Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 767 No. 3: 23 Jul. 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-07-23
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.767.3.3
Page range: 236-244
Abstract views: 26
PDF downloaded: 1

Discina anatolica sp. nov. (Pezizales, Discinaceae) from Türkiye, with morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence

Department of Biology; Faculty of Science; Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University; Muğla; Türkiye
Kocaeli Health Services Vocational School; Kocaeli Univ.; Kocaeli; Türkiye
Department of Biology; Faculty of Arts and Science; Gaziosmanpaşa University; Tokat; Türkiye
Program of Elementary Science Education; Faculty of Education; Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University; Kötekli; Muğla; Türkiye (Emeritus)
Fungi New species Ascomycota ITS phylogeny taxonomy

Abstract

A new species, Discina anatolica, is described from Türkiye based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence. The species is characterized by its large, sessile to substipitate, discoid to irregularly lobed ascomata. Discina anatolica is differentiated from its morphologically closest relatives by its consistently broader ascospores. Phylogenetic analyses based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences strongly support D. anatolica as a distinct lineage within the genus Discina. A comprehensive description, illustrations, and a discussion of diagnostic characters distinguishing the new species from its closest relatives are provided. The discovery of D. anatolica highlights the presence of previously undocumented fungal diversity within Discina and emphasizes the importance of integrative taxonomic approaches for resolving species boundaries in morphologically similar taxa.

References

  1. Abbott, S.P. & Currah, R.S. (1997) The Helvellaceae: systematic revision and occurrence in Northern and Northwestern North America. Mycotaxon 62: 1–125. https://doi.org/10.5962/p.415276
  2. Dirks, A.C., Methven, A.S., Miller, A.N., Orozco-Quime, M., Maurice, S., Bonito, G., Van Wyk, J., Ahrendt, S., Kuo, A., Andreopoulos, W., Riley, R., Lipzen, A., Chovatia, M., Savage, E., Barry, K., Grigoriev, I.V., Bradshaw, A.J., Martin, F., Arnold, A.E. & James, T.Y. (2025) Phylogenomic insights into the taxonomy, ecology, and mating systems of the lorchel family Discinaceae (Pezizales, Ascomycota). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 205: 108286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2025.108286
  3. Felsenstein, J. (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenies: An approach using the bootstrap. Evolution 39 (4): 783–791. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.1985.tb00420.x
  4. Fries, E.M. (1821) Systema Mycologicum. Ex officina Berlingiana, Lund, Sweden, 520 pp.
  5. Fries, E.M. (1849) Summa Vegetabilium Scandinaviae Sectio Posterior; Holmiae & Lipsiae. Uppsala, Sweden, 572 pp.
  6. Hansen, K. & Læssøe, T., Pfister, D.H. (2002) Phylogenetic diversity in the core group of Peziza inferred from ITS sequences and morphology. Mycological Research 106 (8): 879–902. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953756202006287
  7. Hansen, K. & Pfister, D.H. (2006) Systematics of the Pezizomycetes—the operculate discomycetes. Mycologia 98 (6): 1029–1040. https://doi.org/10.3852/mycologia.98.6.1029
  8. Harmaja, H. (1969) A wider and more natural concept of the genus Gyromitra Fr. Karstenia 9: 9–12. https://doi.org/10.29203/ka.1969.53
  9. Harmaja, H. (1973) Amendments of the limits of the genera Gyromitra and Pseudorhizina, with the description of a new species, Gyromitra montana. Karstenia 13: 48–58. https://doi.org/10.29203/ka.1973.83
  10. Lukács, Z. (2007) A Gyromitra Nemzetség Értelmezése Napjaınkban. Mikológiai Közlemények, Clusiana 46 (2): 165–186.
  11. McKnight, K.H. (1969) A note on Discina. Mycologia 61 (3): 614–630. https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.1969.12018775
  12. Miller, A.N., Yoon, A., Gulden, G., Stensholt, Ø., Van Vooren, N., Ohenoja, E. & Methven, A.S. (2020) Studies in Gyromitra I: the Gyromitra gigas species complex. Mycological Progress 19 (12): 1459–1473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-020-01639-8
  13. Miller, A.N., Dirks, A.C., Van Vooren, N. & Methven, A.S. (2025) Studies in Gyromitra III: the Gyromitra brunnea lineage including G. japonica sp. nov. Mycological Progress 24 (1): 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-024-02026-3
  14. Ronquist, F., Teslenko, M., Van Der Mark, P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Höhna, S., Larget, B., Liu, L., Suchard, M. & Huelsenbeck, J.P. (2012) MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Systematic Biology 61 (3): 539–542. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029
  15. Seaver, F.J. (1921) Photographs and Descriptions of Cup-Fungi–IX: North American Species of Discina. Mycologia 13 (2): 67–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.1921.12016862
  16. Tamura, K. & Nei, M. (1993) Estimation of the number of nucleotide substitutions in the control region of mitochondrial DNA in humans and chimpanzees. Molecular Biology and Evolution 10: 512–526.
  17. Tamura, K. & Stecher, G., Kumar, S. (2021) MEGA 11: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Version 11. Molecular Biology and Evolution 38 (7): 3022–3027. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab120
  18. Thompson, J.D. & Higgins, D.G., Gibson, T.J. (1994) Clustal W: improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research 22: 4673–4680. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/22.22.4673
  19. Yaratanakul Güngör, M., Güngör, H. & Türkekul, I. (2025) Reinforcing the generic status of Discina: Morphological and phylogenetic evidence with new records from Türkiye. Phytotaxa 732 (2): 203–211. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.732.2.7
  20. Yaratanakul Güngör, M., Güngör, H. & Türkekul, I. (2026) Macrofungi of Anatolia: A Comprehensive Study. In: Pullaiah, T. (Ed.) Biodiversity Hotspot of the Irano-Anatolian Region. Apple Academic Press, CRC Press Group, 23 pp. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781779645760-3
  21. Van Vooren, N. & Moreau, P.A. (2009a) Essai taxinomique sur le genre Gyromitra Fr. sensu lato (Pezizales). 3. Le genre Gyromitra Fr., sous-genre Discina. Ascomycete.org 1 (2): 3–13.
  22. Van Vooren, N. & Moreau, P.A. (2009b) Essai taxinomique sur le genre Gyromitra Fr. sensu lato (Pezizales) 7. Taxons exclus, douteux ou insuffisamment connus. Ascomycete.org 1 (4): 3–10.
  23. Wang, X.-C., Yang, Z.-L., Chen, S.-L., Bau, T., Li, T.-H., Li, L., Fan, L. & Zhuang, W.-Y. (2023) Phylogeny and taxonomic revision of the family Discinaceae (Pezizales, Ascomycota). Microbiology Spectrum 11 (3): e00207-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.00207-23
  24. White, T.J., Bruns, T., Lee, S. & Taylor, J. (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications, 18 (1): 315–322. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-372180-8.50042-1

How to Cite

Gungor, H., Gungor, M.Y., Turkekul, I. & Solak, M.H. (2026) Discina anatolica sp. nov. (Pezizales, Discinaceae) from Türkiye, with morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence. Phytotaxa 767 (3): 236–244. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.767.3.3