Characterization of Pyrofomes demidoffii from Ethiopian Afromontane forests

• Pyrofomes demidoffii is a basidiomycetous fungus that causes a white heart rot in living junipers (Juniperus spp.). Morphological characters and genetic variation in species of Pyrofomes were investigated for specimens from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Macedonia, USA and Costa Rica. In addition, the behaviour of isolates from Ethiopia was studied in vitro. The Ethiopian specimens had relatively larger basidiospores than collections from other countries and showed a high sequence similarity in the ITS region of rDNA sequences with most of strains evaluated in this study (95-100%), but only 89-92% with P.demidoffii from the USA. Phylogenetic analysis of ITS-5.8S rDNA sequences resulted in two well-supported (99-100% bootstrap value), separate clades of P.demidoffii. Deeper branches were less well supported (bootstrap<90%), but the two geographically and phylogenetically separated clades within P.demidoffii may still represent sister groups. For Ethiopian strains, the temperature optimum was between 20 and 25 degrees C and the pH optimum was around 5.0. A phylogenetic study with additional genetic markers and with a more representative collection of samples is needed.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biologisk systematik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biological Systematics (hsv//eng)

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