TY - JOUR A1 - Olou, Boris Armel A1 - Hègbè, Apollon D. M. T. A1 - Piepenbring, Meike A1 - Soulemane Yorou, Nourou T1 - Genetic diversity and population differentiation in Earliella scabrosa, a pantropical species of Polyporales T2 - Scientific Reports N2 - Earliella scabrosa is a pantropical species of Polyporales (Basidiomycota) and well-studied concerning its morphology and taxonomy. However, its pantropical intraspecific genetic diversity and population differentiation is unknown. We initiated this study to better understand the genetic variation within E. scabrosa and to test if cryptic species are present. Sequences of three DNA regions, the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU), and the translation elongation factor (EF1α) were analysed for 66 samples from 15 geographical locations. We found a high level of genetic diversity (haplotype diversity, Hd = 0.88) and low nucleotide diversity (π = 0.006) across the known geographical range of E. scabrosa based on ITS sequences. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicates that the genetic variability is mainly found among geographical populations. The results of Mantel tests confirmed that the genetic distance among populations of E. scabrosa is positively correlated with the geographical distance, which indicates that geographical isolation is an important factor for the observed genetic differentiation. Based on phylogenetic analyses of combined dataset ITS-LSU-EF1α, the low intraspecific divergences (0–0.3%), and the Automated Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) analysis, E. scabrosa can be considered as a single species with five different geographical populations. Each population might be in the process of allopatric divergence and in the long-term they may evolve and become distinct species. Y1 - 2023 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/82591 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-825910 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 13 IS - 23020 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London ER -