title: The famous cultivated mushroom Bailinggu is a separate species of the Pleurotus eryngii species complex.
abstract: The mushroom of the genus Pleurotus in western China, called Bailinggu, is a precious edible fungus with high economic value. However, its taxonomical position is unclear. Some researchers regard it as a variety of P. eryngii, namely P. eryngii var. tuoliensis, whereas others consider it to be a subspecies of P. eryngii, viz. P. eryngii subsp. tuoliensis. A total of 51 samples representing seven genetic groups of the genus Pleurotus were subjected to a phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of the translation elongation factor 1 alpha gene (ef1a), the RNA polymerase II largest subunit gene (rpb1), the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit gene (rpb2) and nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS). Our data indicate that the mushroom Bailinggu is a lineage independent of P. eryngii and should be lifted as its own species, namely P. tuoliensis. In addition, its known distribution range consists of both western China and Iran.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Mengran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jinxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiangli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wangqiu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.|Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chenyang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000363:Agaricales / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D007492:Iran; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D020076:Pleurotus / Q000235:genetics*; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; C410949:RNA polymerase II largest subunit