ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Distribution and Molecular Characterization
of an Alien Fungus, Clathrus archeri,
in Poland
Marcin Pietras1, Maria Rudawska1, Grzegorz Iszkuło1,2,
Anna Kujawa3, Tomasz Leski1
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1Institute of Dendrology, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Parkowa 5, 62-035 Kórnik, Poland
2Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Zielona Gora,
Szafrana 1, 65-516 Zielona Gora, Poland
3Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, Field Station in Turew,
Szkolna 4, Turew, 64-000 Kościan, Poland
Submission date: 2015-10-11
Final revision date: 2015-12-30
Acceptance date: 2016-01-02
Publication date: 2016-05-25
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2016;25(3):1197-1204
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ABSTRACT
Clathrus archeri is a saprotrophic fungus native to Australia and New Zealand and known in Europe
since the beginning of the 20th century. In Poland, C. archeri was recorded for the first time in 1973 and
since then basidiomata of this fungus have been recorded almost 90 times, mostly in the southern part of
the country. In the present study, we update the distribution of C. archeri in Poland and include the latest
records from Central Poland. We show a significant increase in the number of C. archeri observations in
recent years (R2 = 0.400, p<0.001). Our research shows that precipitation should be regarded as an important
factor in the spread of C. archeri. Additionally, intraspecific genetic variability of nrRNA of C. archeri from
different localities in Poland has been determined. Obtained results indicate zero to low levels of diversity in
the nrITS and nrLSU sequences obtained from 16 C. archeri basidiomata from different localities in Poland
(evolutionary divergence between sequences up to 0.002 and 0.001 for nrITS and nrLSU, respectively).
Finally we identify some limitations in this research and make suggestions for future studies of pathways of
the distribution of this fungus in the new area.