by a reddish brown to dark brown pileus center, a reddish orange to brownish red margin with striation, a reddish white to pink stipe with an expanded base, basidiospores with moderately distant to dense amyloid warts, and hymenial cystidia turning to reddish black in SV. In this study, we performed phylogenetic analysis based on ITS sequence and 28S-RPB1-RPB2-mtSSU datasets. Detailed morphological features and phylogenetic analysis indicate that these three new species belong to Russula subg. Russula.

Phylogenetic study documents different speciation mechanisms within the Russula globispora lineage in boreal and arctic environments of the Northern Hemisphere

The Russula globispora lineage is a morphologically and phylogenetically well-defined group of ectomycorrhizal fungi occurring in various climatic areas. In this study we performed a multi-locus phylogenetic study based on collections from boreal, alpine and arctic habitats of Europe and Western North America, subalpine collections from the southeast Himalayas and collections from subtropical coniferous forests of Pakistan. European and North American collections are nearly identical and probably represent a single species named R. dryadicola distributed from the Alps to the Rocky Mountains. Collections from the southeast Himalayas belong to two distinct species: R. abbottabadensis sp. nov. from subtropical monodominant forests of Pinus roxburghii and R. tengii sp. nov. from subalpine mixed forests of Abies and Betula. The results suggest that speciation in this group is driven by a climate disjunction and adaptation rather than a host switch and geographical distance.