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Recent progress in the discovery of fungal diversity has been enabled by intensive mycological surveys in centres of global biodiversity. Descriptions of new fungal species have been almost routinely based on phenotypic studies coupled with single or multigene phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data. However, high accessibility of sequencing services together with an increasing amount of available molecular data are providing easier and less critical support for taxonomic novelties without carefully studying the phenotype, particularly morphology. As a result, the accelerated rate of species descriptions has been unfortunately accompanied by numerous cases of overlooking previously described and well documented species, some of them that have been known for more than a century. Here, we critically examined recent literature, phenotypic and molecular data, and detected multiple issues with putative novelties of asexualAscomycotatraditionally known as hyphomycetes. In order to fix these taxonomic problems, three new combinations within the generaPleopunctum,CamposporiumandSporidesmium, and two new names inCamposporiumare proposed. Moreover, three genera,Aquidictyomyces,FusiconidiumandPseudohelminthosporium, together with nine species are reduced to synonymy. The examples outlined here clearly show the relevance of morphology in modern phylogenetic studies and the importance of more stringent ‘quality controls’ during biodiversity studies documenting the extensive fungal diversity in a speedy manner.

Cadophora orchidicola, a root-associated asexual species, did not have a clear placement within the paraphyletic genus Cadophora because it was not represented by sequences derived from the type material. Based on four newly obtained molecular marker sequences from the ex-type strain, a new genus, Leptodophora, is proposed, typified with C. orchidicola, as well as new combinations for three recently described and closely related species. In addition, a new species, Collembolispora disimilis, is proposed for a fungus producing phialidic conidiogenous cells and previously treated as Cadophora sp.

Fungi associated with roots of Pinus wallichiana A.B. Jackson were evaluated for the first time in the recently published study by Tyub et al. (2018, Can. J. For. Res. 48(8): 923–929, doi: 10.1139/cjfr-2018-0084 ). A culture-free approach using RFLP profiling and the sequencing analysis of DNA extracted from fine root tips was used to identify ectomycorrhizal and other species present in the roots; however, numerous inconsistences in the interpretation of presented results indicated that the names assigned to particular sequences were incorrect. Therefore, sequences belonging to ascomycete microfungi (predominantly members of Helotiales) obtained in the study were reanalyzed to confirm their identification. A simple phylogenetic analysis also utilizing closely related sequences from GenBank showed that the sequences from this study were mostly misidentified (i.e., placed in different clades than sequences having the same name but originating from taxonomic studies). Erroneous conclusions resulting from misidentified species and limited knowledge of relevant literature were corrected. Despite numerous inconsistences, the study of Tyub et al. (2018) brought valuable data about fungal diversity and potential taxonomic novelties among helotialean fungi associated with coniferous roots.

Five new species belonging to Hermatomyces (Hermatomycetaceae, Pleosporales) are described based on morphological investigations of specimens collected on rotten twigs and stems of various plants in Panama as well as phylogenetic analyses of sequence data of nuclear ribosomal and protein coding genes (EF1 -a. RPB2, β-TUB). The new species are described as: Hermatomyces bifurcatus, H. constrictus, H. megasporus, H. sphaericoides, and H. verrucosus spp. nov. Previously described species such as H. sphaericus and H. tucumanensis were identified among the studied specimens. The new combination, H. reticulatus, is made for Subicularium reticulatum based on examination of the holotype and fresh collections. Hermatomyces subiculosus, originally described from Thailand, is reduced to synonymy with H. reticulatus; H. tectonae is synonymized under H. sphaericus based on morphological and molecular evidence; and H. chiangmaiensis and H. thailandicus are considered later synonyms of H. krabiensis and H. indicus, respectively. The type material of Scyphostroma mirum was found to be conspecific with H. tucumanensis and, therefore, the generic name Hermatomyces should be conserved or protected against the older name Scyphostroma and the binomial H. tucumanensis against S. mirum. Sixteen species of Hermatomyces are recognized, their distinctive characteristics are highlighted in line drawings and a key is provided for their identification. The peculiar morphology and consistent phylogeny of new and previously known Hermatomyces species supports the recognition of the recently introduced monotypic family Hermatomycetaceae as a well delimited monophyletic taxon within the order Pleosporales.

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN. Publisher’s Note A first version of this text was prepared by the first eight authors and the last one, given here. The other listed co-authors in the article PDF support the content, and their actual contributions varied from only support to additions that substantially improved the content. The full details of all co-authors, with their affiliations, are included in Supplementary Table 1 after p.175 of the article for reasons of clarity and space. Slavomír Adamčík Institute of Botany, Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 23 Bratislava, Slovakia Teuvo Ahti Finnish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 7, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland M. Catherine Aime Purdue University, 915 W. State St., West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, U.S.A. A. Martyn Ainsworth Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom László Albert Hungarian Mycological Society, 1087 Könyves Kálmán krt. 40, Budapest, Hungary Edgardo Albertó Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas-Instituto Tecnológico de Chascomús, Universidad Nacional de San Martin-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Buenos Aires, Argentina Alberto Altés García Facultad de Biología, Ciencias Ambientales y Química, Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain Dmitry Ageev SIGNATEC Ltd., 630090, Novosibirsk, Akademgorodok (Novosibirsk Scientific Center), Inzhenernaya str., 22, Russia Reinhard Agerer Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Menzinger Str. 67, 80638 München, Germany Begona Aguirre-Hudson Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, United Kingdom Joe Ammirati University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1800, U.S.A. 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Moscoso, Apartado 21-9, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Vladimír Antonín Moravian Museum, Zeny trh 6, 659 37 Brno, Czech Republic Takayuki Aoki Genetic Resources Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8602, Japan André Aptroot ABL Herbarium, G.v.d.Veenstraat 107, 3762 XK Soest, The Netherlands Didier Argaud 40 rue du Justemont, 57290 Fameck, France Blanca Imelda Arguello Sosa Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Victoria, Tecnológico Nacional de México, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico Arne Aronsen Torødveien 54, 3135 Torød, Norway Ulf Arup Biological Museum, Lund University, Box 117, 221 00 Lund, Sweden Bita Asgari Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran Boris Assyov Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Gagarin Str., 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria Violeta Atienza Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universitat de València, C/Dr Moliner 50, 46100, Burjasot, Valencia, Spain Ditte Bandini Panoramastr 47, 69257 Wiesenbach, Germany João Luís Baptista-Ferreira Instituto de Biossistemas e Ciências Integrativas, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal Hans-Otto Baral Blaihofstr. 42, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Tim Baroni The State University of New York, 340 Bowers Hall, P.O. 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Zhurbenko Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 Prof. Popov Street, St. Petersburg, 197376, Russia The following institutions are also supporting the present text (institutional support means that committees from the mentioned) Asociación Micológica Carlos Spegazzini (Argentina) Austrian Mycological Society (Austria) Croatian Mycological Society (Croatia) Committee of the Czech Scientific Society for Mycology (Czech Republic) The Netherlands Mycological Society (The Netherlands) Sociedad Española de Liquenología (Portugal/Spain) Iberian Mycological Society (which is under constitution, Portugal/Spain) Federación de Asociaciones Micológicas Andaluzas (FAMA) (Spain) Asociación Botánica y Micológica de Jaén (Spain) Asociación Micológica Hispalense Muscaria (Spain) Societat Micològica Valenciana (Spain)

Endophytic fungi have to cope with various secondary metabolites produced by their host plant. Rhododendron tomentosum is an evergreen shrub with a high content of essential oil showing antimicrobial effects. The first aim of our study was to reveal the diversity of culturable endophytic fungi colonizing leaves of R. tomentosum. We isolated and identified 30 species, mostly ubiquitous species colonizing various plants as endophytes and later turning into saprotrophs. The second aim was to explore whether strains obtained from R. tomentosum (RT-strain) are better adapted to growth in environments with essential oils, compared to strains of the same species obtained from different substrates. In five of the six species pairs tested, the growth of RT-strains was more inhibited by three components of the essential oil added to the medium, compared to the corresponding strains. Only the RT-strain of Desmazierella acicola was less susceptible compared to its corresponding strain. Our results show that the essential oil in leaves of R. tomentosum do not represent a selective barrier that can be crossed only by preadapted strains.

The phylogenetic affinities of the anamorphic fungus Ernakulamia cochinensis are investigated based on a representative specimen recently collected on Astrocaryum standleyanum (Arecaceae) in Panama. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data of the large subunit and the internal transcribed spacer region together with a fragment of the β-tubulin gene suggest that the fungus belongs to the Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota) where it groups with members of the family Tetraplosphaeriaceae in Pleosporales. Morphologically, this placement is further supported by the presence of an internal hyphal structure found within the conidia of the Panamanian collection and an isotype specimen of the fungus similar to species of closely related genera within Tetraplosphaeriaceae, e.g., Quadricrura and Polyplosphaeria. The putative phylogenetic position of the morphologically similar Piricaudilium lobatum in Tetraplosphaeriaceae is proposed based on examination of its type specimen.

Coelomycetes with hyaline stauroconidia represent a rare and undersampled group of fungi with often unknown teleomorphs. In the unique savanna-like vegetation at the base of the Baru volcano in Chiriqui Province, Panama, we discovered an anamorphic ascomycete associated with living shoots and leaves of Buddleja nitida (Scrophulariaceae) that produced sporodochial conidiomata with a blue-green-colored rim and complex multiradiate septate hyaline conidia. The genus Dendroseptoria was selected based on an exhaustive literature review to best accommodate this newly described species, Dendroseptoria mucilaginosa. Sequences of ITS, LSU and SSU rDNA obtained from D. mucilaginosa are most similar to sequences deposited in the GenBank database of non-lichenized fungi belonging to the genus Cyanodermella, although with overall low similarity values. A detailed description of D. mucilaginosa is presented and morphologically similar staurosporous coelomycetes are discussed.

The genus Myriococcum was described based on a sterile fungus producing sclerotia. Misinterpretation of these structures resulted in the later addition of several largely unrelated species to this genus and controversy about its phylogenetic placement. The purpose of the study was to revise these species and elucidate their phylogenetic affinities. Based on available herbarium material and living strains, the type species of the genus, Myriococcum praecox, was placed in the family Stephanosporaceae (Agaricomycetes). A new combination, Cryptendoxyla consimilis, is proposed for M. consimile belonging to the Sordariomycetes. A replacement name Crassicarpon hotsonii is proposed for M. thermophilum (Sordariomycetes). Myriococcum spinuligerum most probably belongs to the Eurotiomycetes. The phylogenetic position of M. everhartii remains unclear. The name M. sparsum must be treated as nomen dubium, because its description is based on a non-fungal organism.

A set of historical specimens collected by the American mycologist Charles Leonard Smith in southeastern Nicaragua during 1896 and currently deposited at the Herbarium of the Charles University in Prague (PRC) was examined for the presence of microfungi. Despite the age of the specimens, twenty-two taxa were identified, seventeen of them to species level and other five to generic level. All of them are recorded for the first time from Nicaragua. Cryptophiale cf. kakombensis and Sporoschisma juvenile were found associated with their putative teleomorphic states. Historical facts surrounding the expedition source of these samples and bibliographical data about Smith are also given.

The interactions of fungal guilds have recently been proposed as drivers of organic matter transformation in forest soils. We conducted a pot experiment with Norway spruce seedlings planted in spruce needle litter inoculated with several fungal strains belonging to different ecological guilds (saprotrophic, mycorrhizal, and root endophytic) to assess how the fungi and their interactions affect the transformation of humic substances (HS) and phosphorus (P) in the litter. Several methods for the characterization of P forms and HS were employed, including 31P NMR, UV–Vis and FTIR spectroscopy. Our results show that fungal interactions influence not only the flow of P in decaying (plant) litter but also the transformation of the soil organic matter itself. Pots with saprotrophic Gymnopus androsaceus generally retained more P and prevented the accumulation of phosphonates caused by mycorrhizal Hyaloscypha finlandica, highlighting the strong competitive ability of the former species. The increased mineralization of P caused by G. androsaceus was not observed in the combined treatments, suggesting that other present fungi took up part of the inorganic P. The tested fungi did not affect the amount of HS produced but changed the characteristics of the HS. Mycorrhizal H. finlandica and root endophytic Phialocephala fortinii increased the relative proportion of carboxylic moieties in the HS regardless of the presence or absence of G. androsaceus, probably via the production and incorporation of melanins. The UV–Vis absorbance characteristics of the HS were significantly influenced by fungal interactions. Mycorrhizal H. finlandica and Hebeloma bryogenes retarded humification, as determined by the A4/6 ratio. We attribute the similar shift observed in Serpula himantoides to the partial oxidative degradation of HS. Our study shows that fungal root endophytes can significantly contribute to litter transformation along with mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi. The extent and patterns of the transformation seem to be species-dependent in all studied fungal groups.

Litter input is an important source of C and nutrients in forest soils that are liberated and utilized during decomposition. We have investigated the long-term decomposition of Picea abies and Calamagrostis villosa litters in montane spruce forest and the litter-associated fungi. The two litter types differed in initial nutrient content and decomposed at different rates, but in both cases, significant residual mass was left after five years of decomposition – over 30% of the initial mass of Calamagrostis litter and 40% of Picea litter. The litters harbored different fungal communities, though these tended to converge over time. The initial fungal community was dominated by Ascomycota, while the share of Basidiomycota and Mucoromycotina/Mortierellomycotina increased towards the end of the experiment. Individual litter fungi showed variable preference to litter type, succession time and duration of occurrence and we propose these as potential taxon-specific traits requiring further investigation.

Summary The population structure of Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of ash dieback, was assessed at four closely located sites in the Czech Republic. To analyse the genetic variation, one Swiss and one Norwegian population with known population structures were selected as reference points. The analysis was performed using 16 previously published and five newly developed microsatellite markers. The quality of the new markers was assessed by sequencing the flanking region, identifying the type of the mutation and analysing the inheritance and linkage between all pairs of loci. In addition, markers were tested on 45 Japanese strains to confirm their usability on native H. fraxineus populations in Asia. One of the new markers was monomorphic in all European populations and one marker exhibited a high percentage of null alleles in the Japanese samples. Twenty markers in the four Czech populations showed lower average gene diversity than in the other two European populations. One Czech population significantly differed from all the others, with a pairwise GST of approximately 0.2, the lowest allelic richness and very low average gene diversity, likely resulting from a founder effect. The amount of genetic differentiation between the four neighbouring Czech populations exceeds the expected value from previous Europe-wide population studies and suggests that local population dynamics can affect the population structure of H. fraxineus.

Precise knowledge of the fungal succession in the litter of coniferous forests will facilitate understanding litter decomposition, in which fungi play a major role. We investigated the development of a fungal community during 3 yr of Picea abies litter decomposition in three control forest sites and three sites where bark-beetle attacks had killed adult trees and stopped the yearly input of fresh litter, using both cultivation from needles and terminal restriction-fragment length polymorphism analysis. The two methods revealed similar dominant species during the fungal succession. Members of the Dothideales, Eurotiales and Helotiales predominated during the initial stage of decay, whereas members of Agaricales appeared only occasionally during this stage. The onset of the latter began from the seventh month, with a peak occurring after 1 yr. Bark-beetle attacks hastened litter decomposition and decreased fungal diversity only during the initial stages of decomposition.

Summary The anamorphic fungus Cryptostroma corticale (Xylariaceae) causing sooty bark disease (SBD) of Acer pseudoplatanus has been reported within the past decade in several European countries. In the last decade, severe drought conditions during summer also resulted in an outbreak of SBD in park areas in Prague (Czech Republic). Trees with the typical syndromes were recorded in four localities in Prague. Some trees were also located in the alluvial plain of the Vltava River with groundwater available all year long. We suppose that the trees were stressed by full water saturation for several months after flood in 2012 and that SBD was triggered by anoxia and subsequent phytopththora root rot. Sterile fungi isolated from one tree and one lesion were identified as C. corticale based on the similarity of their ITS rDNA sequences with strains of C. corticale in a public collection. Furthermore, C. corticale was placed in the family Xylariaceae within the genus Biscogniauxia based on phylogenetic analysis of four genes (ITS nrDNA, actin, RPB2 and β-tubulin). The closest relatives are B. bartholomei and Graphostroma platystoma.

Soil and litter fungi can colonise and decompose many natural materials, including highly resilient proteinaceous compounds of animal origin. The shells of terrestrial gastropods are formed from such a compound (conchiolin) combined with inorganic calcium carbonate. In this study, we investigated fungal communities colonising empty shells of the common terrestrial gastropod Cepaea hortensis. Shells were exposed on the surface of litter from four different forest types (alder alluvial, oak-hornbeam, peat-bog pine and scree forest) and the fungi were surveyed and identified in four 3-month periods. We found 27 fungal species, one fungus forming mycelial cords, seven types of sterile mycelium and streptomycetes colonising the shells. The most frequent fungal species identified were common soil fungi. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant effect of the litter type on the fungal community. Humidity and pH at the locality are likely to be more important for fungal communities than the proteinaceous material of the shell.

During independent surveys of microfungi associated with Pinus spp. in the United States and the Czech Republic, a distinct fungus matching the generic concept of Septonema Corda was collected. It is characterized by distinctly ornamented conidiophores, branches, conidia and hyphae, ranging from verruculose to strongly verrucose with prominent rounded warts, yellowish brown to brown or reddish brown in color and forming densely floccose, dark brown or dark reddish brown colonies on pine wood and bark. Conidia are cylindrical or subcylindrical and produced in short, simple or branched acropetal chains. Multigene phylogenetic analyses including nuclear ribosomal (LSU) and protein coding gene (EF1-α) sequence data suggest that both collections are conspecific and belong to the order Mytilinidiales (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota) where they group distant from other mytilinidiaceous fungi with known septonema-like anamorphs. To provide a proper name based on phylogenetic placement and to possibly circumscribe Septonema sensu stricto, a non-sporulating, putative strain belonging to S. secedens Corda, the generic type, was included in the analyses. DNA sequence data placed this strain within the family Venturiaceae (Venturiales, Dothideomycetes) but morphological examination of the corresponding herbarium specimen revealed that it belongs instead to S. fasciculare (Corda) S. Hughes. Because of the polyphyletic nature of the genus and the unknown phylogenetic position of its type species, our fungus is accommodated in Septonema as a new species named S. lohmanii G. Delgado & Koukol, sp. nov.

Novel species of microfungi described in the present study include the following from Australia: Phytophthora amnicola from still water, Gnomoniopsis smithogilvyi from Castanea sp., Pseudoplagiostoma corymbiae from Corymbia sp., Diaporthe eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus sp., Sporisorium andrewmitchellii from Enneapogon aff. lindleyanus, Myrmecridium banksiae from Banksia, and Pilidiella wangiensis from Eucalyptus sp. Several species are also described from South Africa, namely: Gondwanamyces wingfieldii from Protea caffra, Montagnula aloes from Aloe sp., Diaporthe canthii from Canthium inerne, Phyllosticta ericarum from Erica gracilis, Coleophoma proteae from Protea caffra, Toxicocladosporium strelitziae from Strelitzia reginae, and Devriesia agapanthi from Agapanthus africanus. Other species include Phytophthora asparagi from Asparagus officinalis (USA), and Diaporthe passiflorae from Passiflora edulis (South America). Furthermore, novel genera of coelomycetes include Chrysocrypta corymbiae from Corymbia sp. (Australia), Trinosporium guianense, isolated as a contaminant (French Guiana), and Xenosonderhenia syzygii, from Syzygium cordatum (South Africa). Pseudopenidiella piceae from Picea abies (Czech Republic), and Phaeocercospora colophospermi from Colophospermum mopane (South Africa) represent novel genera of hyphomycetes. Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.

Decomposition of Picea abies needles and production of extracellular enzymes involved in decomposition of lignin, cellulose, hemicelluloses and other organic compounds were studied in fungal strains of interior needle colonizers isolated from needles in different stages of decomposition (attached to trees, and early and late decomposition stages in the litter horizon). In total, 12 strains of ascomycetes (members of Helotiales, Hypocreales, Dothideales, Diaporthales and Eurotiales) and four basidiomycetes (Polyporales, Agaricales and Russulales) were tested. Significant decomposition of needles was recorded for all fungal isolates. All isolates produced cellobiohydrolase, β-glucosidase, β-xylosidase, N-acetylglucosaminidase, α-glucosidase, phosphatase and arylsulfatase and most fungi also produced endocellulase, endoxylanase and laccase in needle litter. In addition, other hemicellulases were produced by all strains. Mn-peroxidase was only produced by two basidiomycetes. Although enzyme activities varied, fungi associated with needles on fallen trees exhibited enzyme production comparable with later litter colonizers, and there was no significant difference in enzyme production between ascomycete and basidiomycete strains.

The microscopic fungus Geomyces destructans is a psychrophilic dermatophyte causing since 2006 a serious bat disease in North America called white-nose syndrome (WNS). In Europe, G. destructans has also been recorded, however less commonly and without striking lethal effects. Currently, seven isolates of G. destructans isolated from greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) from four localities are maintained in the Culture Collection of Fungi (CCF) in Prague. Growth tests at 12 and 15 °C on eight agar media demonstrated that the fungus grows somewhat faster at 12 °C than at 15 °C. Good growth was observed on nutrient rich media. No further isolates of G. destructans were recovered during screening of bat-associated environments.

The unmanaged Norway spruce montane forests in the Bohemian Forest National Park (Czech Republic) suffered from repeated large-scale bark beetle outbreaks in last decade. In this study, the diversity of culturable foliar endophyte microfungi in needles originating from eleven recently wind-fallen trees in this area was surveyed. Our aims were to describe their diversity and to determine the relative host and organ specificities of isolated endophyte species to estimate the species pool and abundance of foliar endophytes before the forest degradation. Microfungi were isolated from surface-sterilized needles, and the outgrowing strains were identified based on morphological and molecular characteristics (analyses of ITS1, ITS2 and partial 28S rDNA). Fungal communities in the needles were diverse, with ascomycetes (mostly anamorphs of Helotiales) dominating basidiomycetes. The most frequent species (Phacidiopycnis sp., Cistella acuum, Sirococcus sp. and two species of Chalara) did not correspond with those recorded in previous studies of Picea spp. For example, the widely distributed Lophodermium piceae was rarely recorded in this study. This pattern may be caused by different methods of sterilization and cultivation or by physiological characteristics of the needles, or it may reflect the species distribution in the studied area. Members of the Helotiales, along with sequences from GenBank, showed substantial overlap in host affinities, most prominently between Pinus and Picea, and also among species from distant plant lineages.

In all terrestrial ecosystems, testate amoebae (TA) encounter fungi. There are strong indications that both groups engage in multiple interactions, including mycophagy and decomposition of TA shells, processes which might be fundamental in nutrient cycling in certain ecosystems. Here, we present the results of an experiment focusing on interactions between TA and saprotrophic microfungi colonizing Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) litter needles. The needles were collected from a temperate pine forest and cultivated in damp chambers. Over a few weeks, melanized mycelium of Anavirga laxa Sutton started to grow out of some needles; simultaneously, the common forest-soil TA Phryganella acropodia (Hertwig and Lesser) Hopkinson reproduced and spread around the mycelium. We investigated whether a potential relationship between TA and saprotrophic microfungi exists by comparing the composition of TA communities on and around the needles and testing the spatial relationship between the A. laxa mycelium and P. acropodia shells in the experimental microcosm. Additionally, we asked whether P. acropodia utilized the A. laxa mycelium as a nutrient source and screened whether P. acropodia shells were colonized by the microfungi inhabiting the experimental microcosm. Our results indicate that saprotrophic microfungi may affect the composition of TA communities and their mycelium may affect distribution of TA individuals in pine litter. Our observations suggest that P. acropodia did not graze directly on A. laxa mycelium, but rather fed on its exudates or bacteria associated with the exudates. The fungus Pochonia bulbillosa (Gams & Malla) Zare & Gams was often found parasitising encysted shells or decomposing already dead individuals of P. acropodia. TA and pine litter microfungi engage in various direct and indirect interactions which are still poorly understood and deserve further investigation. Their elucidation will improve our knowledge on fundamental processes influencing coexistence of soil microflora and microfauna.

Survey of seven strains determined as Septonema ochraceum (Dothideomycetes, inc. sed.) isolated from pine litter or obtained from public collections revealed three new species, Fusicladium cordae, F. sicilianum (Venturiaceae), Cladophialophora matsushimae (Herpotrichiellaceae) and a cryptic species morphologically identical to Devriesia americana (Teratosphaeriaceae), but phylogenetically distinct. Morphological survey and phylogenetic analysis using nucleotide sequence data from the nuclear ribosomal subunit genes indicate a close relationship within three species colonising pine litter needles, F. cordae, F. pini and F. ramoconidii. F. sicilianum is most related to F. rhodense. C. matsushimae represents a species belonging to one of the lineages of the polyphyletic genus Cladophialophora. None of the strains observed can be classified morphologically as S. ochraceum, of which the type material does not exist.

The distribution of the dematiaceous microfungus Scleroconidioma sphagnicola in coniferous litter in Europe and Canada was assessed using a culture-dependent approach. Needles of various coniferous species were sampled between May and November of 2008. Twenty needles from each sample were cultivated on 2° malt agar after surface sterilisation with 30 % hydrogen peroxide. The formed mycelia were identified based on their morphology. The identifications were further confirmed by analyses of ITS rDNA. S. sphagnicola was recorded at 8 of the 53 sites. The highest abundance of S. sphagnicola was recorded in mountain areas of the Czech Republic. Further records of S. sphagnicola were acquired from the literature and the GenBank database. S. sphagnicola does not seem to be a ubiquitous coloniser of coniferous litter. However, this study showed that this fungus is found in various regions and the data obtained may serve to make an evaluation of the potential spread of S. sphagnicola.

Previous studies of oribatid mite feeding preferences for different saprotrophic fungi were limited to ubiquitous fungal species, whereas saprophytes specialized to decompose particular substrates have been neglected. We examined the preference of seven oribatid mite species ( Adoristes ovatus , Eniochthonius minutissimus , Eueremaeus silvestris , Nothrus silvestris , Oppiella subpectinata , Porobelba spinosa and Spatiodamaeus verticillipes ) for nine autochthonous saprotrophic fungi from Scots pine litter ( Pinus sylvestris ). Among the fungal species offered were specific coniferous litter colonizers ( Allantophomopsis lycopodina , Ceuthospora pinastri , Hormonema dematioides , Scleroconidioma sphagnicola , Verticicladium trifidum , Marasmius androsaceus and Sympodiella acicola ) and two ubiquitous species ( Cladosporium herbarum and Oidiodendron griseum ). The fungi were inoculated on fragments of pine needles and offered simultaneously and separately to the mites. Our main hypothesis, that oribatid mites (usually occurring in more than one type of ecosystems) would prefer the ubiquitous fungal species rather than those specific to pine litter, was supported only partly. The ubiquitous C. herbarum was highly preferred by all studied mites, but most of them preferred one or more of the specialized fungi with similar intensity. The basidiomycete M. androsaceus along with sterile needles were consistently avoided by all mites in all experiments. Our results do not support the hypothesis, that the “true” fungivorous oribatid mites in traditional sense are more selective fungal feeders than are the “unspecialized” panphytophagous ones. We observed no gradation in preference of fungi for oribatid mites as a group, but rather a discontinuous and dynamic mosaic with particular mites preferring particular fungal species. This heterogeneous mosaic shapes the feeding niches occupied by particular oribatid mite species and probably reduces competition for food source among numerous species coexisting in a given habitat and time.

In our screening, we aimed to detect phosphonates and other forms of organic phosphorus in basidiocarps and vegetative mycelia of six common basidiomycetes. Organic phosphorus-containing compounds were extracted in alkali and analysed using 31 P NMR. Monoesters, diesters, pyrophosphates and polyphosphates detected in high amounts reflected the high metabolic activity in basidiocarps (growth, production of basidiospores). Phosphonates were present in all samples, in concentrations ranging from 14 mg kg −1 of the extracted phosphorus in Boletus badius basidiocarp to 140 mg kg −1 in Amanita muscaria vegetative mycelium. Detection of phosphonates in basidiocarps together with our previous evidence from laboratory experiments support the fungal production of natural phosphonates in forest ecosystems.

Various biotic and abiotic factors may change the quality of cast spruce needles or induce premature casting, subsequently altering the composition of needle litter. We tested the decomposition efficiency of Setulipes androsaceus, a key litter decomposer in spruce forests, on needles of the Norway spruce (Picea abies) that fell into three different categories of quality. We designed a cultivation experiment to test the decomposition rate of the following needle categories: (1) naturally senesced brown needles, (2) intact, prematurely fallen green needles, and (3) frass pellets produced by caterpillars of the spruce web-spinning sawfly (Cephalcia spp.). Needles from each category were cultivated both independently and in combination. After a 4-month incubation, dry weight loss and the decrease of p-hydroxyacetophenone (p-HAP) and catechin were measured as markers of decomposition. Colonization of green needles by mycelia of S. androsaceus was initially inhibited. However, within the experimental period, those green needles successfully colonized by S. androsaceus lost more mass (22% of dry weight) than the brown needles (18% of dry weight). S. androsaceus also decreased the p-HAP and catechin contents of the green needles. Another fungal decomposer, Thysanophora penicillioides, was introduced only to the treatment that contained all three needle categories, and it induced less weight loss than S. androsaceus, but degraded the two phenolics to a similar extent. Neither the green nor the brown needles exhibited a more rapid rate of decomposition when cultivated in combination with another category of needles. We conclude that the increased proportions of green needles and frass pellets in the litter will be connected with temporarily increased decomposition activity of S. androsaceus.

The native European saprotrophic species Hymenoscyphus albidus seems to be replaced in the recent decade by a closely related, but invasive parasite of ash trees, H. fraxineus. Both species colonize the same niche, fallen petioles of ash leaves. In our study, we aimed at current distribution of H. fraxineus and attempted to find also H. albidus in Czechia. A revision of herbarium material based on molecular data confirmed the past presence of H. albidus in Czechia. Repeated attempts to rediscover H. albidus at four historical localities together with further 87 localities were unsuccessful. However, results of a targeted detection of H. albidus at four different localities using species-specific real-time PCR showed low, but constant presence of H. albidus ascospores. Therefore, H. albidus is not replaced by H. fraxineus, but these two species obviously coexist. Additionally, Cyathicula fraxinophila, another helotialean species commonly colonizing and specific to decaying ash petioles, seems to be unaffected by the spread of H. fraxineus and was present at 21 localities (at nine localities together with H. fraxineus, usually even on the same petioles). Another closely related, but plurivorous species on herbaceous stems, C. coronata, was recorded at five localities on ash petioles. Our results show that helotialean fungi colonizing ash petioles do not appear to be critically affected by the invasion of H. fraxineus.

A fungus tentatively identified as Lophodermium sp. was repeatedly isolated from living secondary needles of mountain pine (Pinus mugo) in the Giant Mountains of Poland. Needles showed symptoms of yellow spots, gradual discolouration and premature falling in July. Thin black zone lines, subepidermal conidiomata and partially subepidermal ascomata morphologically similar to L. pinastri occurred on fallen needles in litter below the same trees. Evidence from internal transcribed spacers of rDNA and the gene for actin showed that strains isolated from symptom-bearing needles and fruiting structures were identical, and differed from other Lophodermium species known from pine, including L. pinastri. The fungus differs subtly from L. pinastri, for example, in the lengths of its conidiomata, ascomata and asci, but can be reliably distinguished only by molecular data. Known only on mountain pine from the Giant Mountains, it is described here as L. corconticum sp. nov.

Fungal decomposition of and phosphorus transformation from spruce litter needles ( Picea abies ) were simulated in systems containing litter needles inoculated with individual saprotrophic fungal strains and their mixtures. Fungal strains of Setulipes androsaceus (L.) Antonin, Chalara longipes (Preus) Cooke, Ceuthospora pinastri (Fr.) Hohn., Mollisia minutella (Sacc.) Rehm, Scleroconidioma sphagnicola Tsuneda, Currah & Thormann and an unknown strain NK11 were used as representatives of autochthonous mycoflora. Systems were incubated for 5.5 months in laboratory conditions. Fungal colonization in systems and competition among strains were assessed using the reisolation of fungi from individual needles. After incubation, needles were extracted with NaOH and extracts were analysed using 31 P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Needle decomposition was determined based on the decrease in C:N ratio. Systems inoculated with the basidiomycete S. androsaceus revealed substantial decrease in C:N ratio (from 25.8 to 11.3) while the effect of ascomycetes on the C:N ratio was negligible. We suppose that tested strains of saprotrophic ascomycetes did not participate substantially in litter decomposition, but were directly involved in phosphorus transformation and together with S. androsaceus could transform orthophosphate monoesters and diesters from spruce litter needles into diphosphates, polyphosphates and phosphonates. These transformations seem to be typical for saprotrophic fungi involved in litter needle decomposition, although the proportion of individual phosphorus forms differed among studied fungal strains. Phosphonate presence in needles after fungal inoculation is of special interest because no previous investigation recorded phosphonate synthesis and accumulation by fungi. Our results confirmed that the 31 P NMR spectroscopy is an excellent instrumental method for studying transformations of soil organic phosphorus during plant litter decomposition. We suggest that polyphosphate production by S. androsaceus may contribute to the phosphorus cycle in forest ecosystems because this fungus is a frequent litter colonizer that substantially participates in decomposition.

This study addressed competition of Scleroconidioma sphagnicola Tsuneda, Currah & Thormann with saprotrophic ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. We isolated this fungus, previously considered as a preferentially necrotrophic parasite of moss, from spruce needle litter. Competition of Scleroconidioma sphagnicola was simulated with strains of the autochthonous litter colonizers Ceuthospora pinastri (Fr.) Höhn., Chalara longipes (Preus) Cooke, Setulipes androsaceus (L.) Antonín ( Marasmius androsaceus (L.) Fr.), and Mollisia minutella (Sacc.) Rehm and the wood-decaying fungus Hypholoma fasciculare (Huds.) Quél. Pairings were performed on agar plates with two types of low-nutrient medium made from spruce litter needles. Reisolation on nutritionally rich agar medium following the competition revealed that Sleroconidioma sphagnicola was mostly successfully reisolated even though apparently being replaced by the mycelium of other fungi. It formed strongly melanised mycelium and microsclerotia that seem to be responsible for its resistance to fungal competition. All tested strains of needle litter colonizers were outcompeted by Hypholoma fasciculare. Enzymatic screening aimed at semiquantitative assay of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase, and tyrosinace revealed that Scleroconidioma sphagnicola, together with other strains, was able to produce polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase on various nutritional media. Activity of tyrosinase was detected only for Hypholoma fasciculare. Previous records of Scleroconidioma sphagnicola from moss, wood, and our isolations from spruce litter suggest that this species possesses an ability to occupy a wide spectrum of niches.