Phylogeny and species delimitation in the genus Coprinellus with special emphasis on the haired species

Abstract

We inferred the phylogenetic structure and species limits within Coprinellus by using a newly generated multigene alignment of LSU, ITS and β-tubulin sequences. We sampled 154 specimens of 71 species out of ca. 80 known taxa in Coprinellus and inferred phylogenetic relationships by Bayesian MCMC and ML bootstrapping. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses revealed 17 new species, five of which are described herein. Coprinellus was split into three large clades, one comprising species with an initially continuous sheath of veil (Domestici/Micacei clade) and two consisting of primarily setulose (haired) species (eurysporoid and Core Setulosi clades). The separation of veiled species and the clade structure therein corresponds well to the morphology-based sectional classification, although the inclusion of certain setulose taxa (e.g. C. disseminatus, C. verrucispermus, C. curtus etc.) in these clades necessitates a new morphological definition for the sections. Morphological traits are discussed for all clades of Coprinellus. Species limits in the eurysporoid and Core Setulosi clades are scrutinized in detail. Future directions of species-rank research and an artificial key to the recovered setulose species of Coprinellus is presented.

• Coprinus sensu lato
• Domestici
• Micacei
• new species
• pilocystidia
• Setulosi

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the curators of herbaria WU, MICH, WTU, L, M as well as Tommy Knuttson, Francesco Doveri, Jan Cervenka and Péter Finy for loaning and contributing specimens, and Joe Ammirati for his generous help with literature.

The first author has been supported by the Fungal Research Trust.

The SYNTHESYS grant of the European Union enabled the first author to visit and revise materials collected by Kees Uljé in the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland, Leiden, in 2006 and 2010. Giovanni Consiglio is thanks for preparing the Latin diagnoses.