Phylogenetic analyses of Coprinopsis sections Lanatuli and Atramentarii identify multiple species within morphologically defined taxa

Abstract

Sections Lanatuli and Atramentarii of the genus Coprinopsis contain some of the best known and most important agaric species, including C. cinerea and C. lagopus, yet a critical, phylogeny-based assessment of the species limits has not been carried out. Taxa have been characterized chiefly on the basis of morphological characters, which however show little discriminatory power and/or considerable overlap between several species pairs. We used ITS and LSU sequence data of 29 described taxa in Coprinopsis sections Lanatuli and Atramentarii to infer species limits and the correspondence between morphological characters and species lineages, as well as to examine the phylogenetic affinities of sections Lanatuli and Atramentarii. Our analyses recovered three large clades, implying a paraphyly for section Lanatuli. Based on morphology and clade structure, we estimate ca. 38 species in the two sections, including several potentially new taxa, three of which are described herein. Coprinopsis pachyderma, C. lagopus var. vacillans, C. acuminata, C. spelaiophila, Coprinus citrinovelatus and Cop. brunneistrangulatus were found to be synonymous with other, earlier described species. Congruent with previous mating studies, our analyses recovered multiple, morphologically indistinguishable lineages within C. lagopus, which included C. lagopus var. vacillans, an ephemeral, developmental variant. Morphological traits supporting the inferred clade structure are discussed. Three new taxa (C. fusispora, C. babosiae, C. villosa), and one new combination (C. mitraespora) are proposed.

Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora: a distinct new coprinoid species from Poland (Central Europe)

“…Many of the recently described coprinoid fungi differ only slightly from the earlier recognized species or are even indistinguishable without molecular data (Raut et al 2011;Nagy et al 2013a). By contrast, Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora described here has a unique and distinct combination of characters (Figs.…”

“…In contrast, C. calospora is related to C. cinerea (Schaeff.) Redhead, Vilgalys & Moncalvo as shown by Nagy et al (2013a). The well-developed episporium in Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora is not typical for species assigned to the subsections Lanatuli and Nivei but is characteristic for Coprinopsis species from the subsection Narcotici of Coprinus s.l.…”

“…The molecular analyses revealed Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora as sister species to C. insignis (Peck) Redhead, Vilgalys & Moncalvo and C. fusispora L.Nagy, Vágvölgyi & T.Papp, members of the Atramentarii clade (Nagy et al 2013a), which altogether formed a lineage showing strong support in the Bayesian analysis (PP = 0.99) and moderate support in ML analysis (BP = 64%). The clade is sister and basal to the large assemblage of 18 Coprinopsis species belonging to the subsection Lanatuli of Coprinus s.l.…”

“…are demarcated with colored squares, and three Agrocybe species were included as outgroup. The species assigned to the so-called Atramentarii clade by Nagy et al (2013a) are demarcated within lineage containing species showing characters of the morphological subsection Lanatuli experts of Coprinopsis taxonomy (Keirle et al 2004;Navarro-González et al 2006;Garcia and Vellinga 2010;Nagy et al 2010aNagy et al , 2011Nagy et al , 2013aGeml et al 2012;Osmundson et al 2013;Ruiz et al 2013;Ö rstadius et al 2015;Elwess et al 2016; and some unpublished sequences available in GenBank). A total of 85 sequences were aligned using MUSCLE algorithm and default settings (Edgar 2004) to obtain preliminary hypothesis on the phylogenetic placement of Coprinopsis rugosomagnispora (data not shown).…”

“…These species were previously classified in one genus, Coprinus Pers., but molecular studies revealed that the genus is split into four main lineages assigned to four genera: Coprinus s. s., Coprinellus P.Karst., Coprinopsis P.Karst., and Parasola Redhead, Vilgalys & Hopple (Hopple and Vilgalys 1999;Moncalvo et al 2002;Padamsee et al 2008;Larsson and Ö rstadius 2008;Nagy et al 2009Nagy et al , 2010aNagy et al , b, 2011Nagy et al , 2012Nagy et al , 2013a. The coprinoid fungi with a veil composed of smooth, (sub)globose elements, and lacking pileocystidia belonged to subsection Nivei of Coprinus s.l.…”