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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Isolation, Behavioral Identification, and Pathogenicity Assessment of Entomopathogenic Fungi from a Forest Wood Borer
Published on: September 29, 2023
Craterellus fallax, a Black Trumpet mushroom from eastern North America with a broad host range
Patrick Brandon Matheny1, Emily A Austin, Joshua M Birkebak
1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 569 Dabney Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-1610, USA. pmatheny@utk.edu
Abstract:
Phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences of members of the Craterellus cornucopioides complex (Black Trumpet mushrooms) supports the taxonomic separation of Craterellus fallax apart from C. cornucopioides, with which it has been synonymized in the past. Examination of Pinus virginiana ectomycorrhizal (ECM) root tips and sequence comparison with other insufficiently identified environmental sequences from roots of Tsuga, Quercus, and possibly Castanea supports a broad host range in North America for the ECM symbiont C. fallax. This is the first molecular confirmation of an ECM symbiont with P. virginiana, which associates with a wide diversity of ECM fungi, and the first report of a Cantharellaceae symbiont with this tree, an eastern North American two-needled pine. Three unique species in the C. cornucopioides complex are recovered based on phylogenetic analysis: C. fallax, C. cornucopioides, and an unidentified Craterellus species similar to C. fallax but smaller in stature with smaller spores.
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