Nutritional value, chemical composition and antioxidant activity of the traditional edible truffles Tuber latisporum, T. subglobosum and T. pseudohimalayense, from China were evaluated. Powder formulations of the three truffles revealed the presence of essential nutrients, such as proteins, carbohydrates and unsaturated fatty acids, and T. latisporum presented the highest contents of total sugar (50.10 g/100 g) and monounsaturated fatty acids (265.19 mg/100 g dw); T. pseudohimalayense showed the highest content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (367.98 mg/100 g dw). They all presented a low fat content but high contents of proteins and unsaturated fatty acid, which is beneficial to human health. The methanol extract from T. pseudohimalayense showed a high radicals scavenging activity and the highest content of total phenols (735.01 mg/100 g dw); T. subglobosum presented the highest content of flavonoids (1355.43 mg/100 g dw). All these extracts could be used as potential antioxidant sources to prevent diseases related to oxidative damage.

In China the species name Tuber californicum is assigned to pale truffles in the genus Tuber that have more or less regularly globose ascospores; however, we recently discovered that the name was misapplied to some specimens collected in China. In the present study we re-examined all available Chinese collections purported to be T. californicum, including herbarium specimens and newly collected materials, with morphological and molecular methods. The accessions separated into seven clusters in a phylogenetic analysis based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacers sequences of these materials. An ML tree generated with ITS, nuc 28S rDNA and translation elongation factor-1α sequences from Chinese and worldwide Tuber species with globose ascospores showed only two clades, the Puberulum clade and Latisporum clade. The Latisporum clade as recognized in this study includes the species known from eastern Asia only and probably represents a new lineage that arose in parallel with the Puberulum, Maculatum and Gibbosum lineages. We concluded that no evidence supports the existence of T. californicum in China and that the specimens misidentified as T. californicum belong to four species newly described herein, T. xuanhuaense, T. jinshajiangense, T. caoi and T. parvomurphium.

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In phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacers and 28S nuc rDNA and translation elongation factor 1-α to compare Chinese white truffle specimens that have ascomata resembling the European Tuber borchii, the sequences of Chinese species resembling T. borchii in morphology grouped into seven distinct clusters among three clades: Puberulum, Maculatum and Latisporum No sequences from these Chinese species matched those of the European T. borchii and the occurrence of the European T. borchii in China could not be supported by our study. Three unknown species are recognized from the seven Chinese clusters; two are described here as T. hubeiense and T. wumengense based on molecular and morphological evidence.

Malanogaster are ectomycorrhizal fungi characterized by hypogeous fruitbodies. Many ITS rDNA sequences of Malanogaster are recovered from molecular surveys of fungal communities, and remain insufficiently identified making it difficult to determine whether these sequences represent conspecific or novel taxa. In this study, the ITS sequences of Malanogaster were collected comprehensively and analyzed within ITS-based phylogenetic framework. Twenty-one distinct phylogenetic species can be distinguished based on the ITS phylogeny and a threshold of 98% ITS sequence identity, and most species of Melanogaster showed more than 98.1% intraspecific ITS identity and less than 97.9% interspecific identity. Ten species were recognized from China, but combined morphology, nine of which were described and illustrated in this manuscript, including 4 new species (M. minobovatus nov. sp., M. panzhihuaensis nov. sp., M. quercus nov. sp. and M. tomentellus nov. sp.), 1 new combination (M. obvatus comb. & stat. nov.), and 4 known species (M. broomeanus, M. shanxiensis, M. spinisporus, M. subglobisporus). Significantly amendments were added to M. spinisporus and M. subglobisporus. M. fusisporus was added a new mature specimen from type location, and the description and exquisite illustrations were provided also. The diagnostic characteristics of the genus Melanogaster and a key to the Chinese species of the genus Melanogaster were provided. A 28 Sphylogeny was also conducted to confirm the phylogenetic locations of Chinese Melanogaster species and “Alpova trappei”, consistented with ITS analysis.