Identification of Armillaria species associated with Polyporus umbellatus using ITS sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA

The sclerotia of Polyporus umbellatus were collected from three locations in Japan and three locations in China. All the collected sclerotia were adhered to by rhizomorphs of the symbionts. When the sclerotium of P. umbellatus was cross sectioned, the internal part of the sclerotium was cream colored, and many black regions surrounding the invading rhizomorphs were observed. The surrounding zone contained string-like, gelatinous masses composed of hyphae, and its outside was brown in color. All isolates were similar in colony morphology and grew well on PDA medium with well-developed rhizomorphs. All the isolates showed typical morphology of Armillaria. The isolated fungi were identified via the ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence. Phylogenetic analysis based on the neighbor-joining method showed that all the isolates clustered with fungi belonging to Armillaria species. Among them, five species (A. sinapina, A. calvescens, A. gallica, A. cepistipes, and A. nabsnona) and the symbiont formed a highly supported clade. We report on the case where Armillaria has a relationship in the sclerotium of Polyporus umbellatus.