A reappraisal of the Pleurotus eryngii complex – New species and taxonomic combinations based on the application of a polyphasic approach, and an identification key to Pleurotus taxa associated with Apiaceae plants
The Pleurotus eryngii species-complex comprises choice edible mushrooms growing on roots and lower stem residues of Apiaceae (umbellifers) plants. Material deriving from extensive sampling was studied by mating compatibility, morphological and ecological criteria, and through analysis of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and IGS1 rRNA sequences. Results revealed that P. eryngii sensu stricto forms a diverse and widely distributed aggregate composed of varieties elaeoselini, eryngii, ferulae, thapsiae, and tingitanus. Pleurotus eryngii subsp. tuoliensis comb. nov. is a phylogenetically sister group to the former growing only on various Ferula species in Asia. The existence of Pleurotus nebrodensis outside of S…
Taxonomic Identity, Geographic Distribution, and Commercial Exploitation of the Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom Pleurotus nebrodensis (Basidiomycetes)
An updated overview of the outcome of studies conducted on the culinary-medicinal mushroom Pleurotus nebrodensis is presented by placing emphasis on the clarification of the taxonomic identity of P. nebrodensis and other related taxa possessing entirely white to cream basidiomes, which grow in association with different plants of the family Apiaceae. Cultivation techniques, quality of the product sold and sales price, as well as nutritional and medicinal aspects are discussed. Taking also into consideration the high economic importance of P. nebrodensis, it is essential to proceed with the verification of the commercial strains currently available in the international market under the name …
Diversity of macrofungi and exploitation of edible mushroom resources in the National Park “Appennino Lucano, Val D'Agri, Lagonegrese” (Italy)
An investigation on the macrofungal diversity of the National Park “Appennino Lucano, Val D’Agri, Lagonegrese” (Basilicata, southern Italy) was carried out, together with an evaluation of wild edible mushrooms in agro-forest ecosystems and their possible exploitation as a new source of food and revenue in rural and under-developed areas of this region. An unpublished list of 249 mushroom taxa (229 Basidiomycota and 20 Ascomycota), mostly belonging to the genera Tricholoma, Tuber, Russula, Amanita, Boletus, Lactarius, Mycena, Agaricus, Clitocybe and Hygrophorus, growing in this important natural area is provided together with ecological characterization of the recorded specimens. Inonotus ob…
Macrofungi in Mediterranean maquis along seashore and altitudinal transects
In semi-arid Mediterranean environments, fungal activity is fundamental for buffering biotic and abiotic stress to the plant and for sustaining a vegetation cover. Despite the important role that fungi play in habitats stability, mycological data from Mediterranean ecosystems are scarce and fragmentary. We investigated fungal diversity in several areas characterized by Mediterranean maquis, from continental Italy, Sicily, and Greece in order to contribute to the analysis of distribution, ecology, and diversity of macrofungi in evergreen sclerophyllous shrublands at different elevation and distance from the seashore across the Mediterranean Basin. Several fungal taxa that are remarkable due …
Macrofungi as ecosystem resources: Conservation versus exploitation
Fungi are organisms of significant importance not only for the crucial roles they undertake in nature but also for many human activities that are strictly dependent on them. Indeed, fungi possess fundamental positions in ecosystems functioning including nutrient cycles and wood decomposition. As concerns human-related activities, edible and non-edible mushrooms are also involved and/or exploited in forestry, pharmaceutical industry and food production; hence, nowadays they represent a major economic source worldwide. In order to maintain and improve their strategic importance, several conservation strategies, such as habitat preservation, are needed. This article reports several contributio…
Taxonomic notes and critical discussion on the status of Hydnum notarisii (Basidiomycota) through the evaluation of Giuseppe Inzenga's original study material
The current taxonomic status of Hydnum notarisii Inzenga is here critically analyzed on the basis of Giuseppe Inzenga’s original description and of the specimens kept in his private herbarium hosted in the Istituto Agrario Castelnuovo (Palermo, Italy) and in the Herbarium of Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University, Sweden (UPS). The detailed morphological study of the original dried material through the use of compound optical and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that this particular fungus possesses very similar features with Hericium erinaceus (Bull.) Pers.
Pleurotus opuntiae revisited e An insight to the phylogeny of dimitic Pleurotus species with emphasis on the P. djamor complex
Abstract The name Pleurotus opuntiae is indiscriminately used for describing mushrooms with white to off-white to white-grey pilei with short or absent stipe and dimitic hyphal system, which grow on plants of the genera Opuntia, Yucca, Agave, Phytolacca etc. However, the outcome of the present study evidences that this name should be reserved for specimens deriving from the Mediterranean area only; an epitype originating from Italy on Opuntia ficus-indica is designated. Pertinent material was sequenced by using the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and found to be phylogenetically related to P. djamor from Kenya and Nigeria, while members of the P. djamor complex from other continent…