''Laetiporus cremeiporus'' is a species of polypore fungus in the family

Fomitopsidaceae The Fomitopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. Most species are parasitic on woody plants, and tend to cause brown rots. The name comes from ''Fomitopsis'' (meaning "looking like Fomes") + ''-aceae'' (a suffix used to form t ...

. It is found in cooler temperate areas of China and Japan, where it grows on logs and stumps of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

trees, especially oak. The

fruit body In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the Ovary (plants), ovary after flowering plant, flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their ...

of the fungus comprises large masses of overlapping reddish-orange caps with a cream-colored pore surface on the underside.

Taxonomy

The fungus was described as new to science in 2010 by Japanese mycologists Yuko Ota and Tsutomu Hattori. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

collection was made on Mount Kurikoma, in

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

, Japan, where the fungus was found fruiting on a trunk of oak.

Molecular A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and bioche ...

analysis of DNA sequences confirmed that the taxon is a unique species within the genus ''

Laetiporus ''Laetiporus'' is a genus of edible mushrooms found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially ''Laetiporus sulphureus'', are commonly known as sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus because ...

''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''cremeiporus'' refers to the cream-colored pores on the cap underside.

Description

The

of the fungus comprises overlapping light orange to reddish-orange fan-shaped plates that individually measure up to wide by long. Collectively, the entire fruit body can reach a size of or more. The color of the caps fades to pale brown in age. The pore surface on the cap underside are yellowish-white to cream colored initially, sometimes becoming pinkish in age. Pores are small, numbering two to four per millimeter; they are circular at first but become more angular as the fruit body matures. The flesh has a mild taste and an unpleasant odor that the authors liken to "

garbage Garbage, trash, rubbish, or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or gaseous wastes, or toxic waste produc ...

". Spores are egg-shaped to

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

, measuring 15–20 by 5–8

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

. Basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped with two to four sterigmata, and measure 15–20 by 5–8 μm.

Habitat and distribution

''Laetiporus cremeiporus'' is found in cool and temperate areas of China and Japan, where it grows on stumps and logs of

trees, usually oak.

Research on chemical constituents

''Laetiporus cremeiporus'' has been used in traditional medicines, and has been researched for its pharmacological activity. Phytochemicals include

bioactive compound A bioactive compound is a compound that has an effect on a living organism, tissue or cell, usually demonstrated by basic research in vitro or in vivo in the laboratory. While dietary nutrients are essential to life, bioactive compounds have not ...

s such as

phenolic Phenolic is an adjective and a substantive (noun) that may apply to : * Phenol (or carbolic acid), a colorless crystalline solid and aromatic compound * Phenols, a class of chemical compounds that include phenol * Phenolic content in wine * Phenol ...

compound inaoside A, nicotinamide,

adenosine Adenosine ( symbol A) is an organic compound that occurs widely in nature in the form of diverse derivatives. The molecule consists of an adenine attached to a ribose via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. Adenosine is one of the four nucleoside building ...

, and 5′-S-methyl-5′-thioadenosine. Inaoside A exhibited DPPH radical scavenging activity as a monophenolic compound with a IC₅₀ of 79.9 μM. The

Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity The Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay measures the antioxidant capacity of a given substance, as compared to the standard, Trolox. Most commonly, antioxidant capacity is measured using the ABTS Decolorization Assay. Other antioxi ...

value was 0.36. Other compounds were isolated, including multiple

sterol Sterol is an organic compound with formula , whose molecule is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom in position 3 by a hydroxyl group. It is therefore an alcohol of gonane. More generally, any compounds that contain the go ...

s and acids:

ergosterol peroxide Ergosterol peroxide (5α,8α-epidioxy-22''E''-ergosta-6,22-dien-3β-ol) is a steroid derivative. It has been isolated from a variety of fungi, yeast, lichens and sponges, and has been reported to exhibit immunosuppressive, anti-inflammatory, ant ...

, fomefficinic acid A, ergosta‐7,22-dien‐3β‐ol, cerevisterol, sulphurenic acid, 4''E'',8''E''‐''N''‐D‐2′‐hydroxypalmitoyl‐1‐O‐β‐D‐glycopyranosyl‐9‐methyl‐4,8‐sphingadienine,

ergosterol Ergosterol (ergosta-5,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in cell membranes of fungi and protozoa, serving many of the same functions that cholesterol serves in animal cells. Because many fungi and protozoa cannot survive without ergosterol, the ...

, ''N''‐2′‐hydroxytetracosyl‐1,3,4‐trihydroxy‐2‐amino‐octadecane,

nicotinic acid Niacin, also known as nicotinic acid, is an organic compound and a form of vitamin B3, an essential human nutrient. It can be manufactured by plants and animals from the amino acid tryptophan. Niacin is obtained in the diet from a variet ...

, and eburicoic acid.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q22285568 Fungi described in 2010 Fungi of China Fungi of Japan Fungal plant pathogens and diseases cremeiporus Fungus species