One mushroom turned out to be 22 hidden species
Mycology
If you've ever hiked through a boggy northern forest and walked past an unremarkable little brown mushroom without a second glance, chances are you passed by several species no one had named until now.
Researchers studied small brown mushrooms called Inocybe, which grow in cold northern forests and arctic-alpine areas, by comparing their DNA. What looked like a handful of similar-looking species turned out to be 22 genetically distinct ones, 15 of which had never been described before. The team also found hints in environmental DNA samples that even more undiscovered species are hiding out there in the far north.
Key Findings
DNA analysis of three gene regions identified 22 distinct species within Inocybe sect. Petiginosae, a group of small brown mushrooms found across Europe and North America.
15 species were newly described (including I. abscondita, I. algida, I. boreonematoloma, and others), while 7 matched previously known species; three older names were reclassified as synonyms of other species.
Two additional genetic clusters detected only through environmental DNA from arctic-alpine zones suggest still-undescribed species remain to be found.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that a group of small brown mushrooms thought to be just a few species in Europe and North America is actually 22 distinct species, with 15 of them brand new to science. This reveals that fungal diversity in cold, far-north habitats is far richer than anyone realized.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Disentangling the species diversity of Inocybe sect. Petiginosae (Inocybaceae) in Europe and North America
Abstract A multigene phylogenetic assessment of European and North American species in Inocybe sect. Petiginosae based on ITS, LSU and RPB2 rDNA sequence data was undertaken to enable a systematic ...
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