Pisolithus capsulifer, first identified as Pisolithus sp. 14 (Martin et al., 2002), was later classified based on sequence and spore ornamentation as P. capsulifer (Phosri et al., 2012). To date fruiting bodies and cultured isolates of this species have been recovered in the United Kingdom, Europe and across to eastern Asia. The species is in Lineage A II of the genus, sister to the clade containing Pisolithus tinctorius and P. orientalis. It is found in forest settings under both Pinus and Quercus hosts, congruent with its placement within the Pisolithus phylogenetic tree. Pisolithus is a versatile organism, and genomic data on this fungus will be useful to a variety of groups. Like Rhizopogon and Paxillus, Pisolithus is a member of the Boletales, but it diverged about 130 mya from the other two genera and probably became mycorrhizal independently. It is known that mycorrhizal symbiosis has convergently evolved multiple times in the Basidiomycota. Having genomic information on related multiple lineages would enable us to understand the underlying evolutionary development of this process.
Martin, F., Díez, J., Dell, B. and Delaruelle, C., 2002. Phylogeography of the ectomycorrhizal Pisolithus species as inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA ITS sequences. New Phytologist, 153(2), pp.345-357.
Phosri, C., Martín, M.P., Suwannasai, N., Sihanonth, P. and Watling, R., 2012. Pisolithus: a new species from southeast Asia and a new combination. Mycotaxon, 120(1), pp.195-208.
