title: Five New Wood Decay Fungi (Polyporales and Hymenochaetales) in Korea.
abstract: The wood decay fungi are a diverse taxonomic group that plays a pivotal role in forest carbon cycling. Wood decay fungi use various enzymatic pathways to digest dead or living wood in order to obtain carbon and other nutrients and these enzymatic systems have been exploited for both industrial and medical applications. Over 600 wood decay fungi species have been described in Korea; however, the recent application of molecular markers has dramatically altered the taxonomy of many of these wood decay fungi at both the genus and species levels. By combining molecular methods, specifically sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region, with traditional morphological characters, this study identified five new species records for Korea in five genera:Aurantiporus,Favolus,Neofavolus,Loweomyces, andHymenochaetopsis. Three of these genera (Aurantiporus,Favolus, andLoweomyces) were previously unknown in Korea. The relatively simple morphology of the wood decay fungi often leads to ambiguous taxonomic assignment. Therefore, molecular markers are a necessary component of any taxonomic or evolutionary study of wood decay fungi. Our study highlights the need for a more robust and multifaceted approach in investigating new wood decay fungi in Korea.
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Nam Kyu
authors: NK
authors: Kim
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Jae Young
authors: JY
authors: Park
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Myung Soo
authors: MS
authors: Park
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Hyun
authors: H
authors: Lee
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Hae Jin
authors: HJ
authors: Cho
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: John A
authors: JA
authors: Eimes
authors: Biological and Genetic Resources Assessment Division, National Institute of Biological Resources, Incheon 22689, Korea.
authors: Changmu
authors: C
authors: Kim
authors: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
authors: Young Woon
authors: YW
authors: Lim
keywords: Hymenochaetales; ITS; New record; Polyporales; Wood decay fungi