Meliniomyces, a new anamorph genus for root-associated fungi with phylogenetic affinities to Rhizoscyphus ericae (≡ Hymenoscyphus ericae), Leotiomycetes

By Sarah Hambleton, L. Sigler. 2005

166 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Sterile fungi isolated from surface-sterilized roots of the Ericaceae, and hypothesized to be conspecific based primarily on restriction fragment length polymorphisms, were provisionally named as Variable White Taxon (VWT). In preliminary resynthesis trials with Vaccinium myrtilloides or V. vitis-idaea, isolates did not form typical ericoid mycorrhizas. Additional isolates obtained from roots of the Orchidaceae, Pinaceae, Betulaceae and Salicaceae, and given informal names such as Sterile white 1 (SW1), were thought to represent the same taxon based on cultural similarities. To evaluate conspecificity and infer phylogenetic affinities, partial nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences were determined. Parsimony analyses supported a species level distinction for VWT/SW1 and indicated that the fungus is placed within the species complex referred to as the “ Hymenoscyphus ericae aggregate” which includes H. ericae ( Leotiomycetes ), many unnamed taxa and Cadophora finlandica. The new genus and species Meliniomyces variabilis is proposed to accommodate this root-associated fungus to facilitate discussion and information retrieval, and to provide a foundation for additional experimental work. Although isolates are sterile in culture, they can be identified by morphological characters in conjunction with ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence data. The mycorrhizal status of M. variabilis is not yet clear. In prior published results, strains demonstrated no or some colonization with ericoid and ectomycorrhizal hosts but did not form true ectomycorrhizas. ITS analyses indicated that the “ H. ericae aggregate” includes several other well-supported clades putatively named as Meliniomyces species. Representative strains were examined morphologically for two of these species, described as M. vraolstadiae and M. bicolor. Both include ectomycorrhizal mycobionts of the “ Piceirhiza bicolorata ” morphotype. Rhizoscyphus ericae is accepted as the appropriate name for H. ericae. Taxonomic novelties: Meliniomyces Hambleton & Sigler anam. gen. nov., Meliniomyces variabilis Hambleton & Sigler sp. nov., Meliniomyces bicolor Hambleton & Sigler sp. nov., Meliniomyces vraolstadiae Hambleton & Sigler sp. nov.

Subfields: Cell Biology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f98a162b772261a16e9857bd8a56e7587bec6f9c

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In Cell Biology

1. Leho Tedersoo
2. Matthew E. Smith
3. B. Naik
4. O. Alberton
5. J. Shashikala
6. T. May
7. Y. Krishnamurthy
8. R. Summerbell

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

1. B. Naik
2. J. Shashikala
3. Y. Krishnamurthy
4. Matthew E. Smith
5. Leho Tedersoo
6. A. Rinaldi
7. O. Comandini
8. R. Summerbell

In Plant Science

1. Leho Tedersoo
2. Matthew E. Smith
3. B. Naik
4. O. Alberton
5. J. Shashikala
6. T. May
7. Y. Krishnamurthy
8. A. Rinaldi

Citations in the corpus

• Ectomycorrhizal lifestyle in fungi: global diversity, distribution, and evolution of phylogenetic lineages (2010, background): “variabilis are saprotrophic, ericoid mycorrhizal with the Ericaceae or endophytic in the roots of trees and herbs (Vrålstad et al. 2002a, b; Hambleton and Sigler 2005).”
• Root endophyte and mycorrhizosphere fungi of black spruce, Picea mariana, in a boreal forest habitat: influence of site factors on fungal distributions (2005, background): “The latter, newly named (Hambleton & Sigler 2005–this volume), is reviewed in the context of its formal taxonomic description in present volume.”
• Ectomycorrhizal fungal diversity: seperating the wheat from the chaff (2008, background): “…of many other hypogeous fungi, ECM symbionts of Eucalyptus (see Claridge et al., 2000); 8 possibly a synonym of Gymnohydnotrya; 9 Several strains of Meliniomyces (3 spp.) have been reported to form ectomycorrhizas, while other strains are unspecified root endophytes (Hambleton and Sigler, 2005).”
• Dark septate root endophytic fungi increase growth of Scots pine seedlings under elevated CO2 through enhanced nitrogen use efficiency (2010, background): “However, Hambleton and Sigler (2005) mentioned an ECM isolate, while Piercey et al. (2002) reported that one strain of that fungus formed an intracellular association.”
• Diversity of fungal endophytes in shrubby medicinal plants of Malnad region, Western Ghats, Southern India (2008, methodology): “…2005) and DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) have now been used effectively for the phylogenetic classification of morphospecies of endophytes (Jeewon & Hyde 2006), and Hambleton & Sigler (2005) described a new genus with three new taxa based on gene sequence data of sterile mycelia.”
• Lineages of ectomycorrhizal fungi revisited: Foraging strategies and novel lineages revealed by sequences from belowground (2013, background): “Phylogenetic analyses of subgroups of Helotiales indicate that endophytic, ericoid mycorrhizal, soil-derived and EcM-associated isolates occur throughout the phylogeny (Vr alstad et al., 2002; Hambleton and Sigler, 2005).”