This study is led by Dr. Zhu L. Yang (Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Natural Medicines, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences). Specimens were collected by Song-Yan Zhou and Fei-Fei Liu; microscopic and phylogenetic analyses of Thaxterogaster species were conducted by Zi-Rui Wang at Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The team used 514 (236 newly generated + 278 downloaded) sequences from 243 collections representing 112 species building a five-locus phylogenetic tree which includes most currently known lineages and newly described species of Thaxterogaster, resolving seven subgenera and 23 sections. They found that in previous studies, sect. Cremeolini and Verniciori were not assigned to any subgenus within Thaxterogaster, but in their phylogenetic analysis, sect. Cremeolini forms a strongly supported clade (96.5/97/0.87) within subgen. Multiformes, and sect. Verniciori forms a clade with sect. Olorinati (92.6/-/0.84), that was previously included in subgen. Vibratiles. Therefore, they included sect. Cremeolini in subgen. Multiformes, and sect. Verniciori in subgen. Vibratiles. Moreover, 15 species of Thaxterogaster from western China were clearly identified in the phylogenetic tree, effectively distinguishing Thaxterogaster species. Overall, this study, for the first time, utilized five-locus data from 112 species to propose a relatively complete phylogenetic framework for the genus Thaxterogaster.
The team also found that the 15 species (eight new ones and seven previously described ones) in their study tend to be ecologically highly specialized. Among these, five species (T. indopurpurascens, T. talus, T. sordidus, T. alboparvus, and T. borealicremeolinus) are distributed in subtropical regions, with T. indopurpurascens also found in a tropical broad-leaved forest in India. Nine species (T. talimultiformis, T. armenicorius, T. crassimultiformis, T. fulvo-ochrascens, T. lavendulaceus, T. flavocapitatus, T. pallidopurpurascens, T. atricapitatus, and T. cupreus) are distributed in temperate or subalpine regions. One species (T. tenuipes) spans both temperate and subtropical climates, and is widespread in East Asia. Species of Thaxterogaster are widely distributed in China, and considering the vast territory and diverse landscapes are thought to have rich fungal diversity, future studies should reveal broader diversity of this genus in China.
See the article: The genus Thaxterogaster (Cortinariaceae): phylogeny and species diversity in Western China
