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Abstract
We investigated nuclear behavior during basidiosporogenesis in Lentinus, Panus, and Neolentinus in an attempt to discover characters for taxonomic segregation of lentinoid-pleurotoid fungi. In Lentinus tigrinus and Panus lecomtei somatic hyphae are binucleate. Karyogamy and meiosis occur in the basidia, meiotic products migrate into spores and postmeiotic mitosis occurs; this is followed by back-migration of one nucleus from each spore into the basidium. Mature spores are consequently uninucleate and discharged basidia are quadrinucleate. In Neolentinus lepideus many somatic cells are multinucleate. Karyogamy, meiosis, and postmeiotic mitosis occur as in L. tigrinus and P. lecomtei, but there is no backmigration, mature spores are binucleate, and discharged basidia are anucleate. The patterns of nuclear behavior in L. tigrinus and P. lecomtei correspond to type C nuclear behavior as defined by Duncan and Galbraith, whereas that of Neolentinus corresponds to type D nuclear behavior. Lentinus and Panus cannot be distinguished on the basis of postmeiotic nuclear behavior, but both can be distinguished from Pleurotus which has been reported to have type A nuclear behavior sensu Duncan and Galbraith.