Ganoderma ecuadorense A. Salazar, C.W. Barnes & Ordonez [as 'ecuadoriense' ], in Salazar, Ordonez , Toapanta, Barnes & Gamboa, Persoonia 36: 441 (2016)

Mardones, Melissa, Carranza-Velazquez, Julieta, Mata-Hidalgo, Milagro, Amador-Fernandez, Xaviera & Urbina, Hector, 2023, Taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Ganoderma (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) in Costa Rica, MycoKeys 100, pp. 5-47 : 5

5. Ganoderma ecuadorense A. Salazar, C.W. Barnes & Ordonez [as 'ecuadoriense'], in Salazar, Ordonez, Toapanta, Barnes & Gamboa, Persoonia 36: 441 (2016)

Figs 3G , 7

Type.

Ecuador. Orellana: Yasuni Research Station , on decaying wood, Mar 2013, A. Salazar s.n. (holotype: QCAM3430) .

Description.

Basidiocarps solitary or gregarious, laterally stipitate, dimidiate, spathulate to circular, woody, 15-21 × 8-11 cm; pileus surface laccate, tuberculate, glabrous, zonate reddish-brown to vinaceous-brown, upper surface covered by cinnamon-coloured powder of deposited basidiospore, margin obtuse, yellow when young changing to reddish-brown with age; context firm, yellowish-brown, duplex, with melanoid bands or deposits embedded in context tissue; pore surface white when young, blackish-brown to vinaceous-black when old, pores circular to irregular, 4-6 per mm; tube layers ochraceous-tawny to brownish-black, 10-12 mm thick. Stipe lateral, 25-35 cm long, round or slightly compressed, tuberculate or smooth, 12-18 mm diam. and with a reddish-brown, shiny cuticle. Hyphal system trimitic; contextual generative hyphae thick-walled, with clamps, hyaline, 3.5 µm in diam.; skeletal hyphae thick-walled, 1.5-6 µm in diam., light yellow; binding hyphae thin and thick-walled, 1-3.5 µm in diam. Cuticular cells club-like, yellowish, upper part with small outgrowths, with amyloid reaction with Melzer’s Reagent, 40-55 × 7-14 µm. Basidia not observed. Basidiospores ellipsoid to oblong, truncate at the distal end; with two walls, pale yellow, moderately coarsely echinulate, 8-10 × 5-7 µm. Chlamydospores not observed.

Descriptions and illustrations.

Crous et al. (2016).

Substrata.

On decaying hardwood.

Altitudinal distribution.

Lowlands.

Geographic distribution.

Brazil, Ecuador, and French Guyana. This is the first report for Costa Rica and Central America.

Specimens examined.

Costa Rica. Alajuela: Arenal, Parque Nacional Volcán Tenorio, sector El Pilon , 10°42'58.23"N, 84°59'15.91"W, 700 m elev., 27 Jun 1999, M. Mata Mata-765 (CR3484383). Heredia: Sarapiquí, Puerto Viejo, Estacion Biologica La Selva (OET), Sendero Experimental Sur, 10°25'59.6"N, 84°0'16.2"W, 30-100 m elev., 23 Jun 2022, J. Carranza JCV 3-22/GA-52 (USJ109796, sequences ITSOQ845463); 10°25'59.5"N, 84°0'16.3"W, 100 m elev., on log, 06 Nov 2016, J. Carranza JCV 3-16 (USJ109702). Limón: Pococí, Guápiles, Zona Protectora acuíferos de Guácimo y Pococí, bosque sobre colina La Roca, 10°09'57"N, 83°47'59"W, 472 m elev., 06 Jun 2022, M. Montero MMG-181A (USJ109798, sequences ITSOQ845465); en arboleda rodeada de potreros, 10°09'55"N, 83°48'05"W, 410 m elev., 08 Sep 2022 M. Montero MMG-209 (USJ109799, sequences ITSOQ845466). Puntarenas: Cantón Central , Isla Chira, 10°6'5.01"N, 85°8'14.15"W, 0-100 m elev., 29 Jul 2005, I. López Lopez-7241 (CR3970559). Osa, Parque Nacional Corcovado, Estación Sirena, Sendero Espaveles a sendero La Olla, 8°29'12.04"N, 83°35'42.8"W, 0-30 m elev., on log, 07 Jul 2022, J. Carranza, M. Mardones, E. Fletes GA-57 (USJ109797, sequences ITSOQ845464, LSUOQ835185); Estacion La Leona , 8°26'49.74"N, 83°31'10.04"W, 10 m elev., on log, 30 Aug 2014, J. Carranza JCV 2-14 (USJ109682); 8°26'49.74"N, 83°31'10.04"W, 10 m elev., on log, 16 Sep 2016, J. Carranza JCV 7-16 (USJ109691) .

Specimens of other species examined for comparison.

Ganoderma perzonatum . Cuba. Santiago de las Vega, 08 Nov 1904, F.S. Earle 309 (type, NYBG 985702).

Discussion.

Ganoderma ecuadorense (as ecuadoriense) was recently described from the Amazon Basin in Ecuador ( Crous et al. 2016). It is characterised by the laterally stipitate basidiocarp, with dimidiate, laccate, reddish-brown pileus, usually covered by a cinnamon-coloured powder of deposited basidiospores. Microscopically, the main characteristics are their club-shape cuticular cells and the small (8-10 × 5-7 µm) and yellow basidiospores. We could not examine the type specimen of G. ecuadorense , but the morphological characteristics observed in our specimens agree well with the description in the protologue.

According to Crous et al. (2016), morphologically, G. ecuadorense is similar to G. perzonatum Murrill. The type specimen of G. perzonatum has a very short stipe, darker than the pileus, measuring 0.5-1 × 0.5-1.5 cm. Additionally, it has discontinuous melanoid bands; the spores are 8-10 × 6-8.5 µm and the cuticular cells do not have projections and are shorter than in G. ecuadorense . Steyaert (1980) considered G. perzonatum as a synonym of G. parvulum .

Sequences of four specimens from Costa Rica (GA-57, GA-52, MMG-181a, MMG-209) clustered in a subclade with G. orbiforme from Brazil (clade II) forming a well-supported terminal subclade (0.94/90) with sequences labelled as G. ecuadorense (including the type) from Brazil, Ecuador and French Guyana and G. subfornicatum from French Guyana. Fryssouli et al. (2020) considered G. ecuadorense as a synonym of G. subfornicatum , based on the phylogenetic analyses of the ITS region. However, G. ecuadorense still appears as a valid species at Index Fungorum. In the BLASTN search of our sequences, the results gave the highest score to sequences identified as G. ecuadorense (including the holotype).

Therefore, until more data are available, we identify our specimens as G. ecuadorense based on: (i) the similar morphological characteristics of our specimens with the description in the protologue of G. ecuadorense , (ii) the position of our ITS sequences in the phylogenetic analysis within a terminal subclade with other sequences of G. ecuadorense (including the holotype) and (iii) the lack of more sequences of G. subfornicatum (including type material) in GenBank (see Fryssouli et al. (2020) for a complete discussion on the topic).

Figures

Figure 3. In-situ photos of basidiocarps of Ganoderma spp. in Costa Rica A G. amazonense (GA- 30) B G. applanatum (GA- 54) C G. australe (GA- 58) D G. cf. chocoense (GA- 03) E, F G. curtisii (JCV 128 - 10) G G. ecuadorense (MMG- 181) H G. oerstedii (Saenz 2049) I G. parvulum (GA- 09). Scale bars: 20 cm (A, H); 3 cm (B, C); 1 cm (D, E, I).

Figure 7. Ganoderma ecuadorense A basidiocarp (Mata 765) B pore surface (Mata 765) C context tissue (MMG- 181) D cuticular cells (Mata 765) E basidiospores (Lopez 7241). Scale bars: 20 µm (D); 10 µm (E).