Fruiting bodies of Lactarius hatsudake (scale bar: 10 mm). Image credit: Ran WANG and Fuqiang YU.

This genome was sequenced as part of the JGI CSP "1KFG - Deep Sequencing of Ecologically-relevant Dikarya" and more specifically as a part of the Russulaceae Sequencing Project, which seeks to densely sample members of a diverse lineage of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi to examine functional diversity of ECM fungi with a shared evolutionary history.

Lactarius hatsudake 109

Lactarius hatsudake, an ectomycorrhizal fungus belonging to Lactarius sect. Deliciosi, is widely distributed in many Asian regions including China, Japan, the Bonin Islands, eastern Russia and Korea (Nuytinck 2006). It is characterized by the wine red latex and its association with Pinus spp., such as P. thunbergii, P. densiflora, P. liuchuensis, P. yunnanensis, and P. kesiya. The size of the basidiocarps seems very variable, very small to rather large basidiocarps are often encountered together. Microscopically, the heavy spore ornamentation with large but faintly amyloid spots is typical and a reliable feature for identification. Genome sequencing and comparative study with other ectomycorrhizal clades in and out of Russulaceae would provide insights into its specific genomic and evolutionary features within Russulaceae, and also help understand the general genetic features shared by various ectomycorrhizal lineages.

Biological material production: Dr. Nianwu TANG (KIB, Kunming).

Researchers who wish to publish analyses using data from unpublished CSP genomes are respectfully required to contact the PI (Francis Martin) and JGI to avoid potential conflicts on data use and coordinate other publications with the CSP master paper(s).

Reference:
Nuytinck J, Wang X H, Verbeken A, et al. Descriptions and taxonomy of the Asian representatives of Lactarius sect. Deliciosi. Fungal Diversity, 2006.