Societal Impact Statement: Edible mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) have been consumed since ancestral times by humans either as food, medicine or for ceremonial use. Nowadays, they are a non‐timber forest product and a diverse genetic resource with great ecological, sociocultural, economic, medicinal and biotechnological relevance around the world. Therefore, they have a paramount role to play in meeting the United Nations global sustainable development goals 2030. EMF may promote forest sustainability, biodiversity conservation, mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through the maintenance of forest masses, human nutrition and health, economic development, conservation of biocultural heritages, women empowerment and hunger mitigation. We provide a worldwide review of the knowledge, biodiversity, novel approaches, future challenges and perspectives in the post‐COVID era of this important genetic resource whose relevance has usually received marginal attention despite its strategic global significance.Summary: Ectomycorrhizal fungi play a key role in the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. They have a paramount importance in nutrient cycling, plant protection against pathogens and abiotic stress, and establishment of underground networks that connect trees and other plants in nature, therefore being the wood wide web, the ‘internet’ of the forests. According to our literature review, globally 970 mycorrhizal fungal species (including both mushrooms and truffles) are edible, and they have enormous relevance either as a source of subsistence in low‐income human groups around the world or as an important economic component whose international commerce is worth billions of American dollars annually. Since edible mycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are a non‐timber forest product, their sustainable use and management is crucial in order to maintain forest stands and to provide well‐being to the human communities surrounding the forested areas where they grow. In different parts of the world, different cultures have developed a traditional knowledge of EMF over millennia. Their knowledge might play an important role in food supply and food security in the future, hence contributing towards the “zero hunger” global goal. The biotechnological development of EMF has also been crucial in the establishment of plantations, or successful reforestation and ecosystem restoration, which contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, a worldwide review of how EMF might contribute to forest sustainability, food supply, biocultural conservation, and hunger and climate change mitigation is addressed by analysing the similarities, contrasts and challenges in all five continents.

Worldwide, the fungus known as huitlacoche (Ustilago maydis (DC.) Corda) is a phytopathogen of maize plants that causes important economic losses in different countries. Conversely, it is an iconic edible fungus of Mexican culture and cuisine, and it has high commercial value in the domestic market, though recently there has been a growing interest in the international market. Huitlacoche is an excellent source of nutritional compounds such as protein, dietary fiber, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins. It is also an important source of bioactive compounds with health-enhancing properties. Furthermore, scientific evidence shows that extracts or compounds isolated from huitlacoche have antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antiplatelet, and dopaminergic properties. Additionally, the technological uses of huitlacoche include stabilizing and capping agents for inorganic nanoparticle synthesis, removing heavy metals from aqueous media, having biocontrol properties for wine production, and containing biosurfactant compounds and enzymes with potential industrial applications. Furthermore, huitlacoche has been used as a functional ingredient to develop foods with potential health-promoting benefits. The present review focuses on the biocultural importance, nutritional content, and phytochemical profile of huitlacoche and its related biological properties as a strategy to contribute to global food security through food diversification; moreover, the biotechnological uses of huitlacoche are also discussed with the aim of contributing to the use, propagation, and conservation of this valuable but overlooked fungal resource.

Aim of study: To document for the first-time the biocultural knowledge related to the use, nomenclature, and classification of wild mushrooms by the Mazatec culture, cradle of the ethnomycology. Area of study: Municipality of Eloxochitlán de Flores Magón and communities of San José Buena Vista and Agua Ancha, belonging to the state of Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Materials and methods: A total of 291 interviews were performed by using numerical ethnomycological methods, during the rainy seasons, between 2017 and 2021. Based on the knowledge of local experts, fungal specimens with biocultural relevance were collected. Socio-demographic information, knowledge of wild mushrooms and their usages, local nomenclature, culinary uses, and transmission of traditional knowledge were documented. Main results: Paradoxically, this is the first ethnomycological study that addresses a complete study of fungi with biocultural importance in the ethnic group where ethnomycology emerged as a discipline. Previous studies related to mushrooms with Mazatec people focused exclusively on entheogenic mushrooms leaving aside paramount issues related to traditional mycological knowledge of the fungal local resources, including their edibility and cultural relevance. All interviewees consumed mushrooms, indicating high levels of mycophilia. Twenty-seven species, all of them having a native Mazatec name, were identified. Species of Pleurotus, Auricularia, Cantharellus, and Schizophyllum spp. showed the highest cultural value indexes. Research highlights: Ethnomycological knowledge of Mazatec culture is prolific and related to local natural resources cosmovision, beliefs and traditions. Mycological knowledge is currently preserved among Mazatec people and it is still transmitted to new generations despite strong transculturation processes.

Among Boletales, the family Boletaceae has the highest diversity worldwide. Additionally, this fungal group has great ecological relevance because it not only includes mainly ectomycorrhizal but also saprotrophic species. Furthermore, some species are used as food and have sociocultural and economic importance worldwide. In Mexico, the Boletaceae family boasts a substantial number of species, yet our understanding of these species remains far from comprehensive. In this work, by using macro- and micromorphological and phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from multi-gene analyses based on ITS, nrLSU, rpb1, rpb2, and tef1, we report five new species belonging to the genera Aureoboletus and Chalciporus: A. ayuukii and A. elvirae from a Quercus scytophylla forest, A. readii from a mixed forest, C. perezsilvae from cloud forest, and C. piedracanteadensis from both a mixed coniferous forest and a Quercus-Pinus forest. In Mexico, four species of Aureoboletus are used as a food source, and in this work, we add another one, A. readii, which is traditionally consumed by members of the Tlahuica-Pjiekakjoo culture, who are located in the central part of the country. This work contributes to our knowledge of two genera of Boletaceae in a geographical area that is scarcely studied, and thus, our understanding of its biocultural relevance is enriched.

Background: Pinus (Coniferophyta) and Laccaria (Basidiomycota) establish ectomycorrhizal symbioses in natural forests . However, their detailed morphoanatomical and phylogenetic characterization have received little attention. Accurate identification of native host symbionts is of paramount relevance to the production of mycorrhized seedlings for successful reforestation programs. Questions/Objective: We aimed to determine if L. squarrosa is able to establish ectomycorrhizal symbiosis with gymnosperms, thereby widening its host range and highlighting its relevance as a potential inoculant for pine seedlings. Currently, L. squarrosa is only known from its type collection associated with the angiosperm Fagus grandifolia var. mexicana . Studied species: The fungus L. squarrosa and Pinus pseudostrobus , a tree endemic to Mexico. Study site and dates: A Pinus - Quercus forest in Piedra Canteada, Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala; 2018-2020. Methods: L. squarrosa basidiomata were identified and ectomycorrhizal roots were collected and morphoanatomically characterized. For molecular identification, DNA was extracted, PCR was performed targeting the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (nucrDNA ITS) for the mycobiont identification and the chloroplastic single-locus trnL region for the phytobiont. Results: In the phylogenetic analyses, our sequences from basidiomata and ectomycorrhizae clustered together with L. squarrosa with high values of supporting identity. Meanwhile, P. pseudostrobus was molecularly identified as the phytobiont. Conclusions: This is one of the few worldwide characterizations of Laccaria ectomycorrhiza under field conditions and contributes to the understanding of the ecology, distribution, and economic relevance of the symbiotic association. Our data suggest that L. squarrosa has potential for use as a native inoculant for P. pseudostrobus tree production. Translate stop Translate stop

Elaphomyces readii is presented as a new species to science based on morphological and molecular evidence. The new species is characterized mainly by the pale brown rugose ascomata, yellowish to reddish brown hues in the proximity to the gleba, dark purple gleba and ascospores 20–57 µm in diameter. Elaphomyces readii is morphologically similar to E. papillatus and E. muricatus but differs in the ascospore size and phylogenetical location. Further, E. readii is sold in traditional markets in the state of Oaxaca, southeastern Mexico as a medicinal fungus consumed to heal wounds, internal bleeding, and external injuries. Morphological descriptions, SEM ornamentation spores and nrITS-based phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood method and Bayesian inference support the proposal of this new species.