Melanoleuca

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Melanoleuca
Melanoleuca cognata 20101010w.JPG
Melanoleuca cognata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Fungi
Division:
Basidiomycota
Class:
Agaricomycetes
Order:
Agaricales
Family:
incertae sedis
Genus:
Melanoleuca

Pat. (1897)
Type species
Melanoleuca melaleuca
(Persoon) Murrill (1911)
Synonyms [1] [2]
  • KiniaConsiglio, Contu, Setti & Vizzini (2008)
  • MelaleucaPat. (1887)
  • PsammosporaFayod (1893)
Melanoleuca
Information icon.svg
Gills icon.png Gills on hymenium
Convex cap icon.svgDepressed cap icon.svg Cap is convex or depressed
Adnate gills icon2.svgAdnexed gills icon2.svg Hymenium is adnate or adnexed
Bare stipe icon.svg Stipe is bare
Transparent spore print icon.svg
Transparent spore print icon.svg
 Spore print is white to cream
Saprotrophic fungus.svgEcology is saprotrophic
Mycomorphbox Edible.pngMycomorphbox Question.pngEdibility is edible or unknown

Melanoleuca is a poorly known genus of saprotrophic mushrooms traditionally classified in the family Tricholomataceae. Most are small to medium sized, white, brown, ocher or gray with a cylindrical to subcylindrical stipe and white to pale yellowish gills. The basidiospores are ellipsoid and ornamented with amyloid warts. [3] [4] [5] Melanoleuca is considered a difficult group to study due to their macroscopic similarities among species and the need of a thorough microscopic analysis to separate species. [6] DNA studies have determined that this genus is closely related to Amanita and Pluteus and that it does not belong to the family Tricholomataceae. [7] [8]

Contents

Etymology

The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek melano- meaning "black", and leukos meaning "white".

Description

General

As a genus Melanoleuca is quite distinctive, and it is not very hard to recognize a mushroom which belongs to it on sight. However the identification of its individual species is difficult due to a lack of clear macroscopic features; the delimiting characters used in descriptions and keys are such properties as the shape of cheilocystidia (if any are present), the size and ornamentation of the spores, and the structure of the pileipellis. Furthermore these characters may be very variable and overlap between taxa or depend on personal experience. Mycologists have up to now had considerable difficulty in establishing a widely accepted classification below the genus level. [9]

One recent paper dedicated to these mushrooms describes them as "one of the less appealing fungal genera" and "mostly tedious and drab in appearance and dull in pileus colours". [9]

Macroscopic characters

The fruit bodies of Melanoleuca are small to medium size (pileus 10–120 mm in diameter). The pileus is convex, often becoming depressed at the center, and is usually non-viscous and white, brown, ocher, or grey. The gills are adnexed, sinuate, adnate, or subdecurrent, white to yellowish. The stipe is central, cylindrical or slightly swollen at the base, dry and longitudinally striate. There is no veil. Odor and taste are usually indistinctive, mild, fungoid, sweet, or rancid. The spore print is white to pale yellowish. [4] [5]

Microscopic characters

Cystidia of Melanoleuca communis Cystidia Melanoleuca.jpg
Cystidia of Melanoleuca communis
Spores of Melanoleuca in a scanning electron microscope Melanoleuca spore SEM.jpg
Spores of Melanoleuca in a scanning electron microscope

The spores of Melanoleuca are 7.0–11.0 x 4.0–6.0  μm, thin-walled, ellipsoid, amyloid with ornamented warts. They look very similar to the spores of Leucopaxillus , however, Melanoleuca spores present a plage. Basidia are usually 4-spored, cylindrical to clavate. Pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia may be present or absent; if present they are urticoid and thin-walled or fusiform to lageniform and thick-walled. They can have crystals incrusted at the apex. Cystidia are very important to separate species within this genus. The pileipellis is a trichoderm, sometimes a cutis. The hymenophoral trama is parallel. Clamp connections are absent in all parts of the fruit body. [4] [5]

Classification and phylogeny

DNA studies have confirmed Melanoleuca as monophyletic (and definitely separate from genus Leucopaxillus , which is morphologically similar and previously thought to be allied). [9]

Other phylogenetic studies based on molecular characters have shown that Melanoleuca does not belong to the Tricholomataceae. [7] [8] Moncalvo et al. [7] presented a molecular phylogeny of the Agaricales based on LSU ribosomal RNA sequence data, including sequences of M. alboflavida and M. cognata . In this phylogeny Melanoleuca was clustered with Pluteus but with low bootstrap support. Matheny et al. [8] performed a phylogenetic analysis of the Agaricales based on six-gene regions, including sequences of M. verrucipes . In this analysis Melanoleuca, Pluteus and Volvariella were recovered as a monophyletic group and closely related with the aquatic gasteromycete Limnoperdon . These three genera together with members of the Amanitaceae and Pleurotaceae conformed the Pluteoid clade. Garnica et al. [10] and Binder et al. [11] recovered a similar topology with Pluteus, Volvariella and Melanoleuca as a monophyletic group. Justo et al. performed a molecular phylogeny of the family Pluteaceae and found Melanoleuca to be the sister group to a clade composed of Pluteus and Volvopluteus . [12] This clade was poorly supported in their analysis. [12]

Habitat and distribution

Melanoleuca species are saprotrophic; growing on soil in grasslands, deciduous and evergreen forests, and sand dunes. [4] [6] [13] They are cosmopolitan, but mainly distributed in temperate regions. Few species are known from the tropics. [4] [14]

Edibility

Melanoleuca species are reported to be edible. The most common species that are consumed are M. alboflavida, [15] M. cognata, M. evenosa, and M. melaleuca. [4] [16] [17] Melanoleuca strictipes is reported to be slightly toxic. [13]

Species

Murrill [18] published the description of 119 species from North America, those species were revisited by Pfister [19] who concluded that only six belong in Melanoleuca, while the rest belong to other genera as Clitocybe or Tricholoma . Singer [4] considered 48 species worldwide, while Bon [5] recognized 65 species from Europe. Kirk et al. [20] consider about 50 species worldwide.

Representative species

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaricales</span> Order of mushrooms

The Agaricales are an order of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics, but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are closely related and some belong in other orders, such as the Russulales and Boletales. Conversely, DNA research has also shown that many non-agarics, including some of the clavarioid fungi and gasteroid fungi belong within the Agaricales. The order has 46 extant families, more than 400 genera, and over 25,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. Species in the Agaricales range from the familiar Agaricus bisporus and the deadly Amanita virosa to the coral-like Clavaria zollingeri and bracket-like Fistulina hepatica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hygrophoraceae</span> Family of fungi

The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics, including Hygrophorus and Hygrocybe species, DNA evidence has extended the limits of the family, so it now contains not only agarics, but also basidiolichens and corticioid fungi. Species are thus diverse and are variously ectomycorrhizal, lichenized, associated with mosses, or saprotrophic. The family contains 34 genera and over 1000 species. None is of any great economic importance, though fruit bodies of some Hygrocybe and Hygrophorus species are considered edible and may be collected for sale in local markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricholomataceae</span> Family of fungi

The Tricholomataceae are a large family of fungi within the order Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Pluteaceae, or Entolomataceae.

<i>Ganoderma</i> Genus of mushroom

Ganoderma is a genus of polypore fungi in the family Ganodermataceae that includes about 80 species, many from tropical regions. They have a high genetic diversity and are used in traditional Asian medicines. Ganoderma can be differentiated from other polypores because they have a double-walled basidiospore. They may be called shelf mushrooms or bracket fungi.

<i>Rickenella</i> Genus of fungi

Rickenella is a genus of brightly colored bryophilous agarics in the Hymenochaetales that have an omphalinoid morphology. They inhabit mosses on mossy soils, peats, tree trunks and logs in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Phylogenetically related agarics are in the genera Contumyces, Gyroflexus, Loreleia, Cantharellopsis and Blasiphalia, as well as the stipitate-stereoid genera Muscinupta and Cotylidia. and the clavarioid genus, Alloclavaria.

<i>Lichenomphalia</i> Genus of fungi

Lichenomphalia is both a basidiolichen and an agaric genus. Most of the species have inconspicuous lichenized thalli that consist of scattered, small, loose, nearly microscopic green balls or foliose small flakes containing single-celled green algae in the genus Coccomyxa, all interconnected by a loose network of hyphae. The agaric fruit bodies themselves are nonlichenized and resemble other types of omphalinoid mushrooms. These agarics lack clamp connections and do not form hymenial cystidia. The basidiospores are hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, and nonamyloid. Most of the species were originally classified in the genera Omphalina or Gerronema. Historically the species were classified with those other genera in the family, the Tricholomataceae together with the nonlichenized species. Lichenomphalia species can be grouped into brightly colored taxa, with vivid yellow and orange colors, versus the grey brown group, depending upon the microscopic pigmentation deposits. Molecular research comparing DNA sequences now place Lichenomphalia close to the redefined genus Arrhenia, which together with several other genera not traditionally considered to be related, fall within the newly redefined Hygrophoraceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hymenogastraceae</span> Family of fungi

The Hymenogastraceae is a family of fungi in the order Agaricales with both agaric and false-truffle shaped fruitbodies. Formerly, prior to molecular analyses, the family was restricted to the false-truffle genera. The mushroom genus Psilocybe in the Hymenogastraceae is now restricted to the hallucinogenic species while nonhallucinogenic former species are largely in the genus Deconica classified in the Strophariaceae.

<i>Phaeocollybia</i> Genus of fungi

Phaeocollybia is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenogastraceae. They are characterized by producing fruit bodies (mushrooms) with umbonate caps and rough brown spores. The genus is widely distributed, and contains about 50 species. They are known for a long stipe which continues down into the ground, known as a rooting stipe or pseudorhiza formed as the fruitbody grows up from the subterranean colonized roots well below the organic soil layer. The genus is primarily mycorrhizal but may also be somewhat parasitic on forest trees.

Limnoperdon is a fungal genus in the monotypic family Limnoperdaceae. The genus is also monotypic, as it contains a single species, the aquatic fungus Limnoperdon incarnatum. The species, described as new to science in 1976, produces fruit bodies that lack specialized structures such as a stem, cap and gills common in mushrooms. Rather, the fruit bodies—described as aquatic or floating puffballs—are small balls of loosely interwoven hyphae. The balls float on the surface of the water above submerged twigs. Experimental observations on the development of the fruit body, based on the growth on the fungus in pure culture, suggest that a thin strand of mycelium tethers the ball above water while it matures. Fruit bodies start out as a tuft of hyphae, then become cup-shaped, and eventually enclose around a single chamber that contains reddish spores. Initially discovered in a marsh in the state of Washington, the fungus has since been collected in Japan, South Africa, and Canada.

<i>Infundibulicybe</i> Genus of fungi

Infundibulicybe is a genus of fungi that is robustly placed incertae sedis as sister group to the Tricholomatoid clade. It has previously been part of the family of Tricholomataceae, but recent molecular phylogeny has shown it to take an isolated position within the Agaricales.

<i>Phaeomarasmius</i> Genus of fungi

Phaeomarasmius is a genus of fungi in the family Tubariaceae. It was formerly thought to belong in the family Inocybaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, and contains about 20 species.

<i>Melanoleuca melaleuca</i> Species of fungus

Melanoleuca melaleuca is a species of mushroom in the family Tricholomataceae, and it is the type species of its genus Melanoleuca. It is difficult to distinguish from other related species firstly because it is variable, secondly because the taxonomic criteria are often based on characteristics which have later been found to be variable, and thirdly because there is much disagreement between authorities as to exactly how the species should be defined.

<i>Volvopluteus</i> Genus of fungi

Volvopluteus is a genus of small to medium-sized or big saprotrophic mushrooms growing worldwide. The genus has been segregated from Volvariella with which it shares some morphological characteristics such as the presence of a volva and a pink to pink-brown spore print. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA data have shown that Volvopluteus is closely related to Pluteus and both genera currently are classified in the family Pluteaceae, while Volvariella is not closely related to either genus and its position in the Agaricales is still uncertain.

<i>Volvariella surrecta</i> Species of fungus

Volvariella surrecta, commonly known as the piggyback rosegill, is an agaric fungus in the family Pluteaceae. Although rare, the species is widely distributed, having been reported from Asia, North America, Northern Africa, Europe, and New Zealand. The fungus grows as a parasite on the fruit bodies of other gilled mushrooms, usually Clitocybe nebularis. V. surrecta mushrooms have white or greyish silky-hairy caps up to 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter, and white gills that turns pink in maturity. The stipe, also white, is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) long, and has a sack-like volva at its base.

<i>Volvopluteus earlei</i> Species of fungus

Volvopluteus earlei is a species of mushroom in the family Pluteaceae. It was originally described in 1911 by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill as Volvariopsis earlei, based on collections made in a Cuban banana field. The fungus was later shuffled to the genera Volvaria and Volvariella before molecular studies placed it in Volvopluteus, a genus newly described in 2011.

<i>Volvopluteus michiganensis</i> Species of fungus

Volvopluteus michiganensis is a species of mushroom in the family Pluteaceae. It was originally described under the name Pluteus michiganensis but molecular studies have placed it in the Volvopluteus, a genus described in 2011. The cap of this mushroom is about 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in) in diameter, gray, and has a cracked margin that is sticky when fresh. The gills start out as white but they soon turn pink. The stipe is white and has a volva at the base. Microscopical features and DNA sequence data are of great importance for separating this taxon from related species. V. michiganensis is a saprotrophic fungus that was originally described as growing on sawdust. It has only been reported from Michigan (US) and the Dominican Republic.

<i>Volvopluteus asiaticus</i> Species of fungus

Volvopluteus asiaticus is a species of mushroom in the Pluteaceae family. The cap of this mushroom is about 70–90 mm (2.8–3.5 in) in diameter, greyish brown to brown. The gills start out white but they soon turn pink. The stipe is white and has a volva at the base. Microscopical features and DNA sequence data are of great importance for separating this taxon from related species. V. asiaticus is a saprotrophic fungus that was originally described as growing on the ground, in the humus layer. It is only known from Hokkaido (Japan).

<i>Saproamanita</i> Genus of fungi

The genus Saproamanita contains about 24 species of agarics and is one of six genera in the family Amanitaceae, of which the similar Amanita is also a member. Saproamanita differs from Amanita in that its species are saprophytic, and not ectomycorrhizal.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Edible [25]

Citations

  1. ↑ "Synonyms: Melanoleuca Pat". Index Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  2. 1 2 Vizzini A, Consiglio G, Setti L (2010). "The agaricoid genus Kinia is a new member of the Pluteoid clade subordinate to Melanoleuca" (PDF). Mycosphere. 1 (2): 141–145.
  3. ↑ Métrod G. (1948). "Essai sur le genre Melanoleuca Patouillard emend". Bulletin de la Société Mycologique de France. 64: 141–165.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Singer R. (1986). The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy (4th ed.). Koenigstein Königstein im Taunus, Germany: Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN   3-87429-254-1.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bon M. "Flore mycologique d'Europe, 2 - Les Tricholomes et ressemblants". Documents Mycologiques Mémoire Hors Series (in French). 2 (ii): 1–163.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Boekhout T. (1988). "Notulae ad floram agaricinam neerlandicam- XVI. New taxa, new combinations in Melanoleuca Pat. and notes on rare species in the Netherlands". Persoonia. 13 (4): 397–431.
  7. 1 2 3 Moncalvo JM, Vilgalys R, Redhead SA, Johnson JE, James TY, Catherine Aime M, Hofstetter V, Verduin SJ, Larsson E, Baroni TJ, Greg Thorn R, Jacobsson S, Clémençon H, Miller OK Jr (2002). "One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 23 (3): 357–400. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00027-1. PMID   12099793.
  8. 1 2 3 Matheny PB, Curtis JM, Hofstetter V, Aime MC, Moncalvo JM, Ge ZW, Slot JC, Ammirati JF, Baroni TJ, Bougher NL, Hughes KW, Lodge DJ, Kerrigan RW, Seidl MT, Aanen DK, DeNitis M, Daniele GM, Desjardin DE, Kropp BR, Norvell LL, Parker A, Vellinga EC, Vilgalys R, Hibbett DS (2006). "Major clades of Agaricales: A multilocus phylogenetic overview" (PDF). Mycologia. 98 (6): 982–985. doi:10.3852/mycologia.98.6.982. PMID   17486974.
  9. 1 2 3 Vizzini A, Para R, Fontenla R, Ghignone S, Ercole E (2011). "A preliminary ITS phylogeny of Melanoleuca (Agaricales), with special reference to European taxa". Mycotaxon. 118 (2): 361–381. doi:10.5248/118.361. hdl: 2318/91488 .
  10. ↑ Garnica S, Weiss M, Walther G, Oberwinkler F (2007). "Reconstructing the evolution of agarics from nuclear gene sequences and basidiospore ultrastructure". Mycological Research. 111 (9): 1019–1029. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.03.019. PMID   18022533.
  11. ↑ Binder M, Larsson KH, Matheny PB, Hibbett DS (2010). "Amylocorticiales ord. nov. and Jaapiales ord. nov.: early diverging clades of agaricomycetidae dominated by corticioid forms". Mycologia. 102 (4): 865–880. doi:10.3852/09-288. PMID   20648753. S2CID   23931256.
  12. 1 2 Justo A, Vizzini A, Minnis AM, Menolli Jr N, Capelari M, Rodríguez O, Malysheva E, Contu M, Ghignone S, Hibbett DS (2011). "Phylogeny of the Pluteaceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycota): Taxonomy and character evolution" (PDF). Fungal Biology. 115 (1): 1–20. doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2010.09.012. hdl: 2318/74776 . PMID   21215950.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Vesterholt J. (2012). "Melanoleuca". In Knudsen H.; et al. (eds.). Funga nordica: agaricoid, boletoid and cyphelloid genera (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Nordsvamp. pp. 477–481. ISBN   9788798396130.
  14. 1 2 Guzmán G. (1982). "New species of fungi form the Yucatan peninsula". Mycotaxon. 16 (1).
  15. ↑ Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-55407-651-2.
  16. 1 2 Arora D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi (2nd ed.). Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. ISBN   978-0898151695.
  17. 1 2 Bessette AE, Fischer D, Bessette AR (1997). Mushrooms of northeastern North America (1st ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. ISBN   978-0815603887.
  18. ↑ Murrill WA. "Melanoleuca". North American Flora. 10: 3–32.
  19. ↑ Pfister J. (1984). "Etudes des types de Peck et de Murrill appartenant ou ayant appartenu au genre Melanoleuca". Mycotaxon (in French). 19: 101–132.
  20. ↑ Kirk P, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Ainsworth & Bisby's dictionary of the fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, Oxon, UK: CABI. ISBN   9780851998268.
  21. ↑ Gillman LS, Miller OK Jr (1977). "A study of the boreal, alpine, and arctic species of Melanoleuca". Mycologia. 69 (5): 927–951. doi:10.2307/3758777. JSTOR   3758777.
  22. 1 2 Watling R, Turnbull E (1998). British fungus flora. Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden. ISBN   978-1872291826.
  23. ↑ Sánchez-García M, Cifuentes-Blanco J, Matheny B (2013). "Revisión taxonómica del género Melanoleuca en México y descripción de especies nuevas" (PDF). Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad (in Spanish). 84 (Suplemento–Micologia): 111–127. doi: 10.7550/rmb.31569 .
  24. ↑ Fontenla R, Gottadi M, Para R (2003). Osservazioni sul genere Melanoleuca. Fungi non deliniati. Vol. 25. Edizioni Candusso.
  25. ↑ Phillips, Roger (2010). Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books. p. 58. ISBN   978-1-55407-651-2.
  26. ↑ Singer R, Digilio APL (1952). "Pródromo de la Flora Agaricina Argentina". Lilloa (in French). 25: 5–461.
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