Affiliations 

  • 1 Biology Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ITBC), Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
  • 2 Biology Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610
  • 3 Mahidol University International College (Science Division), 999 Phuttamonthon, Sai 4, Salaya, Nakorn Pathom 73170, Thailand
  • 4 ECORC, Science & Technology Branch, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, CEF, Neatby Building, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C6 Canada
  • 5 Biology Department, Clark University, 950 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts 01610 dhibbett@clarku.edu
Mycologia, 2015 May-Jun;107(3):460-74.
PMID: 25661717 DOI: 10.3852/14-084

Abstract

The genus Lentinus (Polyporaceae, Basidiomycota) is widely documented from tropical and temperate forests and is taxonomically controversial. Here we studied the relationships between Lentinus subg. Lentinus sensu Pegler (i.e. sections Lentinus, Tigrini, Dicholamellatae, Rigidi, Lentodiellum and Pleuroti and polypores that share similar morphological characters). We generated sequences of internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and partial 28S regions of nuc rDNA and genes encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB1), focusing on Lentinus subg. Lentinus sensu Pegler and the Neofavolus group, combined these data with sequences from GenBank (including RPB2 gene sequences) and performed phylogenetic analyses with maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. We also evaluated the transition in hymenophore morphology between Lentinus, Neofavolus and related polypores with ancestral state reconstruction. Single-gene phylogenies and phylogenies combining ITS and 28S with RPB1 and RPB2 genes all support existence of a Lentinus/Polyporellus clade and a separate Neofavolus clade. Polyporellus (represented by P. arcularius, P. ciliatus, P. brumalis) forms a clade with species representing Lentinus subg. Lentinus sensu Pegler (1983), excluding L. suavissimus. Lentinus tigrinus appears as the sister group of Polyporellus in the four-gene phylogeny, but this placement was weakly supported. All three multigene analyses and the single-gene analysis using ITS strongly supported Polyporus tricholoma as the sister group of the Lentinus/Polyporellus clade; only the 28S rRNA phylogeny failed to support this placement. Under parsimony the ancestral hymenophoral configuration for the Lentinus/Polyporellus clade is estimated to be circular pores, with independent transitions to angular pores and lamellae. The ancestral state for the Neofavolus clade is estimated to be angular pores, with a single transition to lamellae in L. suavissimus. We propose that Lentinus suavissimus (section Pleuroti) should be reclassified as Neofavolus suavissimus comb. nov.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.