Molecular Identification of Some Ghanaian Mushrooms Using Internal Transcribed Spacer Regions

Abstract

Mushooms have recently attracted attention and are exploited for food and medicinal purposes. Accurate identification of mushrooms is key in utilizing them for the benefit of humans. However, morphological identification of mushrooms is time consuming, tedious and may be prone to error. DNA markers are quick and reliable tools that are useful in mushroom taxonomy. Thus this study confirmed the identity of six Ghanaian mushrooms using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. The ribosomal DNA-ITS fragments of genomic DNA of six wild mushrooms were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers. The amplicons were sequenced and data assembled and analyzed using Bio Edit. Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search was carried out using the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The data obtained from the sequence alignment were used to plot a phylogenetic tree using the Neighbor-Joining method in Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA Phylogenetic tree showed close relationship between T. elegans and T. gibbosa, V. volvacea and P. ostreatus. Molecular identification of all six mushrooms corresponded to morphological identification up to species level. This is the first report on identification of these Ghanaian mushrooms using the ITS sequences.

Molecular identification of some wild Nigerian mushrooms using internal transcribed spacer: polymerase chain reaction

“…In the present investigation, PCR product of mushrooms (approximately 850 bp) disagrees with Appiah et al ( 2017 ) who reported 400 and 600 bp for P . ostreatus and S. commune respectively using ITS 1 and 4.…”

“…Interestingly, the sequence analysis of this work corroborates Appiah et al ( 2017 ) who ascertained the identity of P. ostreatus and S. commune from central region of Ghana with 98 and 100% similarity. Also, Siddiquee et al ( 2015 ) confirmed the identity of T. aurantiacus from four different termite mounds from Seriserdang area and reported 100% similarity stating that they were ex-strains of T. aurantiacus GU594650, JN585945, JN585945 and JQ228252 from GenBank repository.…”

“…Genetic identification is an essential diagnostic tool for unraveling the rich biodiversity of wild mushrooms (Rajaratnam and Thiagarajan 2012 ). Importantly, the ITS region of nuclear ribosomal DNA, including ITS1, 2 and 4, has been used to validate the inconsistency in macrofungi taxonomy at the species and subspecies level (Cui et al 2011 ; Raju et al 2014 ; Appiah et al 2017 ). In Nigeria, molecular identification of mushrooms using the ITS region is scarcely studied.…”

“…Before now, traditional method of mushroom identification is based on the size, shape and margin of carpophore, length, diameter, location and texture of stipe, the spore-bearing surface, habitat, habit, season they appear, spore prints, use of coloured photographs, and any other unique feature present on the fruiting body (FAO 2006 ; Odeyemi and Adeniyi 2015 ). However, mutation resulting in genetic changes and which may not be expressed, and the indistinctive nature of mushroom mycelial forms remains a setback with taxonomy using morphological characteristics (Lian et al 2008 ; Appiah et al 2017 ).…”

Molecular characterization of most cultivated Pleurotus species in sub-western region Nigeria with development of cost effective cultivation protocol on palm oil waste

“…(2018) who ascertained the identity of P. ostreatus and P. pulmonarius from Ilesa, Southwest region Nigeria with 93 and 100% similarity. Appiah et al. (2017) also ascertained the identity of P. ostreatus from central region of Ghana with 98 similarities, while ITS 1 and 2 had previously been used to identify P. pulmonarius in Malaysia ( Avin et al., 2014 ).…”