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We describe a new species, Diacheopsis resinae (Myxomycetes), collected from a microhabitat new for myxomycetes: stem wounds of coniferous trees (Norway spruce) where the resin is overgrown with a community of resinicolous fungi. The 80 known collections come from the Vosges (France), the Black Forest (Germany), Swabian Alp (Germany), and several localities in Denmark and Norway. Observations, but as well as metabarcoding of substrate samples with fungal (ITS [internal transcribed spacer]), bacterial (16S rDNA), and myxomycete (18S nuc rDNA) primers from eight trunks, revealed the new myxomycete to co-occur with resin-degrading ascomycetes (Infundichalara microchona, Lophium arboricola, Zythia resinae). The gram-negative bacterial genera Endobacter and Sphingomonas were found to be abundant in the substrate and may be a food source for the myxomycete. Fruit bodies were found mostly during the more humid winter season, with a peak in January/February. Partial sequences of two independent molecular markers (18S nuc rDNA, EF1α [elongation factor 1-alpha] gene) were obtained for 41 accessions, which form a monophyletic cluster in a two-gene phylogeny of Stemonititidales but do not group with other species of Diacheopsis, thus rendering this genus paraphyletic. The new species, although exclusively developing sessile sporocarps and morphologically undoubtedly falling into the genus Diacheopsis, is most closely related to species of Lamproderma, especially L. album, L. zonatum, and L. zonatopulchellum. Within D. resinae, three groups can be differentiated, which show nearly complete reproductive isolation, as judged from a recombination analysis of the two unlinked markers and the allelic combinations of the EF1α gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apothecial fungus Ramomarthamyces octomerus sp. nov. is described from specimens collected in Mediterranean climate regions in southern Portugal, Spain (Canary Islands), and the Dalmatian region of Croatia. Presumably saprobic, R. octomerus occurs on intact, decorticated wood of Laurus novocanariensis and Olea europaea. Ascospores are cylindric-ellipsoid and seven-septate. Surprisingly, in our four-locus phylogenetic analysis (nuSSU, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, LSU, mtSSU), this fungus clusters among species of Cyclaneusma, Marthamyces, Naemacyclus, and Ramomarthamyces in a core Marthamycetaceae clade that circumscribes primarily leaf-inhabiting, filiform-spored species. In addition, the asci of R. octomerus possess an amyloid pore, but the reaction varies between specimens collected in the Canary Islands and those collected in Portugal and Croatia. The occurrence of an amyloid reaction in the asci of R. octomerus challenges the characterization of Marthamycetales taxa as possessing inamyloid asci. In our discussion we provide background and analysis of these notable observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisms have evolved a fascinating variety of strategies and organs for successful reproduction. Fruit bodies are the reproductive organ of fungi and vary considerably in size and shape among species. Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the differences in fruit body size among species is still limited. Fruit bodies of saprotrophic fungi are smaller than those of mutualistic ectomycorrhizal fungi. If differences in fruit body size are determined by carbon acquisition, then mean reproductive traits of saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi assemblages should vary differently along gradients of resource availability as carbon acquisition seems more unpredictable and costly for saprotrophs than for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Here, we used 48 local inventories of fungal fruit bodies (plot size: 0.02 ha each) sampled along a gradient of resource availability (growing stock) across 3 years in the Bavarian Forest National Park in Germany to investigate regional and local factors that might influence the distribution of species with different reproductive traits, particularly fruit body size. As predicted, mean fruit body size of local assemblages of saprotrophic fungi was smaller than expected from the distribution of traits of the regional species pool across central and northern Europe, whereas that of ectomycorrhizal fungi did not differ from random expectation. Furthermore and also as expected, mean fruit body size of assemblages of saprotrophic fungi was significantly smaller than for assemblages of ectomycorrhizal species. However, mean fruit body sizes of not only saprotrophic species but also ectomycorrhizal species increased with resource availability, and the mean number of fruit bodies of both assemblages decreased. Our results indicate that the differences in carbon acquisition between saprotrophs and ectomycorrhizal species lead to differences in basic reproductive strategies, with implications for the breadth of their distribution. However, the differences in resource acquisition cannot explain detailed species distribution patterns at a finer, local scale based on their reproductive traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]