Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Hebeloma Subtortum (Hymenogastraceae), a New Record Macrofungus From Bingol Province, Turkey

Abstract

Aim of Study: The specimen identified as Hebeloma subtortum based on both morphological and molecular characterizations. Area of Study: Samples were collected from Bingol province and the study was conducted at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Van Yuzuncu Yil University. Material and Methods: Characters of pileus, stipe, lamellae and basidia, cystidia, spores were used as macroscopic and microscopic features, respectively. DNA sequences of two loci including the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the large subunit (LSU) of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene were used to show the evolutionary relationship and taxonomic position of the species within Hebeloma genus. The DNA sequences of the above-mentioned regions of H. subtortum were compared to those of the same and different species of the genus downloaded from NCBI. Main results: In phylogenetic analyses, H. subtortum distinctly clustered with its representatives retrieved from NCBI with high bootstrap value. The ITS tree was more informative compared to LSU. Hebeloma subtortum closely grouped with H. mesophaeum in the ITS tree. Research highlights: Hebeloma subtortum has been described and illustrated as a new record from Turkey.