Morphological and Phylogenetic Analyses Revealed Ceripochaete cremea gen. et sp. nov. (Irpicaceae, Polyporales) From Southwest China

Wood‐decaying fungi play a fundamental role in forest ecosystem processes, particularly in wood degradation and the recycling of organic matter. In the present study, a new wood‐decaying fungal genus Ceripochaete , with its type species, C. cremea sp. nov., found in Southwest China, is proposed based on a combination of morphological features and molecular evidence. The genus Ceripochaete is characterized by resupinate basidiomata with a coriaceous hymenophore, a monomitic hyphal system with simple septate generative hyphae, the presence of subclavate cystidioles, and ellipsoid, thin‐walled basidiospores. Sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), nuclear large subunit (nLSU), RNA polymerase II largest subunit ( rpb 1), RNA polymerase II second‐largest subunit ( rpb 2), and translation elongation factor 1‐α ( tef 1‐α) analyses of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) markers of the studied samples were generated, and phylogenetic analyses were performed using maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses of ITS + nLSU and ITS + nLSU + rpb 1 + rpb 2 + tef 1‐α showed that Ceripochaete formed a monophyletic clade within the family Irpicaceae, which was clustered into the order Polyporales, in which the molecular research indicated that the new genus Ceripochaete formed a single lineage and then grouped with Crystallicutis . A full description, illustrations, and phylogenetic analyses results of the new taxa are provided.