Search

Pure culture is important for taxonomic, physiological and various application studies of fungi. Many protocols for obtaining pure cultures have been reported, of which single spore isolation was used most frequently in mycological studies. However, previously reported methods were relatively complicated and time consuming. In this paper, an optimized protocol of single spore isolation is introduced. Compared to previous protocols, this protocol is favorable in terms of its lower contamination rate, is less time consuming, and requires only simplified procedures with common and easily accessible apparatus.

Myceliophthora guttulata sp. nov. is described and illustrated based on strains isolated from soil in China. This species is thermophilic with optimal growth temperature of 40–45 °C, and minimum growth temperature of 25 °C. Morphologically, this species is characterized by smooth, guttulate, pyriform to obovoid blastoconidia born directly on the side of hyphae, on long or short pedicels or in groups of 1–4 on ampulliform swellings. Phylogenetic analysis based on multi-locus alignment of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) and RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2) regions showed that M. guttulata clustered within the genus Myceliophthora, and is closely related to four thermophilic species, i.e. M. fergusii, M. thermophila, M. heterothallic, and M. hinnulea.

Three new species of Phomopsis causing leaf spots on multiple hosts in Gutianshan Nature Reserve are characterized and illustrated. Phylogenetic analyses and morphological characteristics are employed to justify the introduction of the new species. The phylogenetic relationships of the three new species were inferred by analyses based on combined rDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) gene regions. Comparisons are made with morphologically similar and phylogenetically closely related species.

Phyllosticta styracicola sp. nov. on Styrax grandiflorus from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Yunnan province, China, and Phyllosticta hubeiensis sp. nov. on Viburnum odoratissimum from Shennongjia forest, Hubei province, China, are described and illustrated in this paper. Phylogenetic analysis based on nrDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and a combined multi-locus alignment of the ITS, partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), actin (ACT) and glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene regions indicated that these two species were closely related to P. ampelicida and P. gaultheriae respectively. Justifications of the novelties of both species are provided.

Rasamsonia composticola sp. nov. is described, illustrated, and compared with similar taxa. This species produces globose to ellipsoid ascomata, spherical asci borne in short chains and globose, 1-celled ascospores, typical of Rasamsonia. Anamorph on CYA, MEA, and PDA produces verrucose, rough-walled conidiophores, and hyaline and cylindrical conidia. This novel species is thermophilic with optimal growth temperature of 45–50 °C, and minimum growth temperature of 30 °C. Phylogenetic analyses based on combined ITS rDNA, partial calmodulin, and β-tubulin sequences, and combined partial RPB2, Tsr1, and Cct8 gene sequences were conducted. Both confirmed the generic placement in Rasamsonia and showed its close phylogenetic relationships to several species in the genus, such as R. emersonii and R. byssochlamydoides.

Colletotrichum musae is an important pathogen causing banana anthracnose. The type material (K) had no conidia or sclerotia, and DNA could not be extracted from a darkened area of the herbarium sample. This sample thus provides few characters to delimit this species from other closely related taxa in the “gloeosporioides” species complex. An epitype is therefore designated for C. musae to stabilize the application of the species name. A detailed morphological description is provided from the epitype. Multilocus phylogenetic analysis indicates that C. musae clusters in a distinct lineage in the “gloeosporioides” species complex and is most closely related to Colletotrichum fructicola.

Colletotrichum species associated with leaf and flower anthracnose of jasmine (Jasminum sambac) in the Ho Chi Minh region of Vietnam are reported. The disease of jasmine plantations was considered serious as it likely reduced flower yield. Leaves were colonized by Colletotrichum species which formed chlorotic regions with light brown necrotic centres, which eventually covered the whole leaf and subsequently caused defoliation and dieback and whole flowers were blighted. Nine strains of Colletotrichum species were isolated from diseased leaves and flowers and partial ITS rDNA sequences were analysed and morphologies compared across similar species. Based on ITS sequence analysis and morphological characters, three strains were identified as C. truncatum, while one strain was identified as C. siamense. The remaining five strains did not cluster with any known species for which type sequences are available and therefore partial actin (ACT), β-tubulin (TUB2), calmodulin (CAL), glutamine synthetase (GS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) genes of the isolates were sequenced. Based on the reconstructed multiloci molecular phylogeny, two taxa are formally introduced as new species. Another strain was not well resolved in the phylogenetic tree and herein described as Colletotrichum sp. Further studies are needed to prove its distinctiveness. The morphology and growth rate of all taxa are described and compared with similar species.

Endophytic fungi associated with Stipa grandis in the Inner Mongolia steppe were investigated. Thirty-four fungal taxa were identified from plant tissues obtained in four treatments where different plant functional groups were removed. Nine taxa were obtained from leaves and 25 from roots; and no taxa occurred in both leaves and roots. Colonization rates were significantly higher in roots than in leaves. This finding differs from most previous studies and may be due to the small size of the leaves which grow annually, as compared to the roots which persist from year to year under the ground. Alternaria sp. 1 and Pyrenophora sp., both isolated from leaves, were the dominant species in the four treatments. Fusarium redolens was dominant in the roots in treatments I and II, and Phialophora sp. was dominant in treatments III and IV. Horizontal transmission of endophytes may occur between the same and different grass species. This would normally occur through the roots, again accounting for the higher diversity. The results suggest that surrounding plant diversity or plant composition can affect endophyte communities of S. grandis. If endophyte communities alter with change of functional plant groups, then this is likely to affect the dynamics of ecosystem functioning. Global warming and human activities can increase species extinction, therefore, if some functional groups disappear, then the fungi communities will also change.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal diversity was investigated in non-grazed, restored and over-grazed (fenced) plots of a grassland in the Inner Mongolia steppe. Plant cover and variety differ between the plots, being highest in the non-grazed to lowest in the over-grazed plots. A total of 19 AM fungal taxa belonging to six genera were found based on spores isolated from field samples and trap cultures. One belonged to Acaulospora, one to Archaeospora, one to Entrophospora, one to Gigaspora, 12 to Glomus and three to Scutellospora. Glomus was the dominant genus in all plots, and Glomus geosporum was the dominant species, whilst G. albidum and G. etunicatum were dominant in the restored plot. Scutellospora was the second dominant genus in the non-grazed plot with Scutellospora calospora being the dominant species. The mean spore density and mean species richness of AM fungi were significantly decreased by long-term over-grazing. The Sorenson's similarity coefficients of AM fungal community composition ranged from 0.5 to 0.64 among the three types of plot management. The results suggest that the AM fungal diversity is greatly affected by long-term over-grazing and that fencing of degraded areas partly restores plant cover and AM fungal diversity in grassland ecosystems.

The Diaporthe species include important plant pathogenic fungi with wide host ranges and geographic distributions. In this paper, species associated with Lithocarpus glabra were examined using a multi-locus phylogeny based on a combined rDNA-internal transcribed spacer (ITS), and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), beta tubulin (TUB), and calmodulin (CAL) regions. The phylogenies inferred from combined multi-locus sequences grouped isolates from L. glabra into seven distinct lineages with high branch support, which corresponded to two previously described species and five novel species described in this paper. Our results indicate a high species diversity of Diaporthe associated with L. glabra, and host association is further proved not reliable for species delimitation. Three species previously described in Phomopsis were transferred to Diaporthe in the present paper. A synopsis of morphological characters of the 14 species currently known from Fagaceae is provided.