Revisiting the taxonomy of Phanerochaete (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) using a four gene dataset and extensive ITS sampling

•We generated ITS, LSU, RPB1, and RPB2 data from phanerochaetoid taxa in Polyporales.•We performed Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses for five dataset combinations.•Phanerochaetoid taxa are distributed in nine lineages across Polyporales.•We describe the genus Phaeophlebiopsis, nine new species and propose three combinations.•We suggest the presence of at least one brown-rot lineage in the phlebioid clade.

We amplified RPB1, RPB2, and the ITS and LSU ribosomal genes from species mostly in the phlebioid clade, focusing heavily in phanerochaetoid taxa. We performed Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses for different combinations of datasets. Our results provide a strongly supported phylogenetic picture of the phlebioid clade, representing 89 species in the four genes analyses, of which 49 represent phanerochaetoid taxa. Phanerochaete sensu lato is polyphyletic and distributed across nine lineages in the phlebioid clade. Six of these lineages are associated to already described genera, while we describe the new genus Phaeophlebiopsis to accommodate Phlebiopsis-like species in one of the remaining lineages. We also propose three taxonomic transfers and describe nine new species, with four of those species currently placed in Phanerochaete sanguinea or Phanerochaete velutina. Finally, the placement of Leptoporus mollis along with other potential brown-rot species in the phlebioid clade suggests that, in addition to the Antrodia clade, brown-rot fungi may have evolved more than once in Polyporales.