Search

Chytrids, often overshadowed by their other fungal counterparts, take center stage as we unravel the mysteries surrounding new species within Rhizophydiales and explore their unique characteristics. In the broader spectrum of chytrids, their significance lies not only in their roles as decomposers but also as key players in nutrient cycling within aquatic ecosystems as parasites and saprobes. Baited soil and aquatic samples collected from various provinces of Thailand, yielded new species of the Rhizophydiales (Chytridiomycota), some of which expanded previously single species genera. Our investigation incorporated a combination of morphological and phylogenetic approaches, enabling us to identify these isolates as distinct taxa. The novel isolates possess distinguishing features, such as variations in size and shape of the sporangium and zoospores, that somewhat differentiate them from described taxa. To confirm the novelty of the species, we employed robust phylogenetic analyses using maximum likelihood and bayesian methods. The results provided strong support for the presence of eight distinct lineages within the Rhizophydiales, representing our newly discovered species. Furthermore, we employed Poisson Tree Processes to infer putative species boundaries and supplement evidence for the establishment of our new Rhizophydiales species. By meticulously exploring their morphological characteristics and genetic makeup, we expand the known catalogue of fungal diversity by describing Alphamyces thailandicus, Angulomyces ubonensis, Gorgonomyces aquaticus, G. chiangraiensis, G. limnicus, Pateramyces pingflumenensis, Terramyces aquatica, and T. flumenensis and also provide valuable insights into the intricacies of this order. This newfound knowledge not only enriches our understanding of Rhizophydiales but also contributes significantly to the broader field of mycology, addressing a critical gap in the documentation of fungal species. The identification and characterization of these eight novel species mark a noteworthy stride towards a more comprehensive comprehension of fungal ecosystems and their vital role., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

A review of selected studies on fungal endophytes confirms the paucity of Basidiomycota and basal fungi, with almost 90% attributed to Ascomycota. Reasons for the low number of Basidiomycota and basal fungi, including the Chytridiomycota , Mucoromycota , and Mortierellomycota , are advanced, including isolation procedure and media, incubation period and the slow growth of basidiomycetes, the identification of non-sporulating isolates, endophyte competition, and fungus-host interactions. We compare the detection of endophytes through culture-dependent methods and culture-independent methods, the role of fungi on senescence of the host plant, and next-generation studies.

This article reports a new marine fungus, Lanspora dorisauae ( Phomatosporales , Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota), on trapped wood collected in coastal sites of Taiwan. This new fungus was subjected to a morphological examination and a phylogenetic study based on a combined analysis of the 18S, 28S, ITS rDNA, TEF1-α and RPB2 genes. Lanspora dorisauae is characterized by dark-coloured ascomata with a short neck, periphysate ostioles, subclavate, deliquescing asci without an apical ring, presence of wide paraphyses, striated wall ascospores with crown-like appendages on one pole of the ascospores. Phylogenetically, L. dorisauae grouped with Lanspora coronata (type species) with strong support. Lanspora coronata lacks paraphyses and appendages occur on both ends of the ascospores, while paraphyses are present and ascospore appendage is unipolar in L. dorisauae . Lanspora cylindrospora formed a sister clade with L. coronata and L. dorisauae , but it significantly differs in morphology with the latter two species in having cylindrical asci with an apical J- ring, smooth ascospore wall and no ascospore appendages, and may be better referred to a new genus. Lanspora , together with Phomatospora and Tenuimurus , belong to the Phomatosporaceae , Phomatosporales . Phomatospora berkeleyi should be sequenced to test the validity of the order Phomatosporales and the family Phomatosporaceae ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2023 Pang et al.)

Botryosphaeriales ( Dothideomycetes , Ascomycota ) occur in a wide range of habitats as endophytes, saprobes, and pathogens. The order Botryosphaeriales has not been subjected to evaluation since 2019 by Phillips and co-authors using phylogenetic and evolutionary analyses. Subsequently, many studies introduced novel taxa into the order and revised several families separately. In addition, no ancestral character studies have been conducted for this order. Therefore, in this study, we re-evaluated the character evolution and taxonomic placements of Botryosphaeriales species based on ancestral character evolution, divergence time estimation, and phylogenetic relationships, including all the novel taxa that have been introduced so far. Maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony, and Bayesian inference analyses were conducted on a combined LSU and ITS sequence alignment. Ancestral state reconstruction was carried out for conidial colour, septation, and nutritional mode. Divergence times estimates revealed that Botryosphaeriales originated around 109 Mya in the early epoch of the Cretaceous period. All six families in Botryosphaeriales evolved in the late epoch of the Cretaceous period (66-100 Mya), during which Angiosperms also appeared, rapidly diversified and became dominant on land. Families of Botryosphaeriales diversified during the Paleogene and Neogene periods in the Cenozoic era. The order comprises the families Aplosporellaceae , Botryosphaeriaceae , Melanopsaceae , Phyllostictaceae , Planistromellaceae and Saccharataceae . Furthermore, current study assessed two hypotheses; the first one being "All Botryosphaeriales species originated as endophytes and then switched into saprobes when their hosts died or into pathogens when their hosts were under stress"; the second hypothesis states that "There is a link between the conidial colour and nutritional mode in botryosphaerialean taxa". Ancestral state reconstruction and nutritional mode analyses revealed a pathogenic/saprobic nutritional mode as the ancestral character. However, we could not provide strong evidence for the first hypothesis mainly due to the significantly low number of studies reporting the endophytic botryosphaerialean taxa. Results also showed that hyaline and aseptate conidia were ancestral characters in Botryosphaeriales and supported the relationship between conidial pigmentation and the pathogenicity of Botryosphaeriales species.

With the over 2000 marine fungi and fungal-like organisms documented so far, some have adapted fully to life in the sea, while some have the ability to tolerate environmental conditions in the marine milieu. These organisms have evolved various mechanisms for growth in the marine environment, especially against salinity gradients. This review highlights the response of marine fungi, fungal-like organisms and terrestrial fungi (for comparison) towards salinity variations in terms of their growth, spore germination, sporulation, physiology, and genetic adaptability. Marine, freshwater and terrestrial fungi and fungal-like organisms vary greatly in their response to salinity. Generally, terrestrial and freshwater fungi grow, germinate and sporulate better at lower salinities, while marine fungi do so over a wide range of salinities. Zoosporic fungal-like organisms are more sensitive to salinity than true fungi, especially Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Labyrinthulomycota and marine Oomycota are more salinity tolerant than saprolegniaceous organisms in terms of growth and reproduction. Wide adaptability to saline conditions in marine or marine-related habitats requires mechanisms for maintaining accumulation of ions in the vacuoles, the exclusion of high levels of sodium chloride, the maintenance of turgor in the mycelium, optimal growth at alkaline pH, a broad temperature growth range from polar to tropical waters, and growth at depths and often under anoxic conditions, and these properties may allow marine fungi to positively respond to the challenges that climate change will bring. Other related topics will also be discussed in this article, such as the effect of salinity on secondary metabolite production by marine fungi, their evolution in the sea, and marine endophytes.

This article is the 14th in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, wherein we report 98 taxa distributed in two phyla, seven classes, 26 orders and 50 families which are described and illustrated. Taxa in this study were collected from Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, French Guiana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are 59 new taxa, 39 new hosts and new geographical distributions with one new combination. The 59 new species comprise Angustimassarina kunmingense , Asterina lopi , Asterina brigadeirensis , Bartalinia bidenticola , Bartalinia caryotae , Buellia pruinocalcarea , Coltricia insularis , Colletotrichum flexuosum , Colletotrichum thasutense , Coniochaeta caraganae , Coniothyrium yuccicola , Dematipyriforma aquatic , Dematipyriforma globispora , Dematipyriforma nilotica , Distoseptispora bambusicola , Fulvifomes jawadhuvensis , Fulvifomes malaiyanurensis , Fulvifomes thiruvannamalaiensis , Fusarium purpurea , Gerronema atrovirens , Gerronema flavum , Gerronema keralense , Gerronema kuruvense , Grammothele taiwanensis , Hongkongmyces changchunensis , Hypoxylon inaequale , Kirschsteiniothelia acutisporum , Kirschsteiniothelia crustaceum , Kirschsteiniothelia extensum , Kirschsteiniothelia septemseptatum , Kirschsteiniothelia spatiosum , Lecanora immersocalcarea , Lepiota subthailandica , Lindgomyces guizhouensis , Marthe asmius pallidoaurantiacus , Marasmius tangerinus , Neovaginatispora mangiferae , Pararamichloridium aquisubtropicum , Pestalotiopsis piraubensis , Phacidium chinaum , Phaeoisaria goiasensis , Phaeoseptum thailandicum , Pleurothecium aquisubtropicum , Pseudocercospora vernoniae , Pyrenophora verruculosa , Rhachomyces cruralis , Rhachomyces hyperommae , Rhachomyces magrinii , Rhachomyces platyprosophi , Rhizomarasmius cunninghamietorum , Skeletocutis cangshanensis , Skeletocutis subchrysella , Sporisorium anadelphiae-leptocomae , Tetraploa dashaoensis , Tomentella exiguelata , Tomentella fuscoaraneosa , Tricholomopsis lechatii , Vaginatispora flavispora and Wetmoreana blastidiocalcarea . The new combination is Torula sundara . The 39 new records on hosts and geographical distribution comprise Apiospora guiyangensis , Aplosporella artocarpi , Ascochyta medicaginicola , Astrocystis bambusicola , Athelia rolfsii , Bambusicola bambusae , Bipolaris luttrellii , Botryosphaeria dothidea , Chlorophyllum squamulosum , Colletotrichum aeschynomenes , Colletotrichum pandanicola , Coprinopsis cinerea , Corylicola italica , Curvularia alcornii , Curvularia senegalensis , Diaporthe foeniculina , Diaporthe longicolla , Diaporthe phaseolorum , Diatrypella quercina , Fusarium brachygibbosum , Helicoma aquaticum , Lepiota metulispora , Lepiota pongduadensis , Lepiota subvenenata , Melanconiella meridionalis , Monotosporella erecta , Nodulosphaeria digitalis , Palmiascoma gregariascomum , Periconia byssoides , Periconia cortaderiae , Pleopunctum ellipsoideum , Psilocybe keralensis , Scedosporium apiospermum , Scedosporium dehoogii , Scedosporium marina , Spegazzinia deightonii , Torula fici , Wiesneriomyces laurinus and Xylaria venosula . All these taxa are supported by morphological and multigene phylogenetic analyses. This article allows the researchers to publish fungal collections which are important for future studies. An updated, accurate and timely report of fungus-host and fungus-geography is important. We also provide an updated list of fungal taxa published in the previous fungal diversity notes. In this list, erroneous taxa and synonyms are marked and corrected accordingly., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestAuthors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Mushroom Research Foundation 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Distoseptispora is one of the sporidesmium-like taxa with great variation in asexual morphology and delineation of species. Phylogenetic analyses of four gene regions LSU, ITS, TEF1α , and RPB2 revealed the placement of several sporidesmium-like species in Distoseptispora ( Distoseptisporaceae , Distoseptisporales , Sordariomycetes ), collected on submerged decaying twigs from streams in China and Thailand. Based on morphological examination and molecular DNA data, six new species, Distoseptispora amniculi , D. atroviridis , D. effusa , D. fusiformis , D. hyalina , and D. verrucosa , are proposed. Among them, D.   hyalina is the first sexual morph confirmed in the genus. A new geographical record is reported for D. lignicola in China. Conidial length proved to be of less taxonomic significance for some Distoseptispora species, whereas the type of conidial septa is informative at species level.

This review brings together the research efforts on salt marsh fungi, including their geographical distribution and host association. A total of 486 taxa associated with different hosts in salt marsh ecosystems are listed in this review. The taxa belong to three phyla wherein Ascomycota dominates the taxa from salt marsh ecosystems accounting for 95.27% (463 taxa). The Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota constitute 19 taxa and four taxa, respectively. Dothideomycetes has the highest number of taxa, which comprises 47.12% (229 taxa), followed by Sordariomycetes with 167 taxa (34.36%). Pleosporales is the largest order with 178 taxa recorded. Twenty-seven genera under 11 families of halophytes were reviewed for its fungal associates. Juncus roemerianus has been extensively studied for its associates with 162 documented taxa followed by Phragmites australis (137 taxa) and Spartina alterniflora (79 taxa). The highest number of salt marsh fungi have been recorded from Atlantic Ocean countries wherein the USA had the highest number of species recorded (232 taxa) followed by the UK (101 taxa), the Netherlands (74 taxa), and Argentina (51 taxa). China had the highest number of salt marsh fungi in the Pacific Ocean with 165 taxa reported, while in the Indian Ocean, India reported the highest taxa (16 taxa). Many salt marsh areas remain unexplored, especially those habitats in the Indian and Pacific Oceans areas that are hotspots of biodiversity and novel fungal taxa based on the exploration of various habitats.

An investigation of freshwater fungi in Thailand resulted in the collection of one new monotypic genus, Neoxylomyces , and a novel species each in Camposporium , Brunneofusispora , Rattania , Neoxylomyces , and Phaeoacremonium . Camposporium dulciaquae resembles C. septatum in conidial morphology and number of septa but differs in conidial sizes. Brunneofusispora hyalina is similar to B. sinensis in conidiogenesis and conidial shape but differs in the sizes of conidiomata and conidiogenous cells. Rattania aquatica is the second species in Rattania , while Phaeoacremonium thailandense is the third species recorded from freshwater habitats. A new genus, Neoxylomyces , typified by N. multiseptatus , is similar to Xylomyces giganteus , but differs in the number of septa, chlamydospore measurements, and absence of a mucilaginous coating around the chlamydospores. These novel taxa form an independent lineage distinct from other species based on multi-loci phylogenetic analyses. Descriptions, illustrations, and notes are provided for each taxon. These new freshwater ascomycetes add to the increasing number of fungi known from Thailand and it is now evident that there are numerous novel taxa awaiting to be described as new freshwater habitats are explored. An update of newly discovered taxa in the widely studied freshwater habitats of Thailand over the last five years is also provided.

Vast parts of the Baltic Sea have been mycologically neglected and are still awaiting exploration. Here we summarise earlier records of marine fungi from the Baltic, supplementing them with discoveries from fieldwork in Sweden in 2019. Although marine fungal diversity is clearly attenuated in the brackish water of the Baltic Sea, a substantial number has still been discovered. Here we list 77 species from the Baltic Sea, whereas after a critical assessment a further 18 species have been excluded as records of marine fungi. The species have mainly been identified by their morphological features, supplemented by DNA-based diagnostics. Most of the species have their main distributions in temperate areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the Baltic species discovered here represent far disjunctions to tropical waters while only a very few are until now only recorded for the Baltic Sea. In this paper two species belong in Basidiomycota, while the most ascomyceteous speciose classes are Sordariomycetes (with 42 species) and Dothideomycetes (24). Halosphaeriaceae is the most speciose family in marine habitats, as also in the Baltic Sea, represented here by 29 species. Three species are new to Europe, and in addition 13 to the Baltic Sea and 13 to Sweden., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

This study introduces a novel holomorphic marine fungal species, Halobyssothecium estuariae (Lentitheciaceae, Pleosporales), from dead Phragmites communis . The new species has semi-immersed, subglobose or ellipsoidal, papillate, conical ascomata, clavate to subcylindrical, short pedicellate asci and 3-septate, fusoid to ellipsoidal ascospores with rounded ends, pale brown to dark brown central cells and hyaline end cells. The asexual morph has multiseptate, filiform, intercalary, catenate, branched chlamydospores that resemble Xylomyces . The asexual morph of Keissleriella phragmiticola based on combined LSU, SSU, ITS and TEF1 sequence analyses is reported. The role of molecular identification in delineating cryptic species are also discussed., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Morphology, phylogeny, and molecular clock analyses were carried out on Savoryellaceae in order to understand the placements of taxa in this family. Ascotaiwania and Neoascotaiwania formed a well-supported separate clade in the phylogeny of concatenated partial SSU, LSU, TEF, and RPB2 gene data. These two genera share similar morphological features, especially in their asexual morphs, indicating that they are congeneric. Hence, we synonymize Neoascotaiwania under Ascotaiwania . Ascotaiwania hughesii (and its asexual morph, Helicoon farinosum ) and Monotosporella setosa grouped in a clade sister to Pleurotheciales and are excluded from Ascotaiwania which becomes monophyletic. A novel genus Helicoascotaiwania is introduced to accommodate Ascotaiwania hughesii and its asexual morph, Helicoon farinosum . A novel species, Savoryella yunnanensis is introduced from a freshwater habitat in Yunnan Province, China. Comprehensive descriptions and illustrations are provided for selected taxa in this family. In addition, we provide evolutionary divergence estimates for Savoryellomycetidae taxa and major marine based taxa to support our phylogenetic and morphological investigations. The taxonomic placement of these marine-based taxa is briefly discussed. Our results indicate that the most basal group of marine-based taxa are represented within Lulworthiales, which diverged from ancestral Sordariomycetes around 149 Mya (91-209) and Savoryellomycetidae around 213 Mya (198-303).

A survey of freshwater fungi on submerged wood in China and Thailand resulted in the collection of three species in Dictyocheirospora and four species in Dictyosporium including two new species in the latter genus. Morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU and TEF1α sequence data support their placement in Dictyocheirospora and Dictyosporium (Dictyosporiaceae). An updated backbone tree is provided for the family Dictyosporiaceae. Descriptions and illustrations of the new taxa and re-collections are provided. Four new combinations are proposed for Dictyocheirospora .

A concatenated dataset of LSU, SSU, ITS and tef1 DNA sequence data was analysed to investigate the taxonomic position and phylogenetic relationships of the genus Camarosporium in Pleosporineae ( Dothideomycetes ). Newly generated sequences from camarosporium-like taxa collected from Europe (Italy) and Russia form a well-supported monophyletic clade within Pleosporineae . A new genus Camarosporidiella and a new family Camarosporidiellaceae are established to accommodate these taxa. Four new species, Neocamarosporium korfii , N . lamiacearum , N . salicorniicola and N . salsolae , constitute a strongly supported clade with several known taxa for which the new family, Neocamarosporiaceae , is introduced. The genus Staurosphaeria based on S. lycii is resurrected and epitypified, and shown to accommodate the recently introduced genus Hazslinszkyomyces in Coniothyriaceae with significant statistical support. Camarosporium quaternatum , the type species of Camarosporium and Camarosporomyces flavigena cluster together in a monophyletic clade with significant statistical support and sister to the Leptosphaeriaceae . To better resolve interfamilial/intergeneric level relationships and improve taxonomic understanding within Pleosporineae , we validate Camarosporiaceae to accommodate Camarosporium and Camarosporomyces . The latter taxa along with other species are described in this study.