NEW RECORDS OF TWO MACROFUNGI SPECIES BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR IDENTIFICATION IN IRAQ

Abstract

This study was done in Al-Alam City, Salah Al-Din Province, to determine the diversity of the macrofungi in it. The results of the field study showed two species were recorded in Iraq for the first time, Inocutis tamaricis (Pat) Fiasson & Niemelä, 1984 (Basidiomycota, Hymenochaetales) and Melanoleuca castaneofusca Contu, 1998 (Basidiomycota, Agaricales). These species were diagnosed based on macroscopic and microscopic, DNA sequence analyses and environmental charactes. The study included the adoption of the ITS gene for molecular diagnosis, the results of which were confirmed for morphological and environmental diagnosis, and the specimens were registered in the NCBI Global GenBank under the international accession numbers OP153814.1 and MZ334407.1 for the species I. tamaricis and M. castaneofusca, respectively.