Abstract:Objective To classify Ganoderma based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences. Methods Several species of Ganoderma were cultivated. DNA was extracted. PCR system was optimized followed by purification and cloning, and sequencing. Then phylogenetic tree was constructed, and genetic analysis was made. Results The whole PCR system was optimized which included 25 μl reaction mixture containing template DNA 25 ng, Mg2+ 2.0 mmol/L, dNTPs 200 μmol/L, Taq 1.5 U, primer 20 pmol. The optimum reaction program was pre-denaturation at 93℃ for 4 min, denaturation at 93℃ for 40 s, annealing at 59℃ for 40 s, prolongation at 72℃ for 1 min for 35 cycles; then final prolongation at 72℃ for 7 min followed by 4℃ infinite loop. Adopted HZ002, DZ003, NZ004 and XC005 were very close in the phylogenetic tree, indicating that they belonged to the same genus, Ganoderma. Conclusions ITS sequence classification is consistent with the traditional taxonomy and classification obtained with other molecular markers, which is very reasonable for classification of fungal genus.