Species Diversity With Comprehensive Annotations of Wood-Inhabiting Poroid and Corticioid Fungi in Uzbekistan

Abstract

Uzbekistan, located in Central Asia, harbors high diversity of woody plants. Diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi in the country, however, remained poorly known. This study summarizes the wood-inhabiting basidiomycte fungi (poroid and corticoid fungi plus similar taxa such as Merismodes, Phellodon, and Sarcodon) (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) that have been found in Uzbekistan from 1950 to 2020. This work is based on 790 fungal occurrence records: 185 from recently collected specimens, 101 from herbarium specimens made by earlier collectors, and 504 from literature-based records. All data were deposited as a species occurrence record dataset in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and also summarized in the form of an annotated checklist in this paper. All 286 available specimens were morphologically examined. For 138 specimens, the 114 ITS and 85 LSU nrDNA sequences were newly sequenced and used for phylogenetic analysis. In total, we confirm the presence of 153 species of wood-inhabiting poroid and corticioid fungi in Uzbekistan, of which 31 species are reported for the first time in Uzbekistan, including 19 that are also new to Central Asia. These 153 fungal species inhabit 100 host species from 42 genera of 23 families. Polyporales and Hymenochaetales are the most recorded fungal orders and are most widely distributed around the study area. This study provides the first comprehensively updated and annotated the checklist of wood-inhabiting poroid and corticioid fungi in Uzbekistan. Such study should be expanded to other countries to further clarify species diversity of wood-inhabiting fungi around Central Asia.