title: Phylogenetic and microscopic studies in the genus Lactifluus (Basidiomycota, Russulales) in West Africa, including the description of four new species.
abstract: Despite the crucial ecological role of lactarioid taxa (Lactifluus, Lactarius) as common ectomycorrhiza formers in tropical African seasonal forests, their current diversity is not yet adequately assessed. During the last few years, numerous lactarioid specimens have been sampled in various ecosystems from Togo (West Africa). We generated 48 ITS sequences and aligned them against lactarioid taxa from other tropical African ecozones (Guineo-Congolean evergreen forests, Zambezian miombo). A Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree was inferred from a dataset of 109 sequences. The phylogenetic placement of the specimens, combined with morpho-anatomical data, supported the description of four new species from Togo within the monophyletic genus Lactifluus: within subgen. Lactifluus (L. flavellus), subgen. Russulopsis (L. longibasidius and L. pectinatus), and subgen. Edules (L. melleus). This demonstrates that the current species richness of the genus is considerably higher than hitherto estimated for African species and, in addition, a need to redefine the subgenera and sections within it.
authors.affiliation: Département de Botanique et Écologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, BP 1515, Lomé, Togo; ; Department Biology I, Organismic Biology: Mycology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Dao Lamèga
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Maba
authors.affiliation: Département de Botanique et Écologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, BP 1515, Lomé, Togo;
authors.forename: Atsu K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Guelly
authors.affiliation: Department Biology I, Organismic Biology: Mycology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München, Germany ; Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, BP 123, Parakou, Benin.
authors.forename: Nourou S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Yorou
authors.affiliation: Research Group Mycology, Department of Biology, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35 B - 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Annemieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Verbeken
authors.affiliation: Department Biology I, Organismic Biology: Mycology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzinger Straße 67, 80638 München, Germany.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agerer
keywords: Cryptic species; Distribution; Lactarius; Lactifluus; Molecular phylogeny; Taxonomy