Protein coding gene, RPB2, better resolved the identity of Trametes species collected from Nigeria than ribosomal genes

Trametes species is a cosmopolitan macrofungus and the identification of this particular genus has been chaotic over the years due to difficulty in separation of the species based on morphological characteristics. The present study reports the identification of twenty-five (25) specimens of Trametes spp collected from Akure, Nigeria using ribosomal marker and a protein-coding gene RPB2. The Trametes spp investigated were designated V01 to V026. Standard method employing Cetyltrimethyl ammonium (CTAB) was used to isolate the DNA of these macrofungi. PCR amplification of DNA and sequencing of the amplicons obtained from ribosomal gene (ITS) and protein coding gene (RPB2) was performed using standard methods. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequences obtained from ribosomal and the protein coding gene revealed that the 26 Trametes specimens belong to the following species: Trametes elegans, T. polyzona, T. cubensis, T. lactinea, and T. cingulata. The study revealed that the protein-coding gene, RPB2, resolved the identity of the T. cingulata collected from Nigeria better than ITS sequence data.