XVI International Botanical Congess

A Group I intron was found to occur in the nuclear small subunit (18s) ribosomal RNA gene of Lentinellus ursinus, L. omphalodes, L. montanus, and Clavicorona pyxidata. This study examined the distribution of Group I introns within and between species of these genera and Auriscalpium. We surveyed 84 isolates of 10 species of Lentinellus, 15 isolates of 2 species of Auriscalpium, and 305 isolates of 15 species of Clavicorona. Occurrence of the intron among the species of these genera is variable, but hylogenetic signal may be present among intron sequences. Variability in length of the introns has been observed across populations of Clavicorona pyxidata. This is due to unidentified, secondary insertional elements within the intron and occur between conserved regions R and S.