Molecular phylogenetics of selected Ganoderma lucidum from Abuja environs: An Insight into Local and Universal Relatedness

Given its increasing commercial relevance in the nutraceutical market, driven by the growing demand for antitumor and immune-boosting natural products, Ganoderma lucidum has been extensively explored for its vast therapeutic potential. Its reported wide distribution globally, alongside high morphological variations, is of significant research interest. The conspicuous taxonomic ambiguity in this mushroom, owing to its species plasticity, leads to misidentification and evolutionary complexity within the species. This has given rise to various premises regarding its origin, evolution, and the influence of multiple factors on its multifaceted existence. This study investigated the preliminary evolutionary relationship and plausible origins of local Ganoderma lucidum strains from Abuja, Nigeria, using a simple phylogenetic analysis. In this work, we carried out a molecular phylogenetic analysis of ten selected specimens of G. lucidum from Abuja environs to determine their evolutionary relatedness within and among specimen sequences from other geographical locations of the world. Molecular characterization techniques were used to generate DNA sequences of the Abuja samples. Additional sequences from Nigeria, India, China, Korea, and Europe were retrieved from the NCBI. Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic tree construction were conducted using Clustal-W and MEGA XI, respectively. The resulting Neighbor-Joining tree revealed significant inter-regional phylogenetic clustering of the taxa, with a few overlapping clades present between them. It also revealed a strong bunching of the Nigerian-Abuja strains with their somewhat closer association to the European strains. This study provides a baseline for further molecular investigations, suggesting geographical location as a key factor in G. lucidum species variation..