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Suillus brevipes
Photo credit: Michael Wood.

Suillus brevipes (Peck) Kuntze is an ectomycorrhizal mushroom-forming fungus in the Boletaceae family. This native North American species is one of the most widespread and important members of the genus Suillus and associates with pine forests, providing water and nutrients to its tree hosts and receiving carbohydrates in return. It occurs exclusively with hard pines (Pinus subgenus Pinus), but within that subgenus it associates broadly with many pine species including P. banksiani, P. caribaea, P. contorta, P. muricata, P. ponderosa, Pinus resinosa, P. radiata, Pinus rigida, P. taeda, and P. virginiana. Its geographic distribution is transcontinental, and it is found throughout the North American East, upper Midwest, Western mountains and West Coast as far south as Costa Rica. It has also been introduced with pine to exotic settings such as Puerto Rico, Chile, New Zealand, and Hawaii (Farr & Anonymous 2012, Rossman 2012, Miller et al. 2000).

S. brevipes is particularly common in young primary successional, or secondary, post-disturbance pine forests, where is it is often an abundant fruiter (Visser 1995, Ashkannejhad & Horton 2006). This fungus produces thick walled rhizomorphs (mycelial cords composed of hyphal aggregations) that are involved in conducting nutrients over long distances and allow the fungus to explore the soil in search of resources. Its spores have been shown to survive in the soil at least 6 years, but spore viability may be much less in other conditions (Nguyen et al. 2012). These properties are important in exotic settings where it is implicated in facilitating the invasive behavior of pine (Williams & Wardle 2007, Nunez et al. 2009, Langdon et al. 2010, Simberloff et al. 2012, McGregor et al 2012).

Understanding the behavior of S. brevipes with pine, the determinants of its specificifity, and it population structure are key area of inquiry that will be facilitated by the completed genome.

The 1KFG project is a large collaborative effort aiming for master publication(s). As always, please contact the PI associated with unpublished 1KFG genomes for permission prior to the use of any data in publications.

Genome Reference(s)