Additions to the List of Polypores to India

Five species of the pileate polypore fungi, Ganoderma ungulatum (Polyporales, Ganodermataceae), Gloeophyllum odoratum (Gloeophyllales, Gloeophyllaceae) Heterobasidion abietinum (Russulales, Bondarzewiaceae), Osmoporus mexicanus (Gloeophyllales, Gloeophyllaceae) and Oxyporus ravidus (Hymenochaetales, Schizoporaceae) are described and illustrated on the basis of basidiocarps collected during the rainy season of years 2015-2017 from different parts of Doda district (Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India). Of these, the first four species are being described and illustrated for the first time from India, whereas Oxyporus ravidus is a new record for Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Being the key wood decayers, these fungi grow in association with both broad-leaved as well as conifer tree species. Of the species described, the basidiocarps of Ganoderma ungulatum were collected from Quercus sp., whereas rest of the four species were growing in association with gymnospermous wood. Among the five species described presently, Heterobasidion abietinum is a host specific polypore that grows only in association with wood of Abies spp. These polypores are responsible for different types of rot and play a significant role in the recycling of different types of material. Of the described species, Ganoderma ungulatum Heterobasidion abietinum and Oxyporus ravidus are reported to cause white rot whereas Gloeophyllum odoratum and Osmoporus mexicanus are responsible for brown rot.


Introduction
Polypores (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) are characteristic in having annual to perennial, resupinate to effused-reflexed to pileate, sessile to stipitate basidiocarps. These fungi have unilateral hymenium organized inside tubes which open through pores that can be circular, angular, daedaleoid, lamellate or irregular. In case of pileate members the pilear surface can be smooth, tuberculate, warted, scrupose, tomentose, velutinate, hirsute, hispid, etc. The colour of hymenial and abhymenial surfaces varies from whitish to some shades of yellow, orange, grey, violet, blue or red. These fungi play significant role in the forest ecosystem because of their ability to secrete lignin and cellulose degrading enzymes. Besides their role in recycling of carbon, some of these fungi have also been used in the traditional medicinal system [1].
Keeping in view the variation in geography and climate; diversity of the tree species and few polypore species reported, the present studies were proposed and the localities of Jammu division were surveyed for the collection of polypore basidiocarps. Presently five polypore species i.e. Ganoderma ungulatum J.D. Zhao

Material and Methods
The polypore basidiocarps were collected during the excursions carried out in various parts of district Doda of Jammu Division in the rainy months (July-September) of years 2014-2017. These basidiocarps were separated carefully from their substratum using a hammer and chisel. The macromorphological details i.e. nature of the basidiocarp, mode of attachment, hymenial and abhymenial surface, margins, etc. were recorded. A piece of the fertile portion of the basidiocarp was used for getting the spore print on a micro slide. After drying (in sun or on an electric drier), the collected basidiocarps were packed in ziplock airtight bags. The micro morphological characters were studied by making preparations in water, 3%/5%/ 10% KOH, 1% phloxine, 1% Congo red and 1% cotton blue (in distilled water/lactophenol). The cyanophilous and amyloid reaction of different microscopic structures were studied in 1% cotton blue and Melzer's reagent (Iodine 0.5 g, Potassium Iodide 1.5 g, Chloral hydrate 20.0 g and distilled water 20.0 ml) respectively. The line diagrams of the microscopic structures were drawn with the help of a camera lucida mounted on a compound microscope at 100X, 400X, and 1000X magnification. Finally the specimens were identified on the basis of comparison of the description with the literature and online repository [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. The identified specimens were finally submitted to the Herbarium, Department of Botany, Punjabi University, Patiala (PUN) using standard packing protocol.
Remarks: It is characterized by ungulate basidiocarps with non-laccate abhhymenial surface and thick, homogenous, dark brown context with many crustaceous layers. Earlier it is reported only from its type locality in China s [8,13] on a stump of deciduous tree. This is the first report of G. ungulatum from India.
Remarks G. odoratum is peculiar in having smaller, ungulate pieli with charactrstic odour of anise seed. It is earlier known from North and Central Europe [13] and is being described for the first time from India.   Remarks: H. abietinum is characteristic in having dimidiate, applanate, basidiocarps with comparatively larger pores and its unique association with Abies spp. It is distributed in Central Europe and Russia [9]. This is the first report of H. abietinum from India.  in thickness; tube layer up to 3mm deep; margins acute, wavy, greyish red to greyish brown on abhymenial surface, pale orange to greyish orange on hymenial surface, sterile up to 1mm on hymenial side.
Remarks: It is characteristic in having large,r round to angular pores, monomitic hyphal system, two types of cystidia and larger, ellipsoid basidiospores. This is first report for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is commonly encountered polypore reported in association with both conifers broad leaved tree species in the temperate Himalayan region [10].

Discussion
The diverse climatic conditions of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have attracted mycologists from different parts of India. As a result of their exploration of the union territory previous workers have reported 40 polypore species which are presently grouped under 23 genera, 8 families and 4 orders of Agaricomycetes (Basidiomycota) [2,3,4,5,6]. The present studies have added 4 new records for India and one new report for Jammu and Kashmir, thus raising the total number of polypore species from Jammu and Kashmir from 40 to 45 ( Table 1). It is worth mentioning here that the genus Osmoporus is being described for the first time from Jammu and Kashmir based on O. mexixcanus.  Polypore fungi depend mainly on the wooden substrate for their nourishment. These fungi are unique in the ability to decay lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses, etc. Hence they play a very significant role in recycling of materials. These fungi grow in association with both gymnospermous and angiospermous wood. Of the 45 species described from the study area, 30 species have been reported in association with gymnospermous trees/wood [Cedrus deodara (14), Abies (7), Pinus excelsa (6) and unidentified gymnospermous wood (3)], 11 species have been reported with angiospermous trees/wood [Quercus sp. (6), Berberis aristata (1), Platanus orientalis (1) and unidentified angiospermous wood (3)] and the remaining 4 species have been reported with unknown stumps (Figure 6).
As far as the geographical distribution is concerned, these fungi are dominant in the subtropical (100-1800m) and temperate (1800-3600) regions. Among 45 species reported from the Jammu and Kashmir, 26 have been collected from the sub-tropical region, 13 from the temperate region and remaining 6 from the sub alpine region.

Conclusions
In the present scenario of changing climatic conditions it is essential to document the diversity of polypores of comparatively lesser explored Jammu and Kashmir. The knowledge of these fungi can lay a solid foundation for the exploitation of these fungi because of their medicinal importance. The present studies are one step forward in this direction. Further exploration will enrich our knowledge of these fungi form this diverse area.