IMA Fungus 7(2): 275-284, doi: 10.5598/imafungus.2016.07.02.07
Peering into the Mediterranean black box: Lactifluus rugatus ectomycorrhizas on Cistus
Andrea Rinaldi‡, Ornella Comandini§, Andrea C. Rinaldi|‡ University of Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy§ University of Cagliari, Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Monserrato (, Italy| University of Cagliari, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Monserrato (CA), Italy
© Andrea Rinaldi, Ornella Comandini, Andrea Rinaldi. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes, provided that the article is not altered or modified and the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Rinaldi A, Comandini O, Rinaldi AC (2016) Peering into the Mediterranean black box: Lactifluus rugatus ectomycorrhizas on Cistus. IMA Fungus 7(2): 275-284. https://doi.org/10.5598/imafungus.2016.07.02.07 |  |
Abstract
We describe the morpho-anatomical features of the ectomycorrhizas (ECMs) formed by Lactifluus rugatus on Cistus, a genus of about 20 species of woody shrubs typical of the Mediterranean maquis. The description of L. rugatus mycorrhizas on Cistus is the first ECM description of a species belonging to Lactifluus subgen. Pseudogymnocarpi. The ECM identity was verified through molecular tools. Anatomically, the characteristic of L. rugatus mycorrhiza is the presence of abundant, long “bottle-shaped” cystidia on mantle surface. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of milkcap mycorrhizas are acystidiate. This is the third Lactarius/Lactifluus mycorrhiza to have been described associated with Cistus, the others being Lactarius cistophilus and L. tesquorum. The phylogenetic distance between all these taxa is reflected by the diversity of the principal features of their ECMs, which share host-depending ECM features known for Cistus, but are otherwise distinguishable on the host roots. Comparison of Lactifluus rugatus ECM with those formed by L. vellereus and L. piperatus on Fagus reveals elevated intrageneric diversity of mycorrhizal structures. Such a diversity is supported by analysis of ITS sequences of relevant species within European Lactifluus species. Our study extends knowledge of Cistus mycorrhizal biology and confirms the informative value of mycorrhizal structures in understanding phylogenetic relationships in ECM fungi.
Keywords
confocal laser scanning microscopy, Lactarius, maquis, molecular phylogeny, Russulaceae