Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Antrodia camphorata and Related Species Based on the Polymorphic D2 Region of LSU rDNA

Abstract

Mushroom polysaccharides are biologically active ingredients and potentially medicinally useful. In this study, we examined the medicinal fungus Antrodia camphorata. D2 Sequences of large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were obtained from A. camphorata and related fungal taxa using the MicroSeq D2 LSU rDNA sequencing kit. This kit was used to reveal sequence similarities and phylogenetic relationships. A matrix analysis of sequence similarity for the LSU D2 region of six A. camphorata strains—B85, B86, B71 BCRC35396, BCRC35398, and BCRC35716—displayed 100% sequence identity. Sequence similarities of 91.1%, 86.4%, 82.4% and 83.1% were found when Antrodia camphorata TF971, A. malicola, Antrodiella spp., and Trametes versicolor were compared with A. camphorata B85, respectively. A phylogenetic tree with 12 strains, generated using a maximum parsimony method, did not show much difference compared with a neighbor-joining tree. According to the sequence data obtained, phylogenetic analysis allowed us to infer the phylogenetic relationships among Antrodia, Antrodiella, and Trametes species. Our sequence data establish a foundation for further expansion of MicroSeq D2 Fungal Database of the medically important fungus A. camphorata. The D2 LSU sequence polymorphisms, which contains unique alleles, can be used to provide a reliable method for characterizing wild unidentified ganodermataceae.