History The order was originally proposed in 1926 by Swiss mycologist
Ernst Albert Gäumann to accommodate species within the phylum
Basidiomycota producing
basidiocarps (fruit bodies) showing a
gymnocapous mode of development (forming the spore-bearing surface externally). As such, the order included the ten families
Brachybasidiaceae,
Corticiaceae,
Clavariaceae,
Cyphellaceae, Dictyolaceae,
Fistulinaceae,
Polyporaceae, Radulaceae,
Tulasnellaceae, and
Vuilleminiaceae, representing a mix of
poroid,
corticioid,
cyphelloid, and
clavarioid fungi. In a series of publications in 1932,
E. J. H. Corner explained the occurrence of different types of
hyphae in the fruit bodies of polypore fungi. He introduced the concept of hyphal analysis, which later become a fundamental
character in polypore taxonomy. The order Polyporales was not widely adopted by Gäumann's contemporaries; most mycologists and reference works preferring to use the catch-all, artificial order
Aphyllophorales for polypores and other "non-gilled fungi". When an attempt was made to introduce a more natural,
morphology-based classification of the fungi in the 1980s and 1990s, the order was still overlooked. A standard 1995 reference work placed most polypores and corticioid fungi in the Ganodermatales, Poriales, and Stereales.
Current status }}
Molecular research, based on
cladistic analysis of
DNA sequences, has resurrected and redefined the Polyporales (also known as the polyporoid
clade). Studies using a combination of
rRNA gene sequences, single-copy
protein-coding genes, and
genome-based
phylogenetic analyses have shown that the Polyporales are a
monophyletic group. They are a member of the class
Agaricomycetes, but have not been assigned to a
subclass. Though the precise boundaries of the order and its constituent families are yet to be resolved, it retains the core group of polypores in the family Polyporaceae, with additional species in the
Fomitopsidaceae and
Meripilaceae. It also includes polypores in the
Ganodermataceae, which were previously assigned to their own separate order, the Ganodermatales, based on their distinctive
basidiospore morphology. Corticioid fungi belonging to the
Cystostereaceae,
Meruliaceae,
Phanerochaetaceae, and
Xenasmataceae are also included, as are the
cauliflower fungi in the
Sparassidaceae. In an extensive molecular analysis, Manfred Binder and colleagues analyzed 6
genes from 373 species and confirmed the existence of four previously recognized lineages of Polyporales: the antrodia, core polyporoid, phlebioid, and residual polyporoid clades. Extending this work, Alfredo Justo and colleagues proposed a phylogenetic overview of the Polyporales that included a new family-level classification. They assigned family names to 18 clades and four informal unranked clades. The families are listed below, followed by their
taxonomic authorities and year of publication: •
Phanerochaetaceae Jülich (1981) •
Irpicaceae Spirin & Zmitr. (2003) •
Meruliaceae Rea (1922) •
Steccherinaceae Parmasto (1968) •
Cerrenaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017) •
Panaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017) •
Hyphodermataceae Jülich (1981) •
Meripilaceae Jülich (1981) •
Podoscyphaceae D.A.Reid (1965) •
Polyporaceae Corda (1939) •
Fomitopsidaceae Jülich (1981) •
Laetiporaceae Jülich (1981) •
Dacryobolaceae Jülich (1981) •
Sparassidaceae Jülich (1981) •
Grifolaceae Jülich (1981) •
Gelatoporiaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017) •
Incrustoporiaceae Jülich (1981) •
Ischnodermataceae Jülich (1981) Other families that putatively belong to the Polyporales, but for which molecular confirmation is absent or lacking, include
Diachanthodaceae Jülich, (1981);
Fragiliporiaceae Y.C.Dai, B.K.Cui & C.L.Zhao (2015);
Hymenogrammaceae Jülich (1981); and
Phaeotrametaceae Popoff ex Piątek (2005). The
Nigrofomitaceae, formerly placed in the Polyporales, was shown to be nested as a distinct lineage within the
Hymenochaetales. The family
Steccherinaceae was redefined in 2012 to contain most species of the poroid and
hydnoid genera
Antrodiella,
Junghuhnia, and
Steccherinum, as well as members of 12 other hydnoid and poroid genera that had been traditionally classified in the families Phanerochaetaceae, Polyporaceae, and Meruliaceae. Several new genera were added to the Steccherinaceae in 2016–17. ==Ecology==