Abstract
Six poroid Hymenochaetaceae from Patagonia, Argentina, were studied phylogenetically with nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial 28S rDNA sequences, together with morphological data. Two new genera and a new species are introduced as well as two new combinations proposed. Arambarria destruens gen. et sp. nov. is proposed for a taxon fruiting on fallen or standing, dead Diostea juncea and Lomatia hirsuta and previously recorded erroneously as Inocutis jamaicensis; it is distinguished by annual, effused to effused-reflexed basidiomes forming pilei, a monomitic hyphal system, thick-walled and yellowish basidiospores (brownish chestnut in potassium hydroxide solution), lack of a granular core in the context and lack of setoid elements. Nothophellinus gen. nov. is proposed to accommodate Phellinus andinopatagonicus, the main white wood-rotting polypore of standing Nothofagus pumilio and also an important wood-decayer of other Nothofagus species from southern Argentina and Chile. It is morphologically similar to Phellopilus (type species P. nigrolimitatus) but differs by lacking setae. The new combinations Pseudoinonotus crustosus and Phellinopsis andina are proposed for Inonotus crustosus and Phellinus andinus, respectively. Phellinus livescens, which decays the sapwood of several standing Nothofagus species, is closely related to Phellinus uncisetus, a Neotropical species related to Fomitiporia; for the time being P. livescens is retained in Phellinus sensu lato. An unidentified taxon responsible for a white heart-rot in living Austrocedrus chilensis grouped with Phellinus caryophyllii and Fulvifomes inermis, but its generic affinities remain ambiguous. Transmission electron microscopy studies confirm this unidentified taxon has an imperforate parenthesome, which is typical of the Hymenochaetaceae.
Acknowledgments
Shaun Pennycook (Auckland, New Zealand) provided advice on nomenclatural problems. Li-Wei Zhou (Chinese Academy of Science, China) kindly provided information on sequences not yet available from international databases. Daniel L. Lindner (USDA Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin) kindly reviewed a preliminary version of this manuscript. Thanks are also due to editors and anonymous reviewers for their suggestions to improve the text. Pablo Sandoval (Universidad de Chile in Santiago) provided and authorized its publication. Authors are members of the Research Career of CONICET. This work was financed by grant PIP-CONICET 80101000 (to MR). We acknowledge the continued support of Administración de Parques Nacionales for permits to collect specimens.