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Five new species of Inosperma from China: Morphological characteristics, phylogenetic analyses, and toxin detection

Sai-Nan Li, Fei Xu, Pan Long, Feng Liu, Ping Zhang, Yu‐guang Fan, Zuo-Hong Chen

Frontiers in Microbiology October 31, 2022 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1021583 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Taxonomic and phylogenetic study Peer reviewed
Population Five new Inosperma species from China
Topics Psilocybin
Keywords Inocybaceae New species Phylogeny Taxonomy Muscarine
Key points The authors propose five new Inosperma species from China, supported as independent by morphology and phylogenetic analysis of ITS, nrLSU, and rpb2. Toxin screening showed varied profiles: one species had no tested neurotoxins, one was muscarine positive, two contained ibotenic acid and muscimol, one contained only muscimol, and psilocybin was not detected in any.

Abstract

Many species of Inosperma cause neurotoxic poisoning in humans after consumption around the world. However, the toxic species of Inosperma and its toxin content remain unclear. In the present study, we proposed five new Inosperma species from China, namely, I. longisporum, I. nivalellum, I. sphaerobulbosum, I. squamulosobrunneum, and I. squamulosohinnuleum. Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses based on three genes (ITS, nrLSU, rpb2) revealed that these taxa are independent species. A key to 17 species of Inosperma in China is provided. In addition, targeted screening for the most notorious mushroom neurotoxins, muscarine, psilocybin, ibotenic acid, and muscimol, in these five new species was performed by using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Our results show that the neurotoxin contents in these five species varied: I. sphaerobulbosum contains none of the tested neurotoxins; I. nivalellum is muscarine positive; I. longisporum and I. squamulosohinnuleum contain both ibotenic acid and muscimol, and I. squamulosobrunneum only contains muscimol; psilocybin was not detected in these five new species.

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