Phylogenetic and Morphological Evidence Reveal Five New Species of Boletes from Southern China

Abstract

Fungi of the order Boletales are extremely important in both ecology and economy, since most of them are ectomycorrhizal fungi, which play vital roles in maintaining forest ecosystems, water and soil protection, vegetation restoration and so on. Although previous studies have shown that this order has a very high species diversity in China, there are few reports on the species diversity of boletes in Jiangxi Province, China. Based on morphological (macroscopic and microscopic morphological characteristics) and phylogenetic analyses (ITS, LSU, and TEF1-α sequences), in this study, the wild boletes in Jiangxi Province were investigated, and five new species are described: Austroboletus albus, Xanthoconium violaceipes, Xanthoconium violaceofuscum, Xerocomus rutilans and Xerocomus subsplendidus. Descriptions and hand drawings of the new species are presented.