# Polyporales
**Polyporales** is an order of fungi in the phylum [Basidiomycota](https://www.edgepedia.org/basidiomycota) that produce macroscopic basidiocarps (fruiting bodies) and live chiefly as saprophytic decomposers of wood, breaking down cellulose and lignin; a large number of species in the order have been used medicinally.[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072) The order has traditionally included most species of bracket fungi, conks, and other wood decay fungi with pores, and it also contains corticioid (crust-like), hydnaceous (toothed), and a few gilled forms.[2](https://tidcf.nrcan.gc.ca/en/diseases-caused-by-pathogens/classification/fungi/basidiomycota/agaricomycetes) • [3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S1314405725000266) Polyporales is strongly supported as a clade within the class Agaricomycetes.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rank and placement | Order in Basidiomycota, class Agaricomycetes; MeSH entry terms include the older name Aphyllophorales[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072) • [4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) |
| Lifestyle | Saprophytic decomposers, particularly of cellulose and lignin in wood[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072) |
| Decay types | Most species produce white rot, the plesiomorphic decay type for the order; brown rot evolved in the antrodia lineage and a few other genera[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/) |
| Family-level classification | 18 families recognized in the 2017 revised classification, including three described as new (Cerrenaceae, Gelatoporiaceae, Panaceae)[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) |
| Basis of classification | A 3-gene dataset (nrLSU, nrITS, rpb1) covering 292 Polyporales taxa, analyzed by Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian methods[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) |
| Key marker gene | The RNA polymerase II large subunit (rpb1) is the most phylogenetically informative gene among those traditionally used in Polyporales systematics[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) |
| Divergence time | The Polyporales stem is dated to roughly 100 million years ago (Floudas et al. 2012)[6](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/download/59550.pdf) |
## Traditional and molecular classification
The order was historically defined by fruiting-body form and hyphal structure, grouping together most pore-bearing wood decay fungi. Molecular sequencing has replaced this morphology-based circumscription, and many genera and families once placed in the order proved polyphyletic or paraphyletic in single-locus and multilocus phylogenies.[7](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/polyporales) Morphology can still mislead because similar fruiting-body forms have evolved convergently; a survey of morphological, anatomical, physiological, and genetic traits in the 2017 revision confirmed the plasticity of characters previously emphasized in Polyporales taxonomy.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685)
**Phylogenetic framework.** Binder et al. (2013) produced the most comprehensive analyses of the order up to that point, using a 373-species, six-gene supermatrix (nrLSU, 5.8S, nrSSU, rpb1, rpb2, tef1) together with ten Polyporales genomes; their analyses upheld the major clades /antrodia, /core polyporoid, /phlebioid, and /residual, with varying support, and phylogenetic informativeness profiling identified rpb1 as the most informative of the traditional markers.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685)
**The 2017 family-level revision.** Justo, Miettinen, Floudas, Ortiz-Santana, Sjökvist, Lindner, Nakasone, Niemelä, Larsson, Ryvarden, and Hibbett amplified nrLSU, nrITS, and rpb1 across the order, combined the new sequences with data from the PolyPEET project, and translated a 292-taxon, 3-gene phylogeny into a formal classification of 18 families: the three newly described Cerrenaceae, Gelatoporiaceae, and Panaceae, plus Dacryobolaceae, Fomitopsidaceae, Grifolaceae, Hyphodermataceae, Incrustoporiaceae, Irpicaceae, Ischnodermataceae, Laetiporaceae, Meripilaceae, Meruliaceae, Phanerochaetaceae, Podoscyphaceae, Polyporaceae, Sparassidaceae, and Steccherinaceae.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) Three small clades received informal names (/hypochnicium, /climacocystis, and /fibroporia + amyloporia), and four species, Candelabrochete africana, Mycoleptodonoides vassiljevae, Auriporia aurea, and Tyromyces merulinus, could not be assigned to any recognized family.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685) The authors recommended rpb1 data for future family-level studies in the order.[4](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685)
## Wood decay mechanisms
Polyporales species are divided by decay mode into white rot and brown rot. White-rot fungi degrade all plant cell wall polymers, including lignin, often leaving lighter-colored cellulose behind; brown-rot fungi degrade cellulose and hemicellulose while only partially modifying lignin, leaving brown cubic wood fragments.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/) Most species produce white rot, which is the plesiomorphic (ancestral) decay type for the order; the brown-rot condition arose in the antrodia lineage and convergently in a few other genera, and the transition involved loss of the key class II peroxidase (POD) enzymes that degrade lignin.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/) Brown-rot species instead rely largely on reactive oxygen species generated by iron-dependent Fenton chemistry (iron-driven reaction producing reactive radicals that attack wood) to attack wood polymers before enzymatic degradation.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/)
**Genomic signatures.** A genomewide comparison of 11 white- and brown-rot Polyporales found that genes encoding cellulases of families GH6, GH7, and GH9 and the carbohydrate-binding module CBM1 are lacking in brown-rot genomes, while cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) and expanded lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) occur only in white-rot genomes; peptides of GH6, GH7, CDH, and LPMO were detected only in white-rot polypores.[8](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/46411) Genes for lignin-active peroxidases also vary widely among white-rot species: the genome of *Trametes versicolor* contains 10 lignin peroxidase genes, while none were identified in *Dichomitus squalens*.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/) The model white-rot species *Phanerochaete chrysosporium*, a member of the order, has 154 cytochrome P450 genes, a large complement associated with detoxification of wood degradation products.[9](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/polyporales)
## The antrodia clade
The antrodia clade contains the brown-rot polypores of the order. A phylogenetic overview based on nuclear LSU and ITS sequences included 123 species representing 26 brown-rot genera and recovered five main groups: the fibroporia, laetiporus, postia, laricifomes, and core antrodia groups; not all main groups received strong support, and several well-supported subclades were identified within them.[10](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23935025/)
## Genus-level example: Trametes
Molecular work on *[Trametes](https://www.edgepedia.org/trametes)* and related genera, using ribosomal markers (nLSU, ITS) and protein-coding genes (RPB1, RPB2, TEF1-alpha), recovered a strongly supported trametoid clade containing most *Trametes* species (including the type *T. suaveolens* and the *T. versicolor* group) together with species of *Lenzites* and *Pycnoporus* and *Coriolopsis polyzona*.[11](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.606003) The authors judged a single generic name, *Trametes*, to be the best taxonomic option for this clade, because the morphological concept of the genus would remain almost unchanged and few new combinations would be needed; the genera Artolenzites, Coriolopsis (as currently typified), Coriolus, Cubamyces, Cyclomycetella, Lenzites, Poronidulus, Pseudotrametes, and [Pycnoporus](https://www.edgepedia.org/pycnoporus) were treated as synonyms of *Trametes*.[11](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.606003) The gilled *Lenzites* species falling inside this clade illustrate why fruiting-body shape alone no longer defines genera in the order.[11](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.606003)
## Ecology and human relevance
As the principal saprophytic decomposers of cellulose and lignin, Polyporales species drive wood decay in forests, and the order is deeply sampled in wood-decay genomics alongside [Agaricales](https://www.edgepedia.org/agaricales) and Boletales.[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072) • [12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4103376/) A large number of species in the order have been used medicinally.[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072) Members of the order also appear in applied contexts: the white-rot fungus *Physisporinus vitreus* degrades the membranes of bordered pits in tracheids, a process used to increase the uptake of wood preservatives and wood-modification substances in conifer timber.[13](https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1747)
## References
1. [Polyporales, MeSH, National Library of Medicine](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68020072)
2. [Class Agaricomycetes, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service](https://tidcf.nrcan.gc.ca/en/diseases-caused-by-pathogens/classification/fungi/basidiomycota/agaricomycetes)
3. [Xu et al. (2025). Molecular phylogeny and taxonomy reveal two new genera and five new species in Phanerochaetaceae (Polyporales) from Yunnan, Southwest China](https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S1314405725000266)
4. [Justo et al. (2017). A revised family-level classification of the Polyporales (Basidiomycota). Fungal Biology 121(9): 798-824](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614617300685)
5. [Gene family expansions and transcriptome signatures uncover fungal adaptations to wood decay (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8596683/)
6. [Wood Decay Fungi, US Forest Service advanced article](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/download/59550.pdf)
7. [Polyporales: an overview, ScienceDirect Topics](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/polyporales)
8. [Hori et al. (2013). Genomewide analysis of polysaccharide degrading enzymes in 11 white- and brown-rot Polyporales. Mycologia 105(6): 1412-1427](https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/46411)
9. [Polyporales: an overview (pharmacology topic page), ScienceDirect Topics](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/polyporales)
10. [Ortiz-Santana et al. (2013). A phylogenetic overview of the antrodia clade (Basidiomycota, Polyporales). Mycologia 105(6): 1391-1411](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23935025/)
11. [Justo & Hibbett (2011). Phylogenetic classification of Trametes (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) based on a five-marker dataset. TAXON 60(6): 1567-1583](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tax.606003)
12. [Riley et al. (2014). Extensive sampling of basidiomycete genomes demonstrates inadequacy of the white-rot/brown-rot paradigm for wood decay fungi (PMC)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4103376/)
13. [Modelling the Hyphal Growth of the Wood-decay Fungus Physisporinus vitreus, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.1747)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Microorganisms and fungi › Fungi and mycology › Basidiomycete taxa › Agaricomycetes › Polypores and crust fungi › Trametes and trametoid polypores › Trametoid phylogeny and nomenclature*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license