The coevolution of fungus-ant agriculture.

Fungus-farming ants cultivate multiple lineages of fungi for food, but, because fungal cultivar relationships are largely unresolved, the history of fungus-ant coevolution remains poorly known. We designed probes targeting >2000 gene regions to generate a dated evolutionary tree for 475 fungi and combined it with a similarly generated tree for 276 ants. We found that fungus-ant agriculture originated ~66 million years ago when the end-of-Cretaceous asteroid impact temporarily interrupted photosynthesis, causing global mass extinctions but favoring the proliferation of fungi.

Molecular insights into fungal diversity reveal three novel species of from southern Punjab, Pakistan.

Three novel species of the genus , named , and , are described from unexplored regions of southern Punjab, Pakistan, based on comprehensive analyses of morphoanatomical characteristics and molecular phylogenetic data. We provide illustrations of freshly collected basidiomata and detailed line drawings highlighting key anatomical features. The molecular phylogenetic analyses, which are based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and combined ITS-28S sequences, consistently position these newly described species within the genus .

() in western North America.

Understanding diversity in the genus in western North America has been obscured by morphological variability, widespread use of species epithets typified by specimens from Europe and eastern North America, misunderstood phylogenetic relationships, and species complexes. We collected extensively and used genetic and morphological data to establish the occurrence of ten species in western North America. We generated ITS sequences from five type collections and from vouchered representative collections to clarify our understanding of existing species concepts.

A multi-gene phylogeny of (, ): new species, new combination and infrageneric classification.

Taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of were carried out on the basis of morphological differences and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Based on the phylogeny inferred from the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the partial large subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrLSU), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II () and translation elongation factor 1-α () sequences, six well-supported clades and 17 phylogenetic species are recognised. Within this phylogenetic framework and considering the diagnostic morphological characters, two new species, and , are described.