Species diversity, taxonomy, distribution and multi-gene phylogeny of chanterelles in China

The Chinese Chanterelles, or the members of Cantharellus and Craterellus are studied in the paper. They are widely distributed and have significant ecological and economic values. Although there have been several studies especially in recent years focusing on the chanterelle mushrooms in China, the research on their species diversity and phylogenetic relationships is still far from sufficient. In this study, taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses on the species diversity, distribution patterns, and interspecific relationships of Cantharellus and Craterellus in China were conducted through morphological examination and molecular phylogenetic analyses of multiple loci, including the internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS), the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nrLSU), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2), the translation elongation factor 1 gene (tef1), and the small subunit of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA gene (mtSSU). The results demonstrated that the species of Cantharellus formed seven subgenera level clades, and species of Craterellus formed six main clades. In total, 68 chanterelle species are recognized in China, including 42 species of Cantharellus and 26 species of Craterellus. Among them, there are 8 new species of Cantharellus: namely C. albidohymenius sp. nov., C. chrysantyemoides sp. nov., C. danxiashanensis sp. nov., C. pseudoaustrosinensis sp. nov., C. pseudohainanensis sp. nov., C. roseocastaneus sp. nov., C. sinolateritius sp. nov., and C. subtilis sp. nov.; and C. subvaginatus is a new recorded species for China. There are also 12 new species of Craterellus: namely Cr. aprilis sp. nov., Cr. brunneus sp. nov., Cr. guizhouensis sp. nov., Cr. gypseus sp. nov., Cr. parvofuscus sp. nov., Cr. sinensis sp. nov., Cr. Sinocornucopioides sp. nov., Cr. subalpinus sp. nov., Cr. sublutescens sp. nov., Cr. tengii sp. nov., Cr. tropicus sp. nov. and Cr. viridifuscus sp. nov.; and Cr. parvogriseus and Cr. sordidus are two newly recorded species for China. Besides, 5 new combination names are proposed. In addition, one ambiguous taxon was tentatively named as Craterellus sp., and five synonyms, Cr. connatus, Cr. fulviceps, C. laevigatus, Cr. longitipes and Cr. striatus were redefined. Among the accepted species, 36 known species were described in detail based on observations, and the other 9 species were reviewed. Furthermore, two new species, Cr. grisellonigricans sp. nov. and Cr. murinus sp. nov., from Vietnam were also described and introduced in the present study. Keys to the accepted species of Cantharellus and Craterellus in China were provided.