The enigmatic truffle Fevansia aurantiaca is an ectomycorrhizal member of the Albatrellus lineage

Mycorrhiza. 2013 Nov;23(8):663-8. doi: 10.1007/s00572-013-0502-2. Epub 2013 May 11.

Abstract

Fevansia aurantiaca is an orange-colored truffle that has been collected infrequently in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. This sequestrate, hypogeous fungus was originally thought to be related to the genera Rhizopogon or Alpova in the Boletales, but the large, inflated cells in the trama and the very pale spore mass easily segregated it from these genera. To date, no molecular phylogenetic studies have determined its closest relatives. F. aurantiaca was originally discovered in leaf litter beneath Pinaceae, leading Trappe and Castellano (Mycotaxon 75:153-179, 2000) to suggest that it is an ectomycorrhizal symbiont of various members of the Pinaceae. However, without direct ecological or phylogenetic data, it is impossible to confirm the trophic mode of this truffle species. In this study, we combined phylogenetic analysis of the ITS and 28S ribosomal DNA with data on microscopic morphology to determine that F. aurantiaca is a member of the Albatrellus ectomycorrhizal lineage (Albatrellaceae, Russulales).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Basidiomycota / classification*
  • Basidiomycota / cytology
  • Basidiomycota / genetics
  • Cluster Analysis
  • DNA, Fungal / chemistry
  • DNA, Fungal / genetics
  • DNA, Ribosomal / chemistry
  • DNA, Ribosomal / genetics
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / chemistry
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / genetics
  • Genes, rRNA
  • Microscopy
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mycorrhizae / classification*
  • Mycorrhizae / cytology
  • Mycorrhizae / genetics
  • Northwestern United States
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA, Fungal / genetics
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA

Substances

  • DNA, Fungal
  • DNA, Ribosomal
  • DNA, Ribosomal Spacer
  • RNA, Fungal
  • RNA, Ribosomal, 28S

Associated data

  • GENBANK/KC894736