Morphological study of sporocarpic Glomeromycotina species from Patagonian Nothofagaceae forests (Argentina-Chile).

COFRÉ, N.; SMITH M.E.; DOMINGUEZ, L.

Valdivia

Workshop; Mycorrhizal Symbiosis in the Southern Cone of South America; 2017

Universidad Austral de Chile, Universidad de La Frontera, Universidad de Concepción, Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Fruticultura, EarthShape Project (DFG)

Fungi are an important component of temperate forest soil communities. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) that form hypogeous sporocarps have been studied primarily in the Northern Hemisphere and very little is known about the diversity of these fungi in the Southern Hemisphere. Although the Nothofagaceae forests of Patagonia in Argentina and Chile tend to be dominated by ectomycorrhizal fungi, there is evidence that Nothofagaceae also form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations as well. During recent expeditions to collect fungi associated with Nothofagaceae trees in Argentina and Chile, we encountered several morphologically distinct species of sporocarpic Glomeromycotina. Here we examine and morphologically describe several rare, sporocarpic species that do not match the descriptions of any known species and are apparently new to science. All these fungi produce glomoid spores and have been found only one time. Only one sporocarpic species of Glomeromycotina, Glomus fuegianum (Speg.) Trappe & Gerd. has been previously documented from the Tierra del Fuego Archipielago. This study provides preliminary data on three additional new species, suggesting that the diversity of this group of fungi is likely much higher than previously thought in southern South America.