Austroboletus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The widely distributed genus contains species that form mycorrhizal relationships with plants.
Taxonomy E. J. H. Corner originally defined Austroboletus as a subgenus of Boletus in his 1972 work Boletus in Malaysia, before it was raised to genus level in 1979 by mycologist Carl B. Wolfe. The type species is Austroboletus dictyotus, a fungus originally described by Karel Bernard Boedijn in 1960 as a member of the genus Porphyrellus. The generic name Austroboletus means "southern bolete".
In a 2014 molecular genetics study, Wu and colleagues defined 22 clades within the Boletaceae. They found the genus as understood to be polyphyletic – composed of two distinct lineages. One with pitted stipes, which remained as Austroboletus, while those with smoother stipes were moved to Veloporphyrellus. They delineated a subfamily Austroboletoideae, which contained genera with pitted spores, including Austroboletus, Fistulinella, Mucilopilus and Veloporphyrellus. These genera were notable in the family in that their fruit bodies generally do not change colour when bruised.
Description Although they resemble other boletes macroscopically, Austroboletus is differentiated microscopically with spores that are pitted, rather than smooth. The spore colour ranges from lilac- or pinkish-brown to wine-coloured. The pores and tubes are whitish. Members of the genus have a distinctive stipe marked by a coarse reticulate or lacunar (pitted) pattern—most prominent in species native to the western Pacific. The caps are usually dry when young, and sometimes sticky in maturity, with a surface texture ranging from smooth to tomentose to scaly. Microscopically, Austroboletus lacks clamp connections in the hyphae, and the presence of pleurocystidia and cheilocystidia (cystidia on the pore face and edge, respectively) is variable.
Habitat, distribution, and ecology Members of the genus are found mainly in the tropics, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia in the southern hemisphere and Japan and North America in the Northern Hemisphere. Two species are found in North America: A. gracilis and A. subflavidus. The majority of Austroboletus species form mycorrhizal relationships with plant species.
Species , Index Fungorum lists 38 valid species in the genus Austroboletus. Image Scientific name Taxon author Year Distribution A. albidusYan C. Li & Zhu L. Yang 2021 China (Jiangxi) A. albovirescensYan C. Li & Zhu L. Yang 2021China A. amazonicusA.M. Vasco-Pal. & C. López-Quint. 2014Colombia A. appendiculatusSemwal, D. Chakr., K. Das, Indoliya, D. Chakrabarty, S. Adhikari & Karun. 2017India A. asperK. Syme, Bonito, T. Lebel, Fechner & Halling 2020Queensland A. austrovirensN.A. Fechner, Bougher, Bonito & Halling 2017Queensland A. brunneisquamusN.K. Zeng, Chang Xu & S. Jiang 2021China A. cornalinus(Perr.-Bertr. & R.Heim) E.Horak 1980Gabon A. dictyotus(Boedijn) Wolfe 1980China (Hunan)A. eburneusWatling & N.M.Greg. 1986 Queensland A. festivus(Singer) Wolfe 1980 BrazilA. fusisporus(Kawam. ex Imazeki & Hongo) Wolfe 1980China (Yunnan) A. graciliaffinisSinger 1988 north of Brazil and in Colombia and VenezuelaA. gracilis(Peck) Wolfe 1980 Mexico to Costa Rica A. heterospermus(R.Heim & Perr.-Bertr.) Singer 1983A. lacunosus (Kuntze)T.W.May & A.E.Wood 1995 Australia, New caledonia and New Zealand A. latitubulosusE.Horak 1980 Papua New Guinea A. malaccensis(Pat. & C.F.Baker) Wolfe 1980 A. mucosus(Corner) Wolfe 1980 A. mutabilisHalling, Osmundson & M.A. Neves 2006northern AustraliaA. neotropicalisSinger, J.García & L.D.Gómez 1991Costa RicaA. occidentalisWatling & N.M.Greg. 1986Australia and southeastern Tasmania A. olivaceobrunneusYan C. Li & Zhu L. Yang 2021 China A. olivaceoglutinosusK.Das & Dentinger 2015India (Sikkim), China (Yunnan) A. olivaceusSinger 1983 A. purpurascens(Heinem.) E.Horak 1980ZaireA. rarus(Corner) E.Horak 1980Singapore and Australia A. rionegrensis(Singer & I.J.Araujo) Singer 1983 Brazil. A. roseialbusN.A. Fechner, Bonito, T. Lebel & Halling 2017eastern New South Wales A. rostrupii(Syd. & P.Syd.) E.Horak 1980Thailand, Singapore A. rubiicolor(Corner) E.Horak 1980 Singapore A. schichianus(Teng & L.Ling) E.Horak 1980ChinaA. subflavidus(Murrill) Wolfe 1980 United States(New Jersey to Florida and Texas) and Central AmericaA. subvirens(Hongo) Wolfe 1980Japan, Papua New Guinea A. trinitatensisWolfe 1988 A. tristis(Pat. & C.F.Baker) Wolfe 1980 A. viscidoviridisN.A. Fechner, Bonito, T. Lebel & Halling 2017Queensland A. yourkaeF.E. Guard, McMull.-Fish., Van Wyk, T. Lebel & Halling 2021Queensland
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