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Phylogenetic Clusters of Commercial Blackish Tuber Species from Yunnan, China

  • Date of declaration:2020-04-30
King-Fai Wong、Chuen-Hsu Fu、Chieh-Lung Lin、Wing-Yi Cheung、Hoi-Tung Li
Year
2020
Key Words
black truffles, ITS phylogenetic analysis, morphology, pairwise comparison, phylogenetic clusters.
Abstract

Morphological and phylogenetic analyses were individually conducted for each commercial blackish Tuber from Yunnan Province, China. An internal transcribed spacer (ITS) phylogenetic analysis of Tuber ascocarps suggests that 3 phylogenetic clusters exist in Yunnan blackish truffles, which are the Indicum cluster, Formosanum cluster, and Pseudoexcavatum cluster. In total, 294 ITS sequences were obtained in 2017, among which 76% belonged to the Indicum cluster, 23% belonged to the Formosanum cluster, and 1% belonged to the Pseudoexcavatum cluster. Among the 10 ITS sequences obtained in 2016, 80% belonged to the Indicum cluster, and 20% belonged to the Formosanum cluster. The ratio of Indicum clusters to Formosanum clusters was approximately 4:1. Tuber ascocarps of the Pseudoexcavatum cluster were from Huize County; its members had a distinct morphology and could readily be distinguished from the others. Tuber ascocarps of Indicum and Formosanum clusters had no significant morphological differences, but a pairwise comparison suggested that their ITS sequences only shared 90.56~93.78% similarities. Blackish Tuber specimens from Gaoligong Mountain had a good aroma and were covered with soil containing metallic fragments; 75% of Tuber specimens from Gaoligong Mountain belonged to the Formosanum cluster.