PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF LENTINUS SQUARROSULUS, MACROFUNGUS FROM CENTRAL PUNJAB, PAKISTAN BASED ON DNA MARKER

Abstract

A lignicolous macrofungus, Lentinus squarrosulus, is collected from dead logs of bamboo vegetation at Rana resort and Safari park located in central Punjab region of Pakistan that has never been recorded from plain areas of Pakistan. The identification of this taxon is based on morphological and molecular characterizations. Morphological characteristics such as pileus size, form, colour, basidiomata and scales, stipe length, width, and texture, and spore anatomy have been documented and found in accordance with characteristics of European collection of the same species. Molecularly, ITS-rDNA, universal fungal marker of the internal transcribed spacers of ribosomal DNA sequences,, from local collections have been compared to GenBank database sequences by using BLAST analysis and further the evolutionary affinities of local collection determined by phylogenetic analysis. All of the data examined has been found to be consistent with the morpho-anatomical and molecular characteristics of L. squarrosulus collections from Europe and Asia.