Evolutionary relationships of the clavarioid mushroom genus Lentaria.

The genus Lentaria includes a group of clavarioid mushrooms most commonly collected on rotten wood and debris in late summer and fall in temperate and subtropical forests around the world. Although the habitat and macroscopic features of the basidiomes of Lentaria are similar to those found in taxa in subgenus Lentoramaria in the genus Ramaria, the microscopic features are similar to those found in taxa in subgenus Ligulus in the genus Clavariadelphus which features smooth, narrowly elongated basidiospores. While previous phylogenetic work has clearly defined the Phallomycetidae, resolution of the clavarioid members of the clade has remained elusive. The working hypothesis for this project is that the genus Lentaria is more closely aligned phylogenetically with subgenus Ligulus in Clavariadelphus rather than with Ramaria. Two nuclear ribosomal regions, the 28S large subunit (LSU) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), have been amplified, sequenced and analyzed in an evolutionary context to resolve the phylogenetic position of Lentaria relative to Clavariadelphus and Ramaria and provide a better understanding of the evolution of the clavarioid growth form within the Phallomycetidae.