Peer Review #3 of "Evaluation of five regions as DNA barcodes for identification of Lepista species (Tricholomataceae, Basidiomycota) from China (v0.1)"

Abstract

Background. Distinguishing among species in the genus Lepista is difficult because of their similar morphologies. Methods. To identify a suitable DNA barcode for identification of Lepista species, we assessed the following five regions: ITS, IGS, nLSU, mtSSU, and tef1. A total of 134 sequences from 34 samples belong to eight Lepista species were analyzed. The utility of each region as a DNA barcode was assessed based on the success rates of its PCR amplification and sequencing, and on its intra-and inter-specific variations. Results. The results indicated that the ITS region could distinguish all species tested. We therefore propose that the ITS region can be used as a DNA barcode for the genus Lepista. In addition, a phylogenetic tree based on the ITS region showed that the tested eight Lepista species, including two unrecognized species, formed eight separate and well-supported clades.