Identification and Characterization of Ectomycorrhizal Cortinarius Species (Agaricales, Basidiomycetes) from Temperate Kashmir Himalaya, India, by ITS Barcoding

The coniferous forests of Kashmir Himalayas provide a sustainable habitat for wide varieties of ectomycorrhizal fungi. The identification and characterization of many of these fungi however largely involves morphological descriptions of sporocarps alone, thus sometimes raising questions about the authenticity of these studies. The present study was carried out to identify and characterize ectomycorrhizal fungi from the coniferous forests of Kashmir Himalaya using both morphological and molecular methods. Herein we report on the identification and characterization of three potential ectomycorrhizal Cortinarius fungal species, namely, Cortinarius flexipes (Pers. Ex Fr.), Cortinarius fulvoconicus M. M. Moser, and Cortinarius infractus (Pers.) Fr., from Kashmir Himalaya, India, on the basis of their morphological and molecular characterization. Morphological characteristics of all species were measured and compared with standard taxonomic literature. ITS-rDNA (the fungal molecular marker) was used for molecular analysis. The target region of rDNA (ITS1 5.8s ITS2) of these species was amplified using universal fungal primers (ITS1 and ITS4). The sequencing of amplified products and their subsequent blast analysis confirmed the identification of species by comparing the sequences of these species with respective species sequences present in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis also confirmed the identification of species.