Alpova komoviana


Alpova komoviana is a species of ectomycorrhizal sequestrate fungus in the family Paxillaceae. It was first described as a new species in 2013 from collections made in Montenegro.

Taxonomy

The species was formally described in 2012 by mycologists Branislav Perić and Pierre-Arthur Moreau. The holotype was collected in August 2010 in the Komovi Mountains, Montenegro, under Alnus incana. The specific epithet komoviana refers to the Komovi massif.

Description

Basidiomata: The fruit bodies are hypogeous, subglobose to irregularly elongated, measuring 10–35 × 10–28 mm. The gleba is gelatinous, firm when young and softening with age, changing in colour from ochre to vinaceous pink or red-brown at maturity, with intermixed white veins forming an irregular reticulum.
Peridium: Two-layered. The peridiopellis is bright foxy-orange in KOH, 30–55 µm thick, made of catenulate hyphae. The subpellis is thick and pseudoparenchymatous.
Spores: Basidiospores are fusiform to cylindro-fusiform, measuring 6.3–7.33–8.3 × 2.7–3.09–3.5 µm. They are smooth, almost colourless in Melzer's reagent, and have a thickened wall up to 0.8–1 µm. Some larger sclerospores may be present.
Microscopic features: Basidia are 17–22 × 4–6 µm, cylindro-clavate, producing 8–10 spores. Clamp connections are present at all septa. The gleba contains characteristic "buffer cells" and thromboplerous hyphae with brown intracellular content. No parts of the fruit body are dextrinoid or amyloid.

Distribution

Alpova komoviana is so far known only from the Komovi Mountains in Montenegro.

Habitat

It occurs in riparian forests under Alnus incana, sometimes mixed with Abies alba or Fagus moesiaca. It forms ectomycorrhizal associations exclusively with Alnus incana ssp. incana.

Phylogeny

Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, gpd, and rpb2 gene sequences place A. komoviana in a basal position within the Alnus-associated Alpova lineage. It is distinguished from other European Alpova species by its longer spores, the presence of thromboplerous hyphae in the gleba, and a thick, foxy-orange peridiopellis in KOH.