<i>Tuber torulosum</i>: A new truffle species decorated with moniliform cystidia from Japan

Abstract

The genus Tuber is an ectomycorrhizal ascomycetous taxon that belongs to the Pezizales. All members of this genus form symbiotic associations with forest tree species in families such as Fagaceae and Pinaceae and produce hypogeous fruiting bodies that are known as truffles (Hall, Brown, & Zambonelli, 2007). Some species of truffles are sought after as gourmet foods (e.g., the black truffle T. melanosporum Vittad. and the white truffle T. magnatum Pico), and the discovery of new taxa is expected to contribute to our understanding of fungal diversity and may provide new food resources.In our previous phylogenetic study of Japanese Tuber specimens, we found that the genus contains 20 phylotypes, two of which form a novel lineage: the Japonicum clade (Kinoshita, Sasaki, & Nara, 2011). The clade is composed of two Japanese species,