Diversity of Neotropical stalked-puffball: Two new species of Tulostoma with reticulated spores.

Species of the genus Tulostoma are easily recognizable by the presence of a spore sac, with a mouth from which spores are released, attached to a stipe. Tulostoma is a species-diverse genus with a worldwide distribution, and some attempts were made to delimitate species and to evaluate reliable taxonomic-informative characteristics for species identification. However, there is a notable information gap regarding Neotropical species, especially for geographic distribution and DNA data, which hampers further understanding of the infrageneric diversity, evolution, and ecology of this genus. Based on morphological analysis, molecular phylogenetics and geographic distribution, we propose here two new species of Tulostoma with reticulated spores, from the two threatened Brazilian geographical areas, Atlantic Forest and "campos rupestres" (rupestrian grassland), as well as we provide notes on the taxonomic rank of Tulostoma exasperatum var. ridleyi.

Obtaining monokaryotic and dikaryotic mycelial cultures of two Amazonian strains of Geastrum (Geastraceae, Basidiomycota)

The high diversity of the genus Geastrum and the difficulty of obtaining mycelial cultures impairs the study of the ecophysiology and the exploration of the biotechnological potential of the taxon. In this study, different culture media were tested to obtain mycelial cultures for G. lloydianum and G. subiculosum collected in the Brazilian Amazon. Data on spore germination, and isolation of monokaryotic cultures and in vitro sexual reproduction are presented, as well as a brief morphological description of the cultures obtained. For both species, Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) was the most promising of the tested culture media. The highest growth in agar culture ever recorded for this genus is reported (4.9 mm per week for G. lloydianum and 7.5 mm for G. subiculosum). In the PDA culture medium, spores germinated after 35-40 days of incubation and the isolation of monokaryotic cultures of the two species, as well as in vitro sexual crosses, were successfully performed. (AU)