Amanita sect. Phalloideae: Two Interesting Non-Lethal Species from West Africa

Abstract The members of Amanita sect. Phalloideae (Fr.) Quél. are responsible of a lot of fatalities worldwide. However, a limited number of species in this section were described as non-lethal because of the lack of deadly toxins. Sequences of species belonging to the section from tropical Africa, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe were involved in this study. Sequences of five genes (ITS, nrLSU, RPB2 , TEF1-α , β-tubulin ) were used to elucidate the phylogenetic affinities among the species. The results indicated that the section has three subclades, one lethal subclade (subclade I) and two non-lethal subclades (subclade II and subclade III). Moreover, two non-lethal species from tropical Africa, namely A. ballerinoides and A. bulbulosa were newly described based on both morphology and molecular approaches. Phylogenetically, they cluster in the same subclade (subclade III) with other known non-lethal amanitas, including A. ballerina, A. chuformis, A. franzii, A. levistriata, and A. pseudogemmata . Neither amatoxins nor phallotoxins were detected in A. ballerinoides and A. bulbulosa by LC-HRMS, which agree with their placements in the non-lethal subclade III within A. sect. Phalloideae . Finally, a key to the West African species of Amanita sect. Phalloideae is provided.