Fungalpedia – Note 481, Rubroboletus 

 

Rubroboletus Kuan Zhao et Zhu L.Yang

Citation when using this data: Tibpromma et al. 2024 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Macrofungi.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1 

Classification: Boletaceae, Boletales, Agaricomycetidae, Agaricomycetes, Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota, Fungi.

Rubroboletus, a new genus, emerged to accommodate Boletus sinicus (current name: Rubroboletus sinicus) and its allies based on the phylogenetic analysis of ITS and combined datasets of LSU, tef1-α, rpb1, and rpb2 sequences (Zhao et al. 2014). Rubroboletus can be distinguished from the other genera in Boletaceae by the combination of a reddish pileal surface, an orange-red to blood-red surface of the hymenophore, yellow tubes, pink to red reticula or spots on the yellow background of the stipe, a bluish color change when injured, a non-amyloid context, smooth spores that are olive brown, and an interwoven trichodermal pileipellis. Molecular studies, along with morphological features, have confirmed that they belong to a new genus (Zhao et al. 2014). Currently, more than 15 species of Rubroboletus have been described from different continents, among which Europe has the highest diversity (Zhao et al. 2014, Zhao and Shao 2017, Sarwar et al. 2021, Zhang et al. 2022, Wu et al. 2023). Members of Rubroboletus are economically significant, R. esculentus and R. sinicus are edible and R. himalayensis has medicinal values due to its antioxidant potential and presence of various metabolites. R. legaliae, R. lupinus, R. pulcherrimus, R. rhodoxanthus and R. satanas are known for their poisonous nature (Zhang et al. 2022).

Type species: Rubroboletus sinicus (W.F. Chiu) Kuan Zhao et Zhu L. Yang

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Rubroboletus

 

Figure 1 – Rubroboletus sinicus. a Basidioma. b Basidia and pleurocystidium. c Cheilocystidia. d Pileipellis. e Basidiospores. Scale Bars: a = 1 cm, b-d =10 μm, e =20 μm. Redrawn from Zhao et al. (2014).

 

References

Sarwar S, Siddique ZE, Bashir A, Khalid A N. 2021 – Rubroboletus himalayensis-A new mushroom from Pakistan. Bangladesh Journal of Plant Taxonomy 28(1), 17.

Wu G, Li H-J, Horak E, Wu K. et al. 2023 – New taxa of Boletaceae from China. Mycosphere 14(1), 745–776.

Zhang X, Qin WQ, Liang ZQ, Tian R. et al. 2022 – Rubroboletus flammeus (Boletaceae, Boletales), a novel species unveiled from subtropical China based on morphological and phylogenetic evidences. Archives of Microbiology 204(7), 379.

Zhao K, Shao HM. 2017 – A new edible bolete, Rubroboletus esculentus, from southwestern China. Phytotaxa 303, 243–252. 

Zhao K, Wu G, Yang Z. 2014 – A new genus, Rubroboletus, to accommodate Boletus sinicus and its allies. Phytotaxa 188(2), 61–77.

 

Entry by 

Harikrishnan K, National Fungal Culture Collection of India (NFCCI), Biodiversity and Palaeobiology Group, MACS Agharkar Research Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune 411004, India. 

 

(Edited by Rajeshkumar KC, Saowaluck Tibpromma, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)

 

Published online 3 December 2024

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