Two new species in the Suillus spraguei complex from China.

Suillus spraguei, synonymS. pictus, has been reported from eastern North America and eastern Asia associated withPinussubgenusStrobus. Published phylogenetic analyses of rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence and population genetic studies indicated thatS. spragueias currently circumscribed might contain several geographically distinct species. This study examined this possibility through a multigene analysis ofS. spragueispecimens from eastern North America and eastern Asia. These specimens were associated withPinus strobus, P. koraiensis, P. armandii, andP. kwangtungensis. The multigene analysis included three genomic regions: the genes for translation elongation factor 1α (TEF1) and RNA polymerase II largest subunit (RPB1), and the nuc rRNA segments ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) and 28S D1–D2 domains (28S). This study confirms that theS. spragueicomplex consists of at least three cryptic species:S. spragueisensu stricto associated withP. strobusin eastern North America;S. phylopictusassociated with multiple species inPinussubgenusStrobus(5-needle pines) throughout China and Japan; andS. kwangtungensis, currently found only inP. kwangtungensisforests in southeastern China. A third new species from Japan and Korea was suggested based on ITS phylogeny. Morphologically,S. spragueiandS. phylopictusresemble each other, whereasS. kwangtungensisis covered with more floccose scales. The new species add to the knowledge of macrofungal diversity in eastern Asia and highlight the necessity of comparing broadly distributed species complexes using morphological, molecular, and ecological data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]