A new species of Inosperma, and first record of I. afromelliolens (Inocybaceae, Fungi) from West Africa

PLoS One. 2023 Oct 18;18(10):e0290894. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290894. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Here, we present the newly identified Inosperma macrocarpa and the first record of I. afromelliolens from West Africa. Inosperma macrocarpa is nested in an Old World Tropical clade, based on a molecular phylogeny inferred from the sequences of ITS, LSU, RPB2, and TEF1. Complete descriptions and illustrations, including photographs and line drawings, of the new species are presented. Morphological and molecular analyses based on collections from Benin confirmed the presence of I. afromelliolens in West Africa. Toxicity analysis showed that neither species contained muscarine, which further supports the hypothesis that the ability to produce muscarine is a derived trait of Inosperma.

MeSH terms

  • Africa, Western
  • Agaricales*
  • Benin
  • Muscarine*
  • Phylogeny

Substances

  • Muscarine

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. NSFC31860009 & 32260005), and the Swedish Research Council (VR grant 2019-04406). Some field equipment were received from IDEA WILD, the additional samplings were carried out with the financing of Rufford Small Grants Foundation (grant No. 35556-B) and the microscope type Leica DM5700 used to make the drawings was offered to the University of Parakou by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD, grant n° PKZ 300499). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.