The objectives of this study were to confirm for the first time, the identity of Trametes
mushrooms from Northern Namibia and then to generate information on local uses and
bioactive compounds of these Trametes species. To achieve this, samples were collected
from Ohangwena, Omusati, Oshikoto and Oshana regions and identified as Trametes
species based on morphological features. These were a basidiocarp with concentric
zones, brown, tan or grey colour and pores from 2-3 pores/mm to pores slightly bigger
than 1 mm in diameter and lack of a pileus. TLC visualization reagents were used to
identify compound groups in the hot water and organic extracts. The resulting
chromatogram showed nine compounds separated in total and indicated presence of
flavonoids, alkaloids and triterpene saponins. The disc diffusion method was used in
bioassays of the extracts dissolved in DMSO and water. The highest zone of inhibition
was 12 ± 1 mm by the DCM extract on Escherichia coli. The lowest inhibition observed
was 9.7 ± 2.08 mm by the DCM extract on Bacillus subtilis. Interestingly, no inhibition
was observed for the methanol and HWE extracts. These results differ from previous
studies which reported that all organic extracts of Trametes were active against B.
subtilis. A questionnaire was used to obtain indigenous knowledge of Trametes
mushrooms in Northern Namibia. Questionnaire data analysed in SPSS revealed that
83.9 % of respondents in this study knew Trametes mushroom but only 70.4 % used it
for medicinal purpose. The most common medicinal use of this mushroom was to calm
bereaved people crying hysterically at burials and also to treat lung disease in cattle. The
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results from this study are novel since they have not been reported in literature before.
Finally, fungal DNA was extracted and PCR performed with ITS1/ITS2 primers before
sequencing. BLAST searches revealed that specimen collected were 99 % identical to
Trametes polyzona. A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the Neighbour Joining
method in MEGA version 6. The specimens collected from Northern Namibia were
distributed in 6 clades mainly alongside Trametes species, Truncospora and more
distantly Coriolopsis species. These results are consistent with previous works which
agree that there is a close relationship between the genera Trametes, Coriolopsis
(polyzona) and Pycnoporus.