Evaluation of five regions as DNA barcodes for identification of Lepista species (Tricholomataceae, Basidiomycota) from China

• DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7307
• Publication Date: 2019-07-15T04:06:08Z
• Authors: Siyu Wang; Hongbo Guo; JiaJia Li; Wei Li; Qin Wang; Xiaodan Yu
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 0303 health sciences; QH301-705.5; R; Biodiversity; 03 medical and health sciences; Inter-specific diversity; Intra-specific diversity; Species delineation; Medicine; DNA barcoding; Biology (General); Agaricales; 10. No inequality

Background Distinguishing among species in the genus Lepista is difficult because of their similar morphologies.

Methods To identify a suitable DNA barcode for identification of Lepista species, we assessed the following five regions: internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the intergenic spacer (IGS), nuclear ribosomal RNA subunit, mitochondrial small subunit rDNA, and tef1. A total of 134 sequences from 34 samples belong to eight Lepista species were analyzed. The utility of each region as a DNA barcode was assessed based on the success rates of its PCR amplification and sequencing, and on its intra- and inter-specific variations.

Results The results indicated that the ITS region could distinguish all species tested. We therefore propose that the ITS region can be used as a DNA barcode for the genus Lepista. In addition, a phylogenetic tree based on the ITS region showed that the tested eight Lepista species, including two unrecognized species, formed eight separate and well-supported clades.