Evolutionary relationships of North American and European species of Gyromitra [poster]

Gyromitra is a genus of macroscopic apothecial ascomycetes collected in spring or fall in temperate and boreal forests throughout the northern hemisphere. Nuclear ribosomal 28S large subunit sequence data from 63 specimens from North America and 43 specimens from Europe were used in maximum-likelihood and Bayesian analyses to reconstruct a phylogeny of Gyromitra in the northern hemisphere. Gyromitra sensu lato forms a monophyletic group composed of six major clades including Subg. Discina (G. gigas, G. korfii, G. leucoxantha), Subg. Caroliniana (G. ancilis, G. brunnea, G. caroliniana,), Subg. Gyromitra (G. ambigua/G. infula, G. esculenta), Subg. Melaleucoides (G. melaleucoides and Hydnotrya), Subg. Pseudorhizina (G. californica, G. sphaerospora), and a clade which includes two sequences originally identified as G. leucoxantha which are distant from the remainder of the G. leucoxantha sequences in Subg. Discina and represent an undescribed species. The inability to better resolve taxa in the G. gigas and G. ambigua/G. infula species complexes warrants a multilocus study of Gyromitra.