A review of the genus Amylostereum and its association with woodwasps

A fascinating symbiosis exists between the fungi, Amylostereum chailletii, A. areolatum and A. laevigatum, and various species of siricid woodwasps. These intrinsic symbioses and their importance to forestry have stimulated much research in the past. The fungi have, however, often been confused or misidentified. Similarly, the phylogenetic relationships of the Amylostereum species with each other, as well as with other Basidiomycetes, have long been unclear. Recent studies based on molecular data have given new insight into the taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Amylostereum. Molecular sequence data show that A. areolatum is most distantly related to other Amylostereum species. Among the three other known Amylostereum species, A. laevigatum and A. ferreum are most closely related. Sequence data have also made it possible to develop PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) fingerprints to delineate Amylostereum species, which presents a solution to the difficulties that are generally experienced when identifying these fungi using traditional methods. Furthermore, sequence data suggest that there is an evolutionary relationship between divergent groups of hymenomycetes such as Amylostereum species and Echinodontium species, as well as with Russula species, Heterobasidion species and Peniophora species. Recent studies that investigated the population structure of A. areolatum and A. chailletii have also substantially increased our understanding of the ecology of these species that are associated with woodwasps. Clonal lineages have been shown to occur in both A. areolatum and A. chailletii. These genetic lines, that arise as a result of the association with woodwasps, are distributed over large distances and are preserved in time. This character of the populations now presents an opportunity to trace the geographical origin of these fungi and their associated wasps as they spread across the world. The occurrence of heterogenic sequences in the nuc-IGSrDNA region of isolates of A. areolatum also gives insight into the structure and relationship among populations of this fungus that are isolated as a result of its association with different woodwasp species. We review these recent developments and opportunities for future research.

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