Abstract
The identification of fungal species belonging to Hebeloma subgenus Porphyrospora is controversial due to only subtle morphological differences between taxa. Occurrences of ectomycorrhizal ammonia fungi belonging to Hebeloma subgenus Porphyrospora have been recorded from Japan, China, New Zealand, and Australia. To elucidate phylogenetic relationships among Hebeloma spp. belonging to Porphyrospora, i.e., Hebeloma sp. from New Zealand, Hebeloma aminophilum from Australia, and Hebeloma vinosophyllum from Japan, we evaluated sequences of both nuclear ribosomal ITS and beta-tubulin genes (long and short sequences). The aligned sequences were analyzed by neighbor-joining and maximum parsimony methods. The phylogenetic trees resolved from three kinds of sequences indicate that specimens examined can be segregated into two groups, one comprising Hebeloma sp. from New Zealand and H. aminophilum, and another containing H. vinosophyllum. To clarify the taxonomic rank of the two groups, di-mon mating tests were undertaken between monokaryotic tester strains of H. vinosophyllum and dikaryotic strains of Hebeloma sp. from New Zealand and of H. aminophilum.
