Morphological reassessment and molecular phylogenetic analyses of <i> Amauroderma</i> s.lat. raised new perspectives in the generic classification of the <i> Ganodermataceae</i> family

<i>Ganodermataceae</i> is a remarkable group of polypore fungi, mainly characterized by particular double-walled basidiospores with a coloured endosporium ornamented with columns or crests, and a hyaline smooth exosporium. In order to establish an integrative morphological and molecular phylogenetic approach to clarify relationship of Neotropical <i>Amauroderma</i> s.lat. within the <i>Ganodermataceae</i> family, morphological analyses, including scanning electron microscopy, as well as a molecular phylogenetic approach based on one (ITS) and four loci (ITS-5.8S, LSU, TEF-1α and <i>RPB1</i>), were carried out. Ultrastructural analyses raised up a new character for <i>Ganodermataceae</i> systematics, i.e<i>.</i>, the presence of perforation in the exosporium with holes that are connected with hollow columns of the endosporium. This character is considered as a synapomorphy in <i>Foraminispora</i>, a new genus proposed here to accommodate <i>Porothelium rugosum</i> (≡ <i>Amauroderma sprucei</i>). <i>Furtadoa</i> is proposed to accommodate species with monomitic context: <i>F. biseptata, F. brasiliensis</i> and <i>F. corneri</i>. Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm that both genera grouped as strongly supported distinct lineages out of the <i>Amauroderma</i> s.str. clade.