subgenus in Europe: expanded Sanger and Next Generation Sequencing unveil unexpected diversity in the Mediterranean.

Molecular phylogenies in the past decade have demonstrated that the described diversity of is still underestimated, especially outside continental and boreal ecoregions where the genus has been historically investigated. We tackled this issue by revisiting the so far unresolved subgenus , and focused on the largely unexplored Mediterranean hotspot of biodiversity. The sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of 161 vouchered collections from Austria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, including 16 types, allowed for the delineation of 11 species in this lineage, three of them recognised as new to science and formally introduced as , and spp.

section and section (, ), a morphogenetic overview of European and North American species.

is the largest genus of ectomycorrhizal fungi worldwide. Recent molecular studies have shown high levels of morphological homoplasy within the genus. Importantly, DNA phylogenies can reveal characteristics that have been either over- or underemphasized in taxonomic studies.