Loose Ends in the Phylogeny: Five New Myxotelamonoid Species Indicate a High Diversity of These Ectomycorrhizal Fungi with South American .

This paper is a contribution to the current knowledge of taxonomy, ecology and distribution of South American (Pers.) Gray. is among the most widely distributed and species-rich basidiomycete genera occurring with South American and species are found in many distinct habitats, including shrublands and forests. Due to their ectomycorrhizal role, species are critical for nutrient cycling in forests, especially at higher latitudes. Some species have also been reported as edible fungi with high nutritional quality. Our aim is to unravel the taxonomy of selected belonging to phlegmacioid and myxotelamonioid species based on morphological and molecular data. After widely sampling specimens in Patagonian forests and comparing them to reference collections (including holotypes), we propose five new species of in this work. Phylogenetic analyses of concatenated rDNA ITS-LSU and 1 sequences failed to place these new species into known sections or lineages. These findings highlight our knowledge gaps regarding the fungal diversity of South American forests. Due to the high diversity of endemic Patagonian taxa, it is clear that the South American diversity needs to be discovered and described in order to understand the evolutionary history of on a global scale.