Ganoderma (Ganodermataceae, Basidiomycota) species from the Greater Mekong Subregion

Abstract

The cosmopolitan Ganoderma is an important pathogen on arboreal plant hosts. Ganoderma is particularly diverse in tropical and temperate regions. It has long been used as traditional medicine because of its beneficial medicinal properties and chemical constituents. In this study, Ganoderma collections were made in tropical regions of Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and temperate Yunnan Province, China. The specimens are described based on micro-macro characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of combined ITS, LSU, TEF1α, and RPB2 sequence data. In this comprehensive study, we report 22 Ganoderma species from temperate and tropical regions of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), namely G. adspersum , G. applanatum , G. australe , G. calidophilum , G. ellipsoideum , G. flexipes , G. gibbosum , G. heohnelianum , G. hochiminhense , G. leucocontextum , G. lingzhi , G. lucidum , G. multiplicatum , G. multipileum , G. myanmarens e , G. orbiforme , G. philippii , G. resinaceum , G. sinense , G. subresinosum , G. williamsianum , and G. tsugae . Of these species, 12 were collected from Yunnan Province, China; three species, were collected from Laos; three species, 2 new records, and one new species were collected from Myanmar; 15 species, and four new records were collected from Thailand; and one new species was collected from Vietnam. Comprehensive descriptions, color photographs of macro and micro characteristics, the distribution of Ganoderma in the GMS and worldwide, and a phylogenetic tree showing the placement of all the Ganoderma reported from the GMS are provided.

Species diversity of Basidiomycota

“…The host specificity of Ganoderma species is highly variable, but many species show striking host generalism (e.g. G. adspersum, G. applanatum, G. curtisii, G. philippi, G. resinaceum, G. zonatum) (Luangharn et al 2020). Although numerous Ganoderma species have a wide host range, the study of Ganoderma species occurring on different trees has recently yielded several new species.…”

“…The genus shows a much higher diversity in Asia. As an example, Luangharn et al (2020) reported 23 Ganoderma species only from the Greater Mekong Subregion, out of which three species were new to science. In recent years the genus has been intensively studied in Asia and several new species have been described especially from China (e.g., Cao et al 2012;Cao and Yuan 2013;Li et al 2015Xing et al 2018;Hapuarachchi et al 2018;Liu et al 2019;Ye et al 2019).…”

First Record of Ganoderma multipileum Associated with Delonix regia (Boj. ex Hook.) Raf. Die-back in Vietnam

“…Among the Ganoderma species, G. multipileum was discovered on a stump of decaying wood for the rst time in Taiwan (D. M. Wang et al, 2009). Since then, G. multipileum has been described based on morphology and phylogeny in subtropical and tropical countries such as China (Cao et (Luangharn et al, 2021). In previous reports, Ganoderma multipileum was described as a white-rot fungus that mainly decays dead softwood such as Sterculia nobilis, Delonix regia (D. M. Wang et al, 2009), and Pinus merkusii (Luangharn et al, 2021), as well as hardwood plants such as Dalbergia sissoo and Vachellia nilotica (Umar et al, 2022).…”