doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04192.x Molecular phylogenetic biodiversity assessment of arctic Blackwell Publishing Ltd

• Main Authors: József Geml, Gary A. Laursen, Ina Timling, Jack M. Mcfarland, Michael G. Booth, Niall Lennon, Chad Nusbaum, D. Lee Taylor
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.420.2036; http://www.lter.uaf.edu/pdf/1320_Geml_Laursen_2009.pdf

Despite the critical roles fungi play in the functioning of ecosystems, especially as symbionts of plants and recyclers of organic matter, their biodiversity is poorly known in high-latitude regions. In this paper, we discuss the molecular diversity of one of the most diverse and abundant groups of ectomycorrhizal fungi: the genus Lactarius Pers. We analysed internal transcribed spacer rDNA sequences from both curated sporocarp collections and soil polymerase chain reaction clone libraries sampled in the arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska. Our genetic diversity assessment, based on various phylogenetic methods and operational taxonomic unit (OTU) delimitations, suggests that the genus Lactarius is diverse in Alaska, with at least 43 putative phylogroups, and 24 and 38 distinct OTUs based on 95% and 97 % internal transcribed spacer sequence similarity, respectively. Some OTUs were identified to known species, while others were novel, previously unsequenced groups. Nonasymptotic species accumulation curves, the disparity between observed and estimated richness, and the high number of singleton OTUs indicated that many Lactarius species remain to be found and identified in Alaska. Many Lactarius taxa show strong habitat