Exploring the history of the convergent evolution of hypogeous fungi based on their island phylogeography

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25840149
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biodiversity/Systematics
• Research Institution: Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Natural History
• Principal Investigator: Orihara Takamichi 神奈川県立生命の星・地球博物館, 学芸部, 学芸員 (30614945)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 菌類 / 分類学 / 地下生菌 / シクエストレート菌 / 生物地理学 / 種分化 / 平行進化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study we first aimed to clarify diversity of hypogeous (sequestrate) fungi in island regions of Japan and addressed their systematics. We further planned to conduct molecular clock analyses based on divergence of hypogeous fungi that showed vicariance between the mainland of Japan and the smaller islands such as Ryukyu Islands coupled with the dates of strait formation between these regions. We found novel genus- and species-level lineages of hypogeous fungi and described several new taxa in the Boletaceae (e.g., the genus Turmalinea). Furthermore, we showed certain degrees of genetic divergence between species- and infraspecies-level lineages of hypogeous fungi that reflected the vicariance between the mainland and smaller islands. The degrees of divergence is, however, significantly varied among lineages, and a few of them showed little or no divergence. We therefore concluded that is it premature to apply the genetic information of the vicariance to molecular clock analyses.

Free Research Field

菌類系統分類学