Rediscovery of Roesleria subterranea from Japan with a discussion of its infraspecific relationships detected using molecular analysis

Abstract

Roesleria subterranea, a distinctive hypogeous fungus, was collected from unidentified deciduous plant roots in red pine forests. The fungus had been documented several times in the past in Japan, but with no description. A description is given here based on specimens collected in Japan. The sequence of the D1-D2 region of the 28S rDNA obtained from the isolate was identical to those of the European and American specimens. Maximum parsimony analysis incorporating the present data and all other available ITS-5.8S sequences for R. subterranea showed that there are two infraspecific groups. One of them, composed of the isolates from Vitis spp. in Germany, Italy, and USA, was monophyletic. The other group, composed of isolates from deciduous trees in various countries, including Japan, was paraphyletic. The phylogenetic patterns indicate that the host may be more important than geographical distance for the genetic diversification of R. subterranea.