Mycena jingyinga, Mycena luguensis, and Mycena venus: three new species of bioluminescent fungi from Taiwan

• Main Authors: Chiung-Chih Chang, Chi-Yu Chen, Wen-Wen Lin, Hsiao-Wei Kao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Taiwan University 2020-07-01
• Series: Taiwania
• Subjects: basidiomycetes; fragilipedes; its; phylogeny; rpb2; new taxa
• Online Access: https://taiwania.ntu.edu.tw/abstract.php?type=abstract&id=1700

Three new species of bioluminescent fungi - Mycena venus, M. luguensis, and M. jingyinga - are proposed based on phylogenetic and morphological analyses. Of the three new species, the luminescence only admits from the mycelia instead of the fruiting bodies. The DNA sequences of RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) and nuc rDNA ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2 (ITS) were used for phylogenetic analyses. The three new species are characterized by small size, white or brown, adnate to subdecurrent lamellae, pubescent stipe with fibrils at bases, four-spored basidia, amyloid spores, cheilocystidia with various shapes, and pileipellis hyphae with short, simple, or diverticulate excrescences. These characteristics are congruent with those of Mycena section Fragilipedes. The three new species bring the total number of bioluminescent fungi to 108 and 15 species in the world and Taiwan, respectively.