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Taxonomic relationships among non-macrocystidiate taxa of Lactarius subg. Russularia from Europe with special reference to species from Greece

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Abstract

Members of the ectomycorrhizal genus Lactarius form symbiotic relationships with a wide range of plant species. For the purposes of this study, 29 specimens originally assigned to L. atlanticus, L. serifluus and L. subumbonatus were examined by including all pertinent available material from Greece. The detailed study of macroscopic and microscopic characteristics by using compound optical, differential interference contrast (DIC) and scanning electron microscopy in combination with molecular approaches (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA sequencing) permitted a clear separation between L. atlanticus and L. subumbonatus, while their basidiospore shape and height of ornamentation were found to be of diagnostic value. Moreover, the morphological delimitation between the specimens identified as L. serifluus and L. subumbonatus is not clear, and these specimens were intermixed into the same phylogenetic cluster with high support. Thus, the latter name should be considered as a synonym of the former. As concerns other related taxa of L. subg. Russularia, the American L. rubidus and L. subserifluus demonstrated relatively high evolutionary affinity with European collections of L. serifluus/L. subumbonatus and L. atlanticus, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund—ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) Research Funding Program entitled “Contribution of mycorrhizae to the sustainability of marginal Mediterranean ecosystems—development of mycorrhizal inocula (SALTYMYC)” (THALIS – AUA – MIS 380233). We would like to thank our colleagues C. Fasseas (Agricultural University of Athens) for helping with SEM observations, and Z. Athanassiou, Α. Verbeken (Ghent University), G. Venturella (University of Palermo) and G. Lalli (University of L'Aquila) for kindly providing Lactarius specimens. The helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Marina Triantafyllou

    Present address: Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784, Athens, Greece

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of General and Agricultural Microbiology, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855, Athens, Greece

    Marina Triantafyllou, Elias Polemis, Dimitris M. Dimou & Georgios I. Zervakis

  2. Faculty of Biology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784, Athens, Greece

    Zacharoula Gonou-Zagou & Panayiotis Delivorias

  3. Korytsas 10, 15343, Agia Paraskevi, Greece

    Dimitris M. Dimou

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  1. Marina Triantafyllou
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  2. Elias Polemis
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  5. Panayiotis Delivorias
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  6. Georgios I. Zervakis
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Correspondence to Georgios I. Zervakis.

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Section Editor: Zhu-Liang Yang

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Triantafyllou, M., Polemis, E., Gonou-Zagou, Z. et al. Taxonomic relationships among non-macrocystidiate taxa of Lactarius subg. Russularia from Europe with special reference to species from Greece. Mycol Progress 14, 78 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-015-1101-8

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