Molecular identification of some wild medicinal macrofungi from northern Iran

Abstract

In last decades, macrofungi have attracted increasing attention because of their valuable nutritional and medicinal properties. In this study, a total of 180 macrofungal samples were collected from forests in Mazandaran province, Iran. The dominant orders were Polyporales (51%) and Agaricales (35%). Pure mycelial cultures were successfully obtained from 91 collected samples. Regarding morphological data, 47 isolates were selected for molecular identification based on internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) sequence analysis. The results showed that the 38 macrofungal isolates were belonging to 22 species, 19 genera, 10 families and 5 orders. Most of the macrofungi (47%) were identified as Trametes species and Ganoderma species. Three isolates identified as Hohenbuehelia species, Polyporellus brumalis and Ceriporia lacerata were records as a new to the Iran fungal flora. This study increases the knowledge on Iranian macrofungal diversity and facilitates future genetic and biotechnological investigations on these macrofungi.