Multilocus phylogenetic analysis of true morels (Morchella) reveals high levels of endemics in Turkey relative to other regions of Europe

Abstract

The present study was conducted to better understand how the phylogenetic diversity of true morels (Morchella) in Turkey compares with species found in other regions of the world. The current research builds on our recently published surveys of 10 Turkish provinces and the northern hemisphere in which DNA sequence data from 247 and 562 collections respectively were analyzed phylogenetically. Herein we report on phylogenetic analyses of 243 additional collections made in spring 2009 and 2010 from eight additional provinces in the Aegean, Black Sea, central Anatolia, eastern Anatolia and Marmara regions of Turkey. Our analysis revealed that five species within the Esculenta clade (yellow morels) and 15 species within the Elata clade (black morels) were present in Turkey. Our preliminary results also indicate that M. anatolica, recently described from a collection in Muğla province in the Aegean region of Turkey, is a closely related sister of M. rufobrunnea; these two species comprise a separate evolutionary lineage from the Esculenta and Elata clades. Nine species of Morchella currently are known only from Turkey, four species were present in Turkey and other European countries and seven species might have been introduced to Turkey anthropogenically. Three of the putatively exotic species in Turkey appear to be endemic to western North America; they are nested within a clade of fire-adapted morels that dates to the late Oligocene, 25 000 000 y ago. Our results indicate that there are roughly twice as many Morchella species in Turkey compared with the other regions of Europe sampled. Knowledge of Morchella species diversity and their biogeographic distribution are crucial for formulating informed conservation policies directed at preventing species loss and ensuring that annual morel harvests are sustainable and ecologically sound.

Detection of Volatile Aroma Compounds of Morchella by Headspace Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HS-GC/MS)

“…Helium (1 ml/min) was used as Morchella is one of the most common mushrooms in Turkey, being found in almost every region of the country. Several morphological (Solak et al, 2007) and molecular (Taşkın et al, 2010(Taşkın et al, , 2012 studies have been done to identify the species in Turkey. However, there is no detailed study on the aroma components of this mushroom.…”

A review on research advances, issues, and perspectives of morels

“…Sequences generated in recent studies (Taşkın et al 2010, 2012; O’Donnell et al 2011; Du et al 2012a, 2012b) have been recorded in this site. The scientific community not only can freely download these sequences and access information for voucher specimens and/or cultures from this website, but also can contribute their validated sequences and information to the site.…”

“…Development of Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition (GCPSR) (Taylor et al 2000) provided a consensus criterion for resolving species relationships among fungi, including those of morels (Dettman et al 2003; Revankar and Sutton 2010; Taşkın et al 2010, 2012; O’Donnell et al 2011; Du et al 2012a; Zeng et al 2013; Elliott et al 2014; Pildain et al 2014; Voitk et al 2014). …”

“…Taşkın et al (2012) reported M. anatolica described in Işiloğlu et al (2010) also belonged to Rufobrunnea Clade which was represented by two extant species, M. rufobrunnea and M. anatolica .…”

“…In this section, the results reported in Taşkın et al (2010, 2012), O’Donnell et al (2011), Du et al (2012a, 2012b), Voitk et al (2014), Elliott et al (2014), Pildain et al (2014), Beug and O’Donnell (2014) and Richard et al (2014) have been integrated to provide a comprehensive picture of the species distribution and ecological diversity of Morchella .…”