title: Acaulospora brasiliensis comb. nov. and Acaulospora alpina (Glomeromycota) from upland Scotland: morphology, molecular phylogeny and DNA-based detection in roots.
abstract: Spores of two supposedly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species, new to the United Kingdom and recently described as Acaulospora alpina and Ambispora brasiliensis (Glomeromycota), were discovered in soil samples from moorland in upland Scotland. Soil and plant trap pot cultures were established, but attempts to establish these fungi in single-species pot cultures with Plantago lanceolata as host were unsuccessful. Nevertheless, based on a 1.5-kb DNA fragment spanning part of the small subunit rRNA gene, the internal transcribed spacer region and part of the large subunit rRNA gene, both these species could be detected directly in field-sampled roots, together with one uncultured species each of Scutellospora, Rhizophagus (former Glomus group Ab, or 'Glomus intraradices clade') and Acaulospora. Whereas A. alpina has characteristic morphological similarities to other species in its genus, A. brasiliensis morphologically has little in common with any other species in Ambispora. The molecular phylogeny, DNA barcoding and morphological evidence clearly place A. brasiliensis in the genus Acaulospora. We therefore rename the species, reported from Brazil and Scotland, as Acaulospora brasiliensis comb. nov., and discuss ecological aspects of the very different environments from which A. brasiliensis and A. alpina have been reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Genetics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 4, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.affiliation: Honorary Research Associate, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK.|Honorary Research Fellow, School of Earth Sciences and Environment, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Genetics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Grosshaderner Str. 4, 82152, Planegg-Martinsried, Germany. arthur.schuessler@lmu.de.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schüßler
mesh_terms: D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics*; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics; D055137:Glomeromycota / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016533:Mycological Typing Techniques; D038821:Mycorrhizae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology*; D010944:Plants / Q000382:microbiology; D012606:Scotland; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer