Bridgeoporus nobilissimus

Bridgeoporus nobilissimus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Subkingdom:	Dikarya
Phylum:	Basidiomycota
Subphylum:	Agaricomycotina
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Polyporales
Family:	Polyporaceae
Genus:	Bridgeoporus
Species:	B. nobilissimus
Binomial name
Bridgeoporus nobilissimus (W.B. Cooke) Volk, Burdsall & Ammirati (1996)

Bridgeoporus nobilissimus
Mycological characteristics
	pores on hymenium
	hymenium attachment is not applicable
	lacks a stipe
	ecology is parasitic
	edibility: inedible

Bridgeoporus nobilissimus is a species of mushroom in the genus Bridgeoporus. Commonly known both as the noble polypore and the fuzzy Sandozi, this fungus produces fruiting bodies that have been weighed up to 130 kilograms (290 lb); it associates itself with very large (at least 1 m diameter) trees of species Abies procera (Noble fir), Abies amabilis (Pacific silver fir), or Tsuga heterophylla (western hemlock).^[1] Bridgeoporus nobilissimus causes a brown rot in its tree hosts.

Description

(Details for this section were largely adapted from Bursdall et al.. (1996).^[1])

Bridgeoporus nobilissimus has perennial, imbricate, sessile fruitbodies that measure 30–140 centimetres (12–55 in) × 25–95 centimetres (9.8–37 in) × 30–100 centimetres (12–39 in), and are shaped like a horse's hoof. Although the cap surface is typically brown or darker, it may appear green due to epimycotic associations with algae such as Coccomyxa or Charicium species.^[2] The texture of the fruitbody is fibrous; it is rubbery and tough when fresh, but becomes hard and brittle when it is dry. The pores on the underside of the fruit body are round, approximately 2 per mm, and the tubes are 2–7 mm long in mature layers. There is a 2–3 millimeter layer thick layer of sterile tissue between pore layers.

Microscopic characteristics

Microscopically, B. nobilissimus is characterized by simple-septate hyphae, pseudocystidia originating from the trama, closely appressed hyphae in fascicles on the upper surface of the pileus. The spore-bearing cells, the basidia, are 12–18 x 4–10 µm in size, pear-shaped, and 4-spored. Basidiospores are 5.5–6.5 x 3.5–4.5 µm, roughly ovoid in shape, hyaline, smooth and thin-walled.

Habitat and distribution

This species is found singly or sometimes in overlapping layers on old trees (1–2 metres (3.3–6.6 ft) diameter at breast height) of Abies procera, and more rarely Abies amabilis or Tsuga heterophylla. It has so far been found only in the Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon, as well as the Coast Range on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Species have been found at elevations of 1,000–4,000 feet (300–1,200 m).^[3] Due to the scarcity of its mature tree hosts, it was listed in 1995 as an endangered species by the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, making it the first of the fungi to be listed as endangered by any private or public agency in the United States.^[4][5]

Taxonomy

Bridgeoporus nobilissimus was named for William Bridge Cooke, who originally described Oxyporus nobilissimus in 1949.^[6] Species of genus Oxyporus cause white rot, and O. nobilissimus was originally placed in the genus despite not knowing definitively what type of rot it caused. In 1955, Lowe placed O. nobilissimus in the genus Fomes, before the genus concept was narrowed.^[7] In 1996 the new genus Bridgeoporus was created to accommodate this species, in order to rectify the incompatibility within the Oxyporus placement.

Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial small-subunit rDNA sequences suggests that B. nobilissimus belongs in the hymenochaetoid clade, closely related to the genera Oxyporus and Schizopora.^[2] The hymenochaetoid clade includes wood-decaying species previously classified in the families Corticiaceae, Polyporaceae and Stereaceae.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Burdsall HH Jr, Volk TJ, Ammirati JF Jr. (1996). "Bridgeoporus, a new genus to accommodate Oxyporus nobilissimus (Basidiomycotina, Polyporaceae)." Mycotaxon 60(0): 387–95.
2. ^ ^{a b} Redberg GL, Hibbett DS, Ammirati JF Jr, Rodriquez RJ. (2003). "Phylogeny and genetic diversity of Bridgeoporus nobilissimus inferred using mitochondrial and nuclear rDNA sequences." Mycologia 95(5): 836–45.
3. ^ Castellano MA, Smith JE, O’Dell T, Cazares E, Nugent S. (1999). Handbook to Strategy I fungal species in the Pacific Northwest Forest plan. Pacific Northwest Research Station. Portland, Oregon: GTR-476. 141 p.
4. ^ Lizon P. (1995). "Preserving the biodiversity of fungi". Inoculum 46(6): 1–4.
5. ^ "Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month for June 1997, Bridgeoporus nobilissimus". http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/bridgeop.html. Retrieved 2008-12-08. 
6. ^ Cooke WB. (1949). Oxyporus nobilissimus and the genus Oxyporus in North America. Mycologia 41: 442–455.
7. ^ Lowe JL. (1955). "Perennial polypores of North America III. Fomes with context white to rose." Mycologia 47: 213–24.
8. ^ Larsson KH, Parmasto E, Fischer M, Langer E, Nakasone KK, Redhead SA. (2006). "Hymenochaetales: a molecular phylogeny for the hymenochaetoid clade". Mycologia 98 (6): 926–36. doi:10.3852/mycologia.98.6.926. PMID 17486969. 

External links

• Bridgeoporus nobilissimus at Index Fungorum
• Tom Volk's Fungus of the Month, June 1997
• "Fungi SP, Version 2.0, 5/13/98 - Bridgeoporus (=Oxyporus) nobilissimus". http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/surveyandmanage/SP/Fungi/fungi.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-05.