A new wood-decaying basidiomycete species associated with esca of grapevine: Fomitiporia mediterranea (Hymenochaetales)

Fomitiporia tenuis and Fomitiporia aethiopica (Basidiomycetes, Hymenochaetales), two undescribed species from the Ethiopian highlands: taxonomy and phylogeny

“…However, considering the morphological, biochemical and molecular data available, the genus recently was reconsidered for a number of species known as the Ph. Punctatus-robustus complex (Fiasson and Niemelä 1984;Fischer 1996;. Fischer (1996) and Wagner and Fischer (2002) then defined Fomitiporia as having perennial basidiomes, hyaline, ampulliform cystidioles, hymenial setae rare to absent, and globose, cyanophilous, dextrinoid basidiospores.…”

“…and Inonotus P. Karst. complexes, and more generally of the Hymenochaetaceae Pat., has evolved considerably with the gathering of nonmorphological, especially biochemical (Fiasson 1983, Fiasson andNiemelä 1984) and DNA sequences data (Fischer 1996;. These data, complementary to morphological features, supported either the re-appraisal of previously defined generic entities but generally reduced to synonymy with Phellinus or Inonotus or the recognition of new, homogeneous alliances within these complexes.…”

“…Within the Fomitiporia species with a resupinate basidiome reported from eastern Africa (Ryvarden andJohansen 1980, Ryvarden andGilbertson 1994), Fomitiporia punctata (its sibling species, F. mediterranea, morphologically indistinguishable from F. punctata (Fischer 2002), has not been recorded from the area) and F. pseudopunctata form a morphologically homogeneous group that differs from F. tenuis by having usually thicker and cushion-shaped basidiomes, larger pores (6-8/mm), and larger basidiospores, on average longer than 7 m (Fischer 2002, Ryvarden and Johansen 1980, Ryvarden and Gilbertson 1984, Larsen and Cobb-Poulle 1990. Furthermore F. punctata (and F. mediterranea) lack setae.…”

“…Most of these entities are now taxonomically recognized at generic level (see Fomitiporia Murrill, Fuscoporia Murrill, Phellopilus Niemelä et al, Pseudoinonotus T. Wagner & M. Fisch., etc., Fiasson and Niemelä 1984;Fischer 1996;Niemelä et al 2001;. However, because most of these genera are based on data gathered mainly from northern temperate taxa, their legitimacy (their ''naturalness'') still should be tested by inclusion of more tropical/subtropical taxa that represent the majority of species in these complexes (Fischer 1996, Wagner and.…”

“…A resupinate habit, absence or scarcity of hymenial setae, presence of cystidioles and of hyaline, dextrinoid, cyanophilous, globose to subglobose basidiospores characterized both collections, with features that, within the Phellinus/Inonotus complex of genera, would place them in Fomitiporia (the Phellinus punctatus/robustus complex; Fischer 1996, Wagner andFischer 2002).…”