WORLD JOURNAL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES SJIF Impact Factor 7.421 Volume 8, Issue 6, 284-293 Review Article ISSN 2278 – 4357 THREE NEW UNREPORTED BASIDIOMYCOTA MACROFUNGI FROM JAMMU AND KASHMIR, INDIA Munruchi Kaur*, Hilal Ahmad Rather and Naseema Aqbar Wani Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab), India, 147002. Article Received on ABSTRACT 24 March 2019, The present paper discusses the study of systematic survey for the Revised on 13 April 2019, Accepted on 03 May 2019, exploration of agarics from North Kashmir. The area exhibits varied DOI: 10.20959/wjpps20196-13871 climatic and topographic conditions and provide an environment for the lavish growth of agarics. As an outcome of fungal forays a number *Corresponding Author of collections of different genera were made out of which three new Munruchi Kaur varieties of macrofungi that were explored and taxonomically Department of Botany, identified are Agaricus placomyces var. macrospores var. nov., Punjabi University, Patiala Amanita multisquamosa var. brevispora var. nov. and Russula (Punjab), India, 147002. cyanoxantha var. variata. All these taxa are supplemented with the field photographs, microphotographs and Camera lucida drawings. KEYWORDS: Agaricus, Amanita, Russula, Pleurocystidia, Cheilocystidia, Etymology, Jammu and Kashmir; India. INTRODUCTION The macrofungal diversity is decreasing rapidly due to urbanization, climate change, deforestation and unsystematic exploitation through collection of wild mushrooms. So there is an urgent need to collect, document and conserve this group. The work on collection and taxonomic studies of mushrooms in Jammu and Kashmir in the past is meager with only 262 larger fungi known, among which 226 are agaric taxa (Abraham, 1991). Present study was undertaken to survey the different parts of District Baramulla in different seasons for collection of wild mushrooms, identification and documentation. Genus Agaricus L.: Fr. is characterized in possesing a white to brown more or less yellowish or rufescent pileus; lamellae free, eventually deep colored because of the attached spores, hymenophoral trama regular when young later becoming irregular, spore print purplish brown to sepia and partial www.wjpps.com Vol 8, Issue 6, 2019. 284 Kaur et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences veil which forms a ring on the stipe. Anatomically basidiospores are smooth with a compound wall and not visibly pseudoamyloid. Genus Amanita Pers. is characterized by the presence of both annulus and saccate or cupulate volva on the stipe, hymenophoral trama bilateral divergent, basidiospores are smooth thin walled amyloid or inamyloid. The members of the genus Russula Pers. are most diverse characterised by resupinate to pleurotoid carpophores with varied colour range including yellow, red, green, brown, purple to black and verigated mixture of various colours, lamellae free to broadly adnate to adnexed, sometimes subdecurrent to decurrent and basidiospores with thick ridges, different types of cystidial apex remarkably appendiculate cystidia with long appendages. MATERIALS AND METHODS The macrofungi specimens for the present investigation was collected from district Baramulla of Jammu and Kashmir. For this concern, extensive fungal forays were collected from various localties and sub-localties of district Baramulla. The morphological details were recorded from fresh carpophores. The field characters pertaining to gross morphology, shape, color and size of pileus, stipe and lamellae, presence or absence of annulus, etc were noted down on the ‘Field Key’, provided by Atri et al. (2005) and the color terminology used is that of Kornerup and Wanscher (1978). The specimens were hot air dried and packed in cellophane paper bags containing 1- 4, para dicholorobenzene. The microscopic details were studied by cutting free hand sections of revived part of the dried specimen and staining them in 2% Congo Red. The spores were studied from the spore print as well as from the crush mounts of the lamellae and their reaction with Melzer’s reagent was checked. The dried specimens were deposited in the Herbarium, Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala, (Punjab), India under PUN for further reference. TAXONOMIC OBSERVATIONS Agaricus placomyces Peck Ann. Rep. NY. St. Mus. Nat. Hist. 29: 40, 1878 var. macrospores var. nov. Fig.1,2 & 7(A-G). Etymology: The name of the variety is based on the large sized basidiospores. Carpophore up to 7.5 cm in height, campestroid. Pileus up to 9.2 cm broad; plano-convex; umbo absent; margin iregular; splitting at maturity; non striate; surface yellowish brown (5E8) with yellowish gray (2B2) scales on the margin; scaly, scales appressed fibrillose towards margins, squamulose in centre, dry; cuticle half peeling; flesh up to 0.4 cm thick, www.wjpps.com Vol 8, Issue 6, 2019. 285 Kaur et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences white, unchanging; odor soury. Pileal veil appendiculate. Lamellae free, crowded, unequal, not in series, moderately broad (up to 0.5 cm), dark brown to brownish grey, unchanging; gill edges smooth; lamellulae present. Spore print brown (6E8). Stipe central, up to 5.5 cm long, up to 2.1 cm broad above, up to 2.0 cm broad at base, equal in diameter throughout with a clavate bulbous base; surface yellowish brown (5E8), yellow towards base, unchanging; solid, scaly, scales smooth above annulus, scaly below, white; annulate, annulus patchy but fleshy, hard textured. Basidiospores 7.1 – 8.05 (8.95) × 5.37 – 6.26 (7.16) μm (excluding apiculus), Q = 1.32, ellipsoid, double walled, smooth, non guttulate; outer wall thick and darker than inner; apical pore absent; apiculate, apiculus 0.9 - 1.8 μm long, excentric. Basidia 17.9 – 39.0 × 7.0 – 11.0 μm, clavate, hyaline, thin walled, tetrasterigmate; sterigmata 3.6 - 5.0 μm long, hyaline. Pleurocystidia absent. Cheilocystidia 21.0 – 24.0 × 6.0 – 9.0 μm, clavate, thin walled, granular towards apex; gill edges sterile. Hymenophoral trama regular. Pileus cuticle hyphal, made up of 6.7 – 11.0 μm broad, septate, interwoven, gelatinized hyphae giving rise to 50.0 – 63.0 × 12.0 – 16.0 μm, encrustrated, granular pileocystidiod elements, abundant. Stipe cuticle hyphal, made up of longitudinally arranged, 6.7 – 13.5 μm broad, septate hyphae, caulocystidia not seen. Clamp connections absent throughout. Collection Examined: Jammu and Kashmir, Baramulla, Sain, (2048 m), 340 16.840 N – 074016.349 E growing solitary on humicolous soil in mixed coniferous forest, Hilal Ahmad Rather, PUN 5180, May 29th, 2012 (Holotype). Remarks: The presently examined collection matches well in its morphology and anatomy to the details provided for Agaricus placomyces Peck as given by Murrill (1922) and Freeman (1979). The only difference being in the size of basidiospores which is very large i.e, 7.1 – 8.05 (8.95) × 5.37 – 6.26 (7.16) μm in present collection, as compared to (4.5) 5.3 – 6.0 (7.0) × (3.0) 4.5 μm given by Murrill (1922) and Freeman (1979) for Agaricus placomyces. On the basis of much variation in basidiospore size, a new variety A. placomyces var. macrosporus var. nov. is proposed. This species is earlier reported from Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) by Ghosh et al. (1974), Southwest India by Sathe and Rahalkar (1978), Sharma et al. (1978) from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab Plains by Saini et al. (1991) and from Maharashtra by Borkar et al. (2015). Presently this species is reported first time from Jammu and Kashmir, while a new variety of this species is proposed. www.wjpps.com Vol 8, Issue 6, 2019. 286 Kaur et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Amanita multisquamosa Peck Annual Report on the New York State Museum of Natural history, 53: 840,1900. var. brevispora var. nov. Fig. 3,4 & 8(A-G). Etymology: The name of the variety is based on its basidiospores. Carpophore 10.4 – 14 cm in height. Pileus 6.1- 12.6 cm cm broad; convex to plano convex; umbo absent; margin regular; splitting at maturity; striate; surface silver brown to light silver (4E2) with a brownish (6E5) centre; scaly, scales appressed to recurved fibrillose, more concentrated at center; moist; cuticle fully peeling; flesh up to 0.5 cm thick, white, unchanging; odor mild. Pileal veil appendiculate absent. Lamellae free, close, unequal, not in series, broad (up to 0.7 cm), creamy white (2A1), when young, yellowish white (3A2) at maturity, unchanging; gill edges smooth; lamellulae present. Spore print off white. Stipe central, 8.8 – 13.3 cm long, up to 1.5 cm broad above, up to 3.7 cm broad at base, equal in diameter throughout with a bulbous base; surface creamy white (2A1), unchanging; solid, annulate, annulus skirt like, persistant, superior; volva in the form of whitish, flocullose broken rings. Basidiospores 7.16 – 12.53 × 6.26 – 10.74 μm (excluding apiculus), Q = 1.16, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, thin walled, smooth, non guttulate, inamyloid; apical pore absent; apiculate, apiculus 1.8 μm long, centric. Basidia 34.0 – 62.0 × 8.0 – 14.0 μm, clavate, hyaline, thin walled, basal clamps absent, tetrasterigmate; sterigmata 5.0 - 6.0 μm long, hyaline. Lamellae edge cells, 29.0 – 32.0 × 13.0 – 14.0 µm, clavate to pyriform with rounded blunt tips, granular; gill edges heteromorphous. Hymenophoral trama bilateral divergent. Pileus cuticle hyphal, ixocutis, made up of 4.0 – 6.0 µm broad, subhorizontally tangled, septate, granular, hyphae with tubular ends; pilocystidia absent; context made up of 6.0 - 8.0 µm broad, hyaline, septate, loosely interwoven, inflated, acrophysalides rarely present. Stipe cuticle hyphal, made up of longitudinally arranged 4.0-10.0 µm broad, septate, hyphae; context hyphal, made up of loosely interwoven 10.0 – 16.0 µm broad, septate, hyphae. Volval elements made up of 2.5 - 6.64 µm broad, septate, hyphae, intermixed with 4.0 – 10.0 µm, subglobose, hyaline, inflated cells. Clamp connections absent throughout. Collections examined: Jammu and Kashmir, Baramulla, village Soyan Saidnar (1771 m) growing solitary in the mixed coniferous forest during spring season, Hilal Ahmad Rather, PUN (5197), May 15th, 2014; Baramulla, village Soyan Saidnar (1700 m) growing solitary in www.wjpps.com Vol 8, Issue 6, 2019.