Revising the taxonomic placement of Laetiporus persicinus within the Laetiporaceae

ABSTRACT

The fungus currently known as Laetiporus persicinus is a recognizable brown-rot decayer that is widespread on oak hosts in the southeastern United States. This species was first described as Polyporus persicinus in 1872 based on collections by Henry W. Ravenel from South Carolina. In this study, we elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of Laetiporus persicinus based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses of a four-locus data set (18S, 28S, rpb2, and tef1) from taxa within the Fomitopsidaceae and Laetiporaceae. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was analyzed separately because it was not possible to align this locus across a diverse data set that included taxa from multiple families. Our analysis and previous studies indicate that Laetiporus persicinus does not belong to Laetiporus sensu stricto, and we found a strongly supported relationship between Laetiporus persicinus and the African species Kusaghiporia usambarensis, despite the fact that the 28S phylogeny resolved a different (but unsupported) topology. Here, we propose Kusaghiporia persicinus, comb. nov., based on a combination of morphological and molecular data. Laetiporus persicinus shares many morphological features with K. usambarensis that are missing in other Laetiporus species, including centrally stipitate basidiomata, a brown to pinkish pileus surface, and a pore layer that bruises when touched. However, K. usambarensis and L. persicinus differ in basidiospore size and shape as well as their geographic distributions. We provide a revised taxonomic treatment for this common wood-decay fungus.

KEYWORDS:

• Brown-rot decay
• Kusaghiporia
• Laetiporus persicinus
• taxonomy
• 1 new taxon

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Curtis Peyer for contributing specimens and photographs, Rosanne A. Healy and Nicole Reynolds for help with curation at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLAS-F), Mark T. Banik for his initial work in systematic of Laetiporaceae, and Sarah Prentice for help in obtaining references. We also thank iNaturalist, MyCoPortal, and Mushroom Observer for specimens and knowledge contribution. Lastly, we thank the curators of NCSLG and BPI for the specimen loans used in this study.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2022.2139144

Additional information

Funding

C.A.P. received a fellowship from the University of Florida for graduate studies and from FL Chapter International Society of Arboriculture (P0157414). Participation of M.E.S. was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1001991 and McIntire-Stennis project 1011527. Participation of N.K. was supported by the Royal Thai Government (Ministry of Science and Technology scholarship).