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In the framework of a research project on corticioid fungi (Basidiomycota) from Cape Verde, we collected several specimens provisionally assigned to Coniophora sp. On the basis of morphological and molecular analyses, we identified these specimens as C. eremophila Lindsey & Gilb. These records extend the geographical distribution of this species by approximately 8,800 km in a straight line west to east, from its previously known North American locality and 8,700 km southwest to northeast from the other known locality in Chile. The pres-ence of the genus Coniophora is reported for the first time in the Cape Verde Archipelago.

This article is the 13th contribution in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, wherein 125 taxa from four phyla, ten classes, 31 orders, 69 families, 92 genera and three genera incertae sedis are treated, demonstrating worldwide and geographic distribution. Fungal taxa described and illustrated in the present study include three new genera, 69 new species, one new combination, one reference specimen and 51 new records on new hosts and new geographical distributions. Three new genera, Cylindrotorula (Torulaceae), Scolecoleotia (Leotiales genus incertae sedis) and Xenovaginatispora (Lindomycetaceae) are introduced based on distinct phylogenetic lineages and unique morphologies.

Species distribution models based on environmental predictors are useful to explain a species geographic range. For many groups of organisms, including fungi, the increase in occurrence data sets has generalized their use. However, fungal species are not always easy to distinguish, and taxonomy of many groups is not completely settled. This study explores the effect of taxonomic uncertainty in databases used for modeling fungal distributions. We analyze distribution models for three morphospecies from the corticioid genus Xylodon (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota), comparing models based on species names on vouchers specimens with models derived from species identified by DNA barcode. Differences in the contribution of predictors driving the distribution of each modeled taxon and the extent of their ranges were studied. Records under Xylodon paradoxus, X. flaviporus, and X. raduloides were obtained from fungarium collections and GenBank repository. Two grouping criteria were used: (a) specimens were grouped by their collection or sequence voucher names and (b) specimens were grouped following molecular identification using ITS sequences through barcoding gap species recognition (BGSR). Climatic, geographic, and biotic variables were used to predict the potential distribution of each taxon through MaxEnt algorithm. From the three morphospecies selected according to voucher names, up to 19 species candidates were detected using BGSR. Climatic variables were the most important predictors in distribution models made from names on voucher specimens, but their importance decreased when BGSR was applied. In general, the extent of species distributions was more restricted for taxa under BGSR. Our results show that taxonomic uncertainty has a strong effect in Xylodon species distribution models. Misleading results can be obtained when cryptic species or identification errors mask the actual diversity of the presence records. Preserved specimens in natural history collections o

Schizopora paradoxa, current name Xylodon paradoxus, is a white-rot fungus with certain useful biotechnological properties. The representative genome of Schizopora paradoxa strain KUC8140 was published in 2015 as part of the 1000 Fungal Genomes Project. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses, based on three nuclear regions (ITS, LSU and rpb2), confirmed a misidentification of S. paradoxa strain KUC8140 which should be identified as Xylodon ovisporus. This wrong identification explains the unexpected geographical distribution of S. paradoxa, since this species has a European distribution, whereas the strain KUC8140 was recorded from Korea, Eastern Asia.

Este libro se adentra en la historia de la vida y en la diversidad a través del mundo de los hongos, uno de los grupos de organismos más abundantes y, sin embargo, menos conocidos, a pesar de los avances que en los últimos tiempos ha experimentado la micología. Capaces de colonizar todos los ambientes del planeta, con una gran diversidad de especies difícil de estimar, los hongos cumplen una función primordial como recicladores de la naturaleza, ejercen de parásitos y patógenos y forman alianzas con muchos grupos de organismos (bacterias, algas, plantas, insectos, etc.) contribuyendo al mantenimiento y desarrollo de los ecosistemas. En sus páginas, profusamente ilustradas, María Teresa Tellería realiza un apasionante recorrido que nos lleva al fondo del mar y a los parajes más inhóspitos de la Antártida; visita la cabaña de Shackleton y se asoma, también, a los paisajes plagados de volcanes y aguas someras en los que pudo surgir la vida en nuestro planeta. Merodea por los bosques carboníferos y escudriña la vida atrapada en el ámbar cretácico; explora, en suma, algunos de esos lugares donde aún habitan los dragones a los que apunta el título del libro, metáfora de las lagunas en el conocimiento del reino fúngico.

Amylostereum laevigatum has been reported from Japan growing on Cryptomeria japonica and Chamaecyparis obtusa. Using morphological and molecular data (internal transcribed spacer (ITS) nrDNA and rpb2 markers), we demonstrate that some specimens under A. laevigatum from Japan belong to A. orientale, a species described from China. Amylostereum orientale differs from A. laevigatum mainly in having smaller basidiospores. This is the first citation of A. orientale in Japan.

Sistotrematrum chilensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated on the basis of morphological and molecular data. Specimens of this corticioid fungus were collected in Huinay Reserve, in the Valdivian temperate rainforest of the Chilean Northern Patagonian region. Affinities with other species of the genus are discussed.

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Reannotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi.

Novel species of microfungi described in the present study include the following from South Africa: Camarosporium aloes, Phaeococcomyces aloes and Phoma aloes from Aloe, C. psoraleae, Diaporthe psoraleae and D. psoraleae-pinnatae from Psoralea, Colletotrichum euphorbiae from Euphorbia, Coniothyrium prosopidis and Peyronellaea prosopidis from Prosopis, Diaporthe cassines from Cassine, D. diospyricola from Diospyros, Diaporthe maytenicola from Maytenus, Harknessia proteae from Protea, Neofusicoccum ursorum and N. cryptoaustrale from Eucalyptus, Ochrocladosporium adansoniae from Adansonia, Pilidium pseudoconcavum from Greyia radlkoferi, Stagonospora pseudopaludosa from Phragmites and Toxicocladosporium ficiniae from Ficinia. Several species were also described from Thailand, namely: Chaetopsina pini and C. pinicola from Pinus spp., Myrmecridium thailandicum from reed litter, Passalora pseudotithoniae from Tithonia, Pallidocercospora ventilago from Ventilago, Pyricularia bothriochloae from Bothriochloa and Sphaerulina rhododendricola from Rhododendron. Novelties from Spain include Cladophialophora multiseptata, Knufia tsunedae and Pleuroascus rectipilus from soil and Cyphellophora catalaunica from river sediments. Species from the USA include Bipolaris drechsleri from Microstegium, Calonectria blephiliae from Blephilia, Kellermania macrospora (epitype) and K. pseudoyuccigena from Yucca. Three new species are described from Mexico, namely Neophaeosphaeria agaves and K. agaves from Agave and Phytophthora ipomoeae from Ipomoea. Other African species include Calonectria mossambicensis from Eucalyptus (Mozambique), Harzia cameroonensis from an unknown creeper (Cameroon), Mastigosporella anisophylleae from Anisophyllea (Zambia) and Teratosphaeria terminaliae from Terminalia (Zimbabwe). Species from Europe include Auxarthron longisporum from forest soil (Portugal), Discosia pseudoartocreas from Tilia (Austria), Paraconiothyrium polonense and P. lycopodinum from Lycopodium (Pol

The genus Brevicellicium encompasses wood-inhabiting corticioid fungi characterized by isodiametric subhymenial hyphae, short basidia, and smooth, often subangular spores with a distinct apiculus. Eight new LSU nrDNA sequences and 13 new ITS nrDNA of this genus, including the type species, were aligned with 47 and 42 accessions respectively of species of Trechisporales obtained from GenBank, and phylogenetic analyses were performed. The order Trechisporales was confirmed as a monophyletic group; the genera Porpomyces, Sistotremastrum, Subulicystidium and Trechispora form a highly supported clade where all Brevicellicium sequences are included. Our analyses also support that this genus belongs to Hydnodontaceae. A new species, Brevicellicium atlanticum from the Azores Archipelago, is described.

The nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region is the formal fungal barcode and in most cases the marker of choice for the exploration of fungal diversity in environmental samples. Two problems are particularly acute in the pursuit of satisfactory taxonomic assignment of newly generated ITS sequences: (i) the lack of an inclusive, reliable public reference data set and (ii) the lack of means to refer to fungal species, for which no Latin name is available in a standardized stable way. Here, we report on progress in these regards through further development of the UNITE database (http://unite.ut.ee) for molecular identification of fungi. All fungal species represented by at least two ITS sequences in the international nucleotide sequence databases are now given a unique, stable name of the accession number type (e.g. Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus|GU586904|SH133781.05FU), and their taxonomic and ecological annotations were corrected as far as possible through a distributed, third-party annotation effort. We introduce the term ‘species hypothesis’ (SH) for the taxa discovered in clustering on different similarity thresholds (97–99%). An automatically or manually designated sequence is chosen to represent each such SH. These reference sequences are released (http://unite.ut.ee/repository.php) for use by the scientific community in, for example, local sequence similarity searches and in the QIIME pipeline. The system and the data will be updated automatically as the number of public fungal ITS sequences grows. We invite everybody in the position to improve the annotation or metadata associated with their particular fungal lineages of expertise to do so through the new Web-based sequence management system in UNITE.

Novel species of microfungi described in the present study include the following from South Africa: Camarosporium aloes, Phaeococcomyces aloes and Phoma aloes from Aloe, C. psoraleae, Diaporthe psoraleae and D. psoraleae-pinnatae from Psoralea, Colletotrichum euphorbiae from Euphorbia, Coniothyrium prosopidis and Peyronellaea prosopidis from Prosopis, Diaporthe cassines from Cassine, D. diospyricola from Diospyros, Diaporthe maytenicola from Maytenus, Harknessia proteae from Protea, Neofusicoccum ursorum and N. cryptoaustrale from Eucalyptus, Ochrocladosporium adansoniae from Adansonia, Pilidium pseudoconcavum from Greyia radlkoferi, Stagonospora pseudopaludosa from Phragmites and Toxicocladosporium ficiniae from Ficinia. Several species were also described from Thailand, namely: Chaetopsina pini and C. pinicola from Pinus spp., Myrmecridium thailandicum from reed litter, Passalora pseudotithoniae from Tithonia, Pallidocercospora ventilago from Ventilago, Pyricularia bothriochloae from Bothriochloa and Sphaerulina rhododendricola from Rhododendron. Novelties from Spain include Cladophialophora multiseptata, Knufia tsunedae and Pleuroascus rectipilus from soil and Cyphellophora catalaunica from river sediments. Species from the USA include Bipolaris drechsleri from Microstegium, Calonectria blephiliae from Blephilia, Kellermania macrospora (epitype) and K. pseudoyuccigena from Yucca. Three new species are described from Mexico, namely Neophaeosphaeria agaves and K. agaves from Agave and Phytophthora ipomoeae from Ipomoea. Other African species include Calonectria mossambicensis from Eucalyptus (Mozambique), Harzia cameroonensis from an unknown creeper (Cameroon), Mastigosporella anisophylleae from Anisophyllea (Zambia) and Teratosphaeria terminaliae from Terminalia (Zimbabwe). Species from Europe include Auxarthron longisporum from forest soil (Portugal), Discosia pseudoartocreas from Tilia (Austria), Paraconiothyrium polonense and P. lycopodinum from Lycopodium (Pol

Six DNA regions were evaluated as potential DNA barcodes for Fungi, the second largest kingdom of eukaryotic life, by a multinational, multilaboratory consortium. The region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 used as the animal barcode was excluded as a potential marker, because it is difficult to amplify in fungi, often includes large introns, and can be insufficiently variable. Three subunits from the nuclear ribosomal RNA cistron were compared together with regions of three representative proteincoding genes (largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II, and minichromosome maintenance protein). Although the protein-coding gene regions often had a higher percent of correct identification compared with ribosomal markers, low PCR amplification and sequencing success eliminated them as candidates for a universal fungal barcode. Among the regions of the ribosomal cistron, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region has the highest probability of successful identification for the broadest range of fungi, with the most clearly defined barcode gap between inter- and intraspecific variation. The nuclear ribosomal large subunit, a popular phylogenetic marker in certain groups, had superior species resolution in some taxonomic groups, such as the early diverging lineages and the ascomycete yeasts, but was otherwise slightly inferior to the ITS. The nuclear ribosomal small subunit has poor species-level resolution in fungi. ITS will be formally proposed for adoption as the primary fungal barcode marker to the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, with the possibility that supplementary barcodes may be developed for particular narrowly circumscribed taxonomic groups.

Background: Inappropriate taxon definitions may have severe consequences in many areas. For instance, biologically sensible species delimitation of plant pathogens is crucial for measures such as plant protection or biological control and for comparative studies involving model organisms. However, delimiting species is challenging in the case of organisms for which often only molecular data are available, such as prokaryotes, fungi, and many unicellular eukaryotes. Even in the case of organisms with well-established morphological characteristics, molecular taxonomy is often necessary to emend current taxonomic concepts and to analyze DNA sequences directly sampled from the environment. Typically, for this purpose clustering approaches to delineate molecular operational taxonomic units have been applied using arbitrary choices regarding the distance threshold values, and the clustering algorithms. Methodology: Here, we report on a clustering optimization method to establish a molecular taxonomy of Peronospora based on ITS nrDNA sequences. Peronospora is the largest genus within the downy mildews, which are obligate parasites of higher plants, and includes various economically important pathogens. The method determines the distance function and clustering setting that result in an optimal agreement with selected reference data. Optimization was based on both taxonomy-based and host-based reference information, yielding the same outcome. Resampling and permutation methods indicate that the method is robust regarding taxon sampling and errors in the reference data. Tests with newly obtained ITS sequences demonstrate the use of the re-classified dataset in molecular identification of downy mildews. Conclusions: A corrected taxonomy is provided for all Peronospora ITS sequences contained in public databases. Clustering optimization appears to be broadly applicable in automated, sequence-based taxonomy. The method connects traditional and modern taxonomic disciplines by sp

[EN] On the base of morphologic and molecular studies, a new species of the genus Lagarobasidium (Aphyllophorales, Basi - diomycota), is described and illustrated. This new species was collected on Pico Island (Azores) and is characterized by having two types of cystidia, clavate leptocystidia and cylindrical skeletocystidia, and smooth, thick-walled spores. It is compared with Lagarobasidium detriticum (Bourdot) Jülich and L. cymosum (D.P. Rogers & H.S. Jacks.) Jülich, until now the only two species of the genus., [ES] Sobre la base de estudios morfológicos y moleculares se describe e ilustra una nueva especie dentro del género Lagarobasidium (Aphyllophorales, Basidiomycota). Esta nueva especie, recolectada en la isla de Pico (Azores), se caracteriza por presentar dos tipos de cistidios, leptocistidios claviformes y esqueletocistidios cilíndricos, y esporas lisas con paredes gruesas. Se compara con Lagarobasidium detriticum (Bourdot) Jülich y L. cymosum (D.P. Rogers & H.S. Jacks.) Jülich, las otras dos especies del género.

The phylogenetic relationships among isolates of the Saprolegnia diclina-Saprolegnia parasitica complex were investigated based on ITS rDNA sequences, and correlated with morphological and physiological characters. The isolates studied belong to five phylogenetically separate clades. The majority of presumed parasitic isolates, mostly isolated from fish lesions, fell within a clade that comprises isolates which has been variously named as S. diclina Type 1, S. parasitica, Saprolegnia salmonis or just as unnamed Saprolegnia sp. Presence of bundles of long-hooked hairs on secondary cysts, high frequency of retracted germination, and oogonia production at 7 degrees C (when occurring) were characteristic of this clade. A single isolate identified as S. diclina Type 2 clustered in a clade along with Saprolegnia ferax isolates. The isolates identified as S. diclina s. str. (S. diclina Type 3) distributed in two clades and appeared closely related to Saprolegnia multispora and to a number of Chilean isolates identified as Saprolegnia australis. The ITS sequences of clade I were almost identical even though the isolates were of diverse geographical origins and showed physiological and morphological differences and variations in their pathogenicity. This suggest these species reproduces clonally even in apparently sexually competent isolates. Adaptation to parasitism in Saprolegnia might have occurred at spore level by the development of long-hooked hairs to facilitate host attachment and selection of a retracting germination. The use of the name S. parasitica should be assigned to isolates of clade I that contained isolates forming cysts with bundles of long-hooked hairs.

The scrutiny of ca. 188 publications issued between 1867 and 2005 revealed that ca. 1500 fungus/host combinations of white rusts and downy mildews (Albuginales and Peronosporales) have been reported from Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. The fungi belong to 13 genera and 101 species, and are parasitic on 266 plants belonging to 146 genera and 32 families. The hosts represent about 3.3 % of the total number of plants known from this territory. It is concluded that the probable number of fungi belonging to these two orders should be sensibly higher in this area, and that more collecting is necessary. The complete list can be accessed at: http://www.mycotaxon.com/resources/weblists.html.

Using polymerase chain reaction assays with specific primers for amplifying phytoplasma 16S rDNA, the presence of phytoplasmas in Ramaria basidiomes with abnormal development has been detected for the first time in fungi. Phytoplasmas have not been detected in asymptomatic basidiomes. Sequence analysis based on parsimony and maximum likelihood place the phytoplasma in the Stolbur group., Mediante la reacción en cadena de la polimerasa y el uso de iniciadores específicos para la región 16S rDNA de fitoplasmas, se ha detectado por primera vez en hongos la presencia de estos organismos en basidiomas de Ramaria que presentaban un desarrollo anormal. El análisis filogenético de las secuencias por los criterios de parsimonia y de maxima verosimilitud confirman a este fitoplasma como del grupo "Stolbur".