ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Fungal Biol.
Sec. Fungal Genomics and Evolution
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ffunb.2025.1599905
Multi-loci phylogeny reveals unexpected novelty of Thelephora palmata complex (Thelephoraceae, Thelephorales) from China
Provisionally accepted
Tai-Jie Yu1*
Rou Xue1,2Lin-Jie Su1Xing Xia1Jia Li1Chang Xu1Han-Chi Lei1Wen-Hao Zhang1Jing Ma1Hong-Yan Huang3Xiu-Juan Li1Yu-Xian Gao1Zhi-Xiang Zhang4Li Li5Guo-Li Zhang1*Li-Ping Tang1*- 1Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
- 2Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan Province, China
- 3Lishui University, Lishui, Zhejiang, China
- 4Wenshan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wenshan, China
- 5Jingdong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Puer, China
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Thelephora palmata is a well-known species morphologically characterized by coralloid and leathery basidiomata with numerous fuscous purple to blackish brown branches. It was once considered to exhibit a wide ecological range and distribution area. However, comprehensive phylogenetic analysis based on four-loci (ITS, nrLSU, rpb2 and nrSSU) revealed that T. palmata sensu lato represents a species complex consisting of at least twelve cryptic taxa, with a biogeographic distribution pattern bounded by geographic regions: Asia, Eurasia, Europe and North America. In this study, we proposed eight new taxa based on available specimens. Among them, seven new species and one forma from China were described here based on phylogenetic analyses, morphological examinations and environmental niche comparisons, viz., T. apiculata, T. cornu-damae, T. densa, T. esculenta, T. fuscidula, T. sinopalmata, T. truncicola and T. truncicola f. pallescens. Recent molecular phylogenetic analyses, nevertheless, cast doubt on the monophyly of genus Thelephora as previously defined. According to molecular phylogenetic analyses, Thelephora has an exceptionally close phylogenetic affiliation with Tomentella, and both genera were generally intermingled on the same evolutionary branches and did not form separate monophyletic groups,
Keywords: ectomycorrhiza, Edible mushroom, cryptic species, Molecular Systematics, Taxonomy
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Xue, Su, Xia, Li, Xu, Lei, Zhang, Ma, Huang, Li, Gao, Zhang, Li, Zhang and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tai-Jie Yu, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
Guo-Li Zhang, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
Li-Ping Tang, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
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