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Culture collections (CCs) play an important role in the ex situ conservation of biological material and maintaining species and strains, which can be used for scientific and practical purposes. The Komarov Botanical Institute Basidiomycetes Culture Collection (LE-BIN) preserves a large number of original dikaryon strains of various taxonomical and ecological groups of fungi from different geographical regions. Started in the late 1950s for the investigation of Basidiomycetes' biological activity, today, in Russia, it has become a unique specialized macromycetes collection, preserving 3680 strains from 776 species of fungi. The Collection's development is aimed at ex situ conservation of fungal diversity, with an emphasis on preserving rare and endangered species, ectomycorrhizal fungi, and strains useful for biotechnology and medicine. The main methods applied in the collection for maintaining and working with cultures are described, and the results are presented. Some problems for the isolation and cultivation of species are discussed. The taxonomical structure and variety of the strains in the collection fund are analyzed, and they show that the taxonomical diversity of fungi in the LE-BIN is commensurable with the largest CCs in the world. The achievements from the ex situ conservation of the diversity of macromycetes and the main results from the screening and investigation of the collection's strains demonstrate that a number of strains can be prospective producers of enzymes (oxidoreductases and proteases), lipids, and biologically active compounds (terpenoids, phthalides, etc.) for biotechnology and medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brief research history and new records of agaricoid basidiomycetes from Novgorod Region are provided. Twenty-three species of agaricoid fungi are reported for the first time from Novgorod Region, five species (Gamundia striatula, Mycena erubescens, Mycetinis querceus, Pholiotina brunnea, Sagaranella tylicolor) are new to the North West of European Russia, three species (Baeospora myriadophylla, Entoloma strigosissimum, Mycena renati) are threatened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations of wood-rotting basidiomycetes in the boreal forests of the Eastern European North (Russia, Arkhangelsk Region) reveal some rare, but little known taiga species, namely Athelia alnicola, Byssocorticium atrovirens, Ceriporiopsis jelicii, Ginnsia viticola, Hypochnella violacea, Lopharia cinerascens, Phlebia deflectens, Ph. ochraceofulva, Postia persicina, Scytinostroma portentosum. The morphology, substrate preferences and the distribution of the species revealed are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific features of the growth and development of wood-decomposing basidiomycetes wide-spread in the right-bank Volga forest-steppe have been studied under natural conditions and in pure culture. The results show that the strains of parasitic species are characterized by low growth rates and an increased demand for easily accessible carbon sources, while the strains of saprotrophic species from different substrates grow well in culture. Additional sources of cellulose and lignin have a favorable effect on the growth of saprotrophic strains was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Mycocinotyping of cryptococci from the Prioksko-terrasny reserve (Russia) has revealed three strains that have a unique mycocin-sensitivity profile. Sequencing results of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rDNA and of the complete ITS region placed them in the Floriforme clade of the Filobasidiales lineage (Hymenomycetes). The three strains had identical sequences, which differed from those of known Filobasidium and Cryptococcus species. A novel species named Cryptococcus stepposus (type strain VKM Y-2918) is proposed to accommodate these isolates. Physiological characteristics distinguishing the novel species from other Cryptococcus species in the Floriforme clade are presented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Matings and RAPD-PCR analysis were used to differentiate two closely related basidiomycetes fungi, Pleurotus pulmonarius and P. ostreatus, which are widespread in Russian forest biocenoses with moderate continental climate. Monokaryon-monokaryon (mon-mon) and dikaryon-monokaryon (di-mon) matings demonstrated complete reproductive isolation of the two species, which have partly overlapping morphological traits. The prevalence of a particular species in nature was shown to depend to a great extent on the natural conditions, namely, the day and night temperature fluctuations. The clustering of natural Pleurotus strains displayed two trends: one was associated with natural reproductive isolation of the two species ( D = 0.61) and the other, with the geographical factor ( D = 0.39). A relatively recent origin is suggested for the divergence of the two species and the reproductive barrier between them. Adaptation to natural conditions was considered to be the main factor causing the divergence of natural Pleurotus populations and, eventually, allopatric speciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A psychrophilic yeast with a basidiomycetous developmental cycle and properties corresponding to the genus Leucosporidium Fell et al. was isolated from the fruiting body of the edible spring mushroom Gyromitra esculenta Pers. picked near Moscow. However, the isolate differed from all Leucosporidium species described to date in a number of characteristics. The results of the study of the developmental cycle and of the cultural, morphological, physiological, and biochemical properties of the new isolate, strain KBP Y-3696, allow it to be assigned to a new species of the genus Leucosporidium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on the hyphomycete Osteomorpha fragilis hitherto unrecorded in Russia are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]