Phylogeny, divergence time and historical biogeography of Phanerochaete (Basidiomycota, Polyporales), with a description of two new species in Korea.

The genus Phanerochaete (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) is a member of corticioid fungi. Recent phylogenetic studies have reclassified Phanerochaete species into other genera and delimited the core Phanerochaete. However, phylogenetic studies using multi-locus datasets comprising nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA (nLSU), translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1), RNA polymerase II largest subunit (rpb1) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) are still limited and the divergence time estimation and historical biogeography are under-represented for the genus Phanerochaete. To address this gap, we conducted the first integrative evolutionary study of Phanerochaete using a five-locus dataset. Of the 72 specimens, 14 species were identified, including two novel species: Phanerochaete koreana sp. nov., characterised by coriaceous basidiome and the absence of leptocystidia and Phanerochaete membranacea sp. nov., characterised by an ochraceous membranaceous basidiomata and heavily encrusted leptocystidia. Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis, divergence time estimation and historical biogeographic analyses suggest that Phanerochaete originated during the Early Cretaceous, with a mean crown age of 101.66 Mya [95% highest posterior density (HPD): 98.38-104.86 Mya]. This study elucidates the evolutionary relationships between Phanerochaete and allied genera within Polyporales and explains the global diversity, phylogeny and evolution of the genus.