CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TREE-DECAY FUNGI BY MOLECULAR AND MORPHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONSIN ANIRANIAN ALAMDARDEH FOREST

Abstract

Forest trees are considered important in ameliorating climate change through removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, stabilizing water catchments and for timber production. Wood decay fungi are among the most important biotic factors in ecosystems, infecting valuable landscaping trees causing an economic loss or the preeminent recyclers of the wood. In a survey of forest trees in the Alamdardeh forest, northern Iran, fungal fruit bodies were collected and isolations made. Based on a combination of macro-morphological characteristics and molecular analyses, using the sequence data of ITS-rDNA, isolates were identified to the species level. A total of 22 species in nine families and 15 genera were identified. Most isolates were the white-rot fungi. Additionally, the brown-rot fungus Laetiporus sulphureus and the soft-rot species Xylaria longipes were identified.