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Challenges in the delimitation of morphologically similar species: a case study of Tuber brumale agg. (Ascomycota, Pezizales)

Merényi, Zsolt and Varga, Torda and Hubai, András Gábor and Pitlik, P. and Erős, Ágnes and Bratek, Zoltán (2017) Challenges in the delimitation of morphologically similar species: a case study of Tuber brumale agg. (Ascomycota, Pezizales). Mycological Progress, 16 (6). pp. 613-624. ISSN 1617-416X, ESSN: 1861-8952

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Abstract

Tuber brumale (winter truffle) is one of the most controversial true truffles, not only in regard to its ecological and economical role but also its taxonomy. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses have revealed that specimens identified earlier as T. brumale belong to two species. These species were deemed cryptic right away, because preliminary morphological measurements did not show any phenotypical differences. In this study, we measured the morphology of 119 T. brumale agg. specimens, identified by DNA-based phylogenetic tools. We found several continuous morphological characters which show strong statistical differences between the two species, albeit not without overlap. Using a combination of these characters, we show that efficient separation of the two species is possible. We describe T. cryptobrumale sp. nov. and present the environmental demands and the potential area reconstruction of both species. We argue that non-representative sampling is a major culprit in most failures to detect both the existence of morphologically similar species and their morphological differences. Our findings illustrate the benefits of integrative taxonomy: the use of a combination of molecular, morphological and ecological tools.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: COMPLEX; truffles; RESOLUTION; WIDESPREAD; RECOGNITION; BRYOPSIDALES; DIVERSITY; SP-NOV; CRYPTIC SPECIATION; Integrative taxonomy; Tuber cryptobrumale; Tuber brumale; SPECIES DELIMITATION; linear discriminant analysis; Cryptic and pseudocryptic species
Subjects: Q Science / természettudomány > QH Natural history / természetrajz > QH301 Biology / biológia
SWORD Depositor: MTMT SWORD
Depositing User: MTMT SWORD
Date Deposited: 24 Jan 2018 10:23
Last Modified: 24 Jan 2018 10:23
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/73269

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