New Species of Termitomyces (Lyophyllaceae, Basidiomycota) from Sabah (Northern Borneo), Malaysia

Abstract

The genus Termitomyces (Lyophyllaceae, Basidiomycota) is often associated with fungus-feeding termites (Macrotermitinae) due to their strong symbiotic relationships. The genus is widely found exclusively in certain regions of Africa and Asia. They are recognized as edible mushroom within Southeast Asia as well. But it is often misidentified based on morphology by the local communities especially in Malaysia for Chlorophyllum molybdites which is a highly poisonous mushroom. Thus, it is necessary to study the genus for Malaysia with the synergy of using both morphological and molecular identification. In this study, we aim to describe another new species as an addition to the genus Termitomyces found within Sabah, Malaysia. We generated two new sequences (nrLSU and mtSSU) for the new species and a total of 28 nrLSU and mtSSU sequences were retrieved from GenBank for the phylogenetic analysis using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inferences. We identified that the new collection from Sabah province is a new species and named as Termitomyces gilvus based on the termites found in the mound. A phylogeny tree made from the concatenated genes of LSU and mtSSU suggests that T. gilvus is closely related to T. bulborhizus from China. According to our results, the combination of molecular and morphology proved to be a robust approach to re-evaluate the taxonomic status of Termitomyces species in Malaysia. Additional surveys are needed to verify the species diversity and clarify their geographic distribution.

Keywords:

• Malaysian Borno
• molecular phylogeny
• mtSSU rDNA
• nrLSU
• Termitomyces

Acknowledgements

J.S.S.S. was supported under the Korean Foundation for Advanced Studies (KFAS) to conduct this research project at Seoul National University (SNU) as part of the BORNEENSIS-AGARICOMYCETES Project 2019-2024. J.S.S.S., F.S.F., M.M.D. and C.S.Y. thanking to Sabah Parks and Sabah Biodiversity Council (SaBC) for providing the access license, TTS/IP/100-6/2 Jld. 7 (111) and export permit (JKM/MBS.1000-2/3 JLD.3 (89)). Fieldwork and laboratory experiments undertaken in this study comply with the current laws of Malaysia. We are grateful for the help of two anonymous reviewers for their comments on the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank Universiti Malaysia Sabah for providing the financial support under early career grant SLB0119-STWN-2016.