Boletaceae

Boletaceae
Cep, Boletus edulis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Boletales
Family:	Boletaceae Chevall. (1828)
Type genus
Boletus Fr. (1821)
Synonyms
Boletellaceae Jülich (1981) Chamonixiaceae Jülich (1981) Octavianiaceae Locq. ex Pegler & T.W.K.Young

Boletaceae are a family of mushrooms, primarily characterized by developing their spores in small pores on the underside of the mushroom, instead of gills, as are found in agarics. Nearly as widely distributed as agarics, they include the Cep or King Bolete (Boletus edulis), much sought after by mushroom hunters. As a whole, the typical members of the family are commonly known as boletes.

Boletes are a relatively safe group of mushrooms for human consumption, as none are known to be deadly to adults, and they are the most sought after fungi for mushroom hunting. They are especially suitable for novice mushroom hunters, since there is little danger of confusing them with deadly mushrooms, like various Amanita agarics, which are the most poisonous mushrooms in the world. They are easily distinguished from agarics, and easily recognized for colour, pores and thick stems and caps.

Description

Most species in Boletaceae produce large fleshy mushrooms with a central stipe. The spore print colours are commonly olivaceous (yellowish-green), yellowish, brownish, or vinaceous (red-wine coloured). In many species, flesh that is bruised or cut will turn blue, a result of the oxidation of pulvinic acid derivatives, like variegatic, xerocomic, and atrotomentinic acid.^[1] The mushrooms usually have tubular hymenophores, although some species (like those in the genus Phylloporus) are lamellate.

Taxonomy

Boletaceae were first described by the French botanist François Fulgis Chevallier in 1826 as a family distinct from Agaricaceae. Five genera were included in Chevallier's circumscription: Boletus, Cladosporus (now synonymous with Laetiporus^[2]), Physisporus (now Perenniporia^[3]), Polyporus, and Fistulina.^[4]

Genera

Devil's bolete (Boletus satanas)

Rolf Singer, in the 4th edition (1986) of his Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy, included 26 genera and 415 species in the Boletaceae.^[5] Molecular phylogenetic studies of the 2000s have revised our concept of the family; in a highly-cited 2006 publication, Manfred Binder and David Hibbett included 38 genera.^[6] Even after recent changes in classification that have moved many members out of the Boletaceae, it remains a large family with many genera. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi (10th edition, 2008), 35 genera are recognized in Boletaceae, which collectively contain 787 species.^[7]

Genus	Authority	Year	# of species	Distribution
Afroboletus	Pegler & T.W.K.Young	1981	7	tropical Africa
Aureoboletus	Pouzar	1957	5	widespread
Austroboletus	Wolfe	1980	30 !~30	America; Australia
Boletellus	Murrill	1909	50 !~50	widespread
Boletochaete	Singer	1944	3	Africa; Southeast Asia
Boletus	Fr.	1821	300 !~300	widespread
Bothia	Halling, T.J.Baroni, & Binder	2007	1	North America
Buchwaldoboletus	Pilát	1962	3	Europe; Australia
Chalciporus	Bataille	1908	25	widespread
Chamonixia	Rolland	1899	8	widespread
Fistulinella	Henn.	1901	15	pantropical
Gastroboletus	Lohwag	1962	13	widespread
Gastroleccinum	Thiers	1989	1	North America
Heimioporus	E.Horak	2004	15 !~15	widespread
Heliogaster[8]	(Kobayasi) Orihara & Iwase	2010	1	Japan
Leccinellum	Bresinsky & Manfr. Binder	2003	10	widespread
Leccinum	Gray	1821	75 !~75	widespread
Mycoamaranthus	Castellano, Trappe & Malajczuk	1992	3	Australasia; Africa, Southeast Asia
Octaviania	Vittad.	1831	15	widespread
Paxillogaster	E.Horak	1966	1	South America
Phylloboletellus	Singer	1952	1	Central and South America
Phyllobolites	Singer	1942	1	South America
Phylloporus	Quel.	1888	50 !~50	cosmopolitan
Pseudoboletus	Šutara	1991	2	north temperate regions
Pulveroboletus	Murrill	1909	25	cosmopolitan
Retiboletus	Manfr. Binder & Bresinksy	2002	5	north temperate regions
Rhodactina	Pegler & T.W.K.Young	1989	1	India
Royoungia	Castellano, Trappe & Malajczuk	1992	1	Australia
Setogyroporus	Heinem. & Rammeloo	1999	1	tropical Africa
Singeromyces	M.M.Moser	1966	1	Argentina
Sinoboletus	M.Zang	1992	10	China
Spongiforma[9]	Desjardin, Manf. Binder, Roekring & Flegel	2009	2	Thailand
Strobilomyces	Berk.	1851	20 !~20	cosmopolitan
Tubosaeta	E.Horak	1967	5	Africa; Asia
Tylopilus	P.Karst	1881	75 !~75	widespread
Veloporphyrellus	L.D.Gómez & Singer	1984	1	Central America
Wakefieldia	Corner & Hawker	1952	2	Asia; Europe
Xanthoconium	Singer	1944	7	cosmopolitan
Zangia[10]	Yan C.Li & Zhu L.Yang	2011	6	China

Many other genera formerly part of this family have been moved into other, smaller families as work with molecular phylogeny shows that they are more distantly related, even if physically similar. Representative of this adjustment is the move of the slimy-capped genus Suillus to Suillaceae.

Distribution

Boletes are found worldwide, on every continent except Antarctica. Well-known and well-described in the temperate latitudes in the northern hemisphere, newer research has shown significant diversity in tropical and southern hemisphere regions as well. E. J. H. Corner found evidence of at least 60 species on the island of Singapore alone. In 1972 he described 140 species from the Malay Peninsula and Borneo and estimated there were an equal number again to be found.^[11]

Similar statements about the biodiverse richness of Australian Boletaceae have also been made.^{[citation needed]}

Phylloporus sp. Wielangta Forest, Tasmania

Edibility

Many of the boletes are considered to be true culinary delicacies, especially the king bolete (Boletus edulis); the Scandinavian cuisine praises boletes. In Finnish cuisine, the king bolete is universally considered to be the tastiest culinary mushroom. A large number of boletes are delicious or at least edible. Poisonous or otherwise inedible species do exist, however, such as the unpalatable bitter species Boletus calopus and the aptly named bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus) with a taste compared to gall bladder juice, and some orange-capped species of Leccinum. As the bitter bolete resembles somewhat the king bolete, it can produce literally a bitter disappointment to the mushroom hunter! The rule of thumb is that bitter bolete has pink pores and brownish stem, while cep has whitish pale grey pores and stem. They also grow on different places and terrain. The peppery bolete (Chalciporus piperatus) has extremely strong taste, and has been used in place of pepper.^[12]

Finnish cuisine uses boletes for various soups, sauces, casseroles and hotpots. They are sometimes also used as pizza filling, not unlike champignons, shiitake or portobellos.

Two of the best common edible boletes however are the bay bolete (Boletus badius), whose pores bruise blue-green, and the orange birch bolete, which is a Leccinum with an orange cap and which bruises a bluish grey.

Several guidebooks recommend avoiding all red-pored boletes, however both B. erythropus and B. luridus are edible when well-cooked. However, there has been one recorded instance of death from Boletus pulcherrimus in 1994; a couple developed gastrointestinal symptoms after eating this fungus with the husband succumbing. Autopsy revealed infarction of the midgut.^[13] Boletus satanas has also long considered to be poisonous, though it has not been responsible for any deaths. The symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature. A glycoprotein, bolesatine, has been isolated. A similar compound bolevenine has been isolated from the poisonous Boletus venenatus of Japan.^[14]

See also

Fungi portal

• Bolete eater

References

1. ^ Nelson SF. (2010). "Bluing components and other pigments of Boletes" (PDF). Fungi 3 (4): 11–14. http://www.fungimag.com/fall-2010-articles/BoletesLR.pdf. 
2. ^ Kirk et al., (2008), p. 146.
3. ^ Kirk et al., (2008), p. 535.
4. ^ Chevallier FF. (1826) (in French). Flore Générale des Environs de Paris. 1. p. 248. 
5. ^ Singer R. (1986). The Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy (4th ed.). Königstein im Taunus, Germany: Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN 3-87429-254-1. 
6. ^ Binder M, Hibbett DS. (2006). "Molecular systematics and biological diversification of Boletales". Mycologia 98 (6): 971–81. doi:10.3852/mycologia.98.6.971. PMID 17486973. 
7. ^ Kirk et al. (2008), p. 96.
8. ^ Orihara T, Sawada F, Ikeda S, Yamato M, Tanaka C, Shimomura N, Hashiya M, Iwase K. (2010). "Taxonomic reconsideration of a sequestrate fungus, Octaviania columellifera, with the proposal of a new genus, Heliogaster, and its phylogenetic relationships in the Boletales". Mycologia 102 (1): 108–21. doi:10.3852/08-168. PMID 20120234. 
9. ^ Desjardin DE, Binder M, Roekring S, Flegel T. (2009). "Spongiforma, a new genus of gasteroid boletes from Thailand". Fungal Diversity 37: 1–8. 
10. ^ Li YC, Feng B, Yang ZL. (2011). Fungal Diversity 49: 125–43. doi:10.1007/s13225-011-0096-y. 
11. ^ Corner EJH. (1972). Boletus in Malaysia. Government Printing Office/Botanic Gardens, Singapore. OCLC 668353. 
12. ^ Carluccio A. (2003). The Complete Mushroom Book. London, UK: Quadrille. ISBN 978-1-84400-040-1. 
13. ^ Benjamin DR. (1995). "Red-pored boletes". Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas—A Handbook for Naturalists, Mycologists and Physicians. New York, New York: WH Freeman and Company. pp. 359–60. 
14. ^ Matsuura M, Yamada M, Saikawa Y, Miyairi K, Okuno T, Konno K, Uenishi J, Hashimoto K, Nakata M. (2007). "Bolevenine, a toxic protein from the Japanese toadstool Boletus venenatus". Phytochemistry 68 (56): 893–98. doi:10.1016/j.phytochem.2006.11.037. 

Cited texts

• Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA. (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CABI. ISBN 9780851998268.