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A new species of Ripartitella, R. degreefii, is proposed based on phylogenetic, morphological, and ecological evidence from specimens collected in medium elevation (1000 to 2100 masl) forests of the Albertine Rift, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and São Tomé (Africa). The species is described and compared to phylogenetically related or morphologically similar species.

Erythrophylloporus is a lamellate genus in the family Boletaceae that has been recently described from China based on E.cinnabarinus, the only known species. Typical characters of Erythrophylloporus are reddish-orange to yellowish-red basidiomata, including lamellae, bright yellow basal mycelium and smooth, broadly ellipsoid, ellipsoid to nearly ovoid basidiospores. During our survey on diversity of Boletaceae in Thailand, several yellowish-orange to reddish- or brownish-orange lamellate boletes were collected. Based on both morphological evidence and molecular analyses of a four-gene dataset (atp6, tef1, rpb2 and cox3), they were recognised as belonging in Erythrophylloporus and different from the already known species. Two new species, E.paucicarpus and E.suthepensis are therefore introduced from Thailand with detailed descriptions and illustrations. Moreover, two previously described Phylloporus species, P.aurantiacus and P.fagicola, were also revised and recombined in Erythrophylloporus. A key to all known Erythrophylloporus species is provided.

During a survey of polypores in the montane forest of the Ôbo de São Tomé National Park, in the western African, equatorial island of São Tomé, a specimen that was, a priori, related to Fomitopsis, based on the gross morphology of the basidiome and a brown rot, showed deviating features including subglobose basidiospores with a large gutta, what pointed toward Niveoporofomes. Phylogenetic inferences based on multiple loci dataset (ITS-nLSU-nSSU-tef1-rpb2) confirmed these affinities, and Niveoporofomes oboensis is described as new. The species is compared to Fomitopsis widdringtoniae, known from southeast Africa, which is characterized also by subglobose basidiospores; hence, the new combination N. widdringtoniae is proposed. The new combination Niveoporofomes globosporus (basionym Trametes globospora) is also proposed based on phylogenetic analyses. A key to the species of Fomitopsis, Niveoporofomes, Rhodofomes, and Rhodofomitopsis in Tropical Africa is presented.

Fusarium is one of the most important fungal genera of plant pathogens that affect the cultivation of a wide range of crops. Agricultural losses caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) have a direct effect on the income, subsistence and nourishment of thousands of smallholder farmers worldwide. In addition, also commercial growers are strongly affected. For Viet Nam, predictions on the impact of Foc for the future are dramatic with an estimated loss in banana production area of 8% within the next 5 years and up to 71% within the next 25 years. In the current study we applied a combined morphological - molecular approach to assess the taxonomic identity and phylogenetic position of the different Foc isolates that were collected in northern Viet Nam. In addition, we aim to estimate the proportion of the different Fusarium races that are infecting bananas in northern Viet Nam. The morphology of the isolates was investigated by growing the collected Fusarium isolates on four distinct nutritious media (PDA, SNA, CLA, and OMA). Molecular phylogenetic relationships were inferred by sequencing partial rpb1, rpb2 and tef1a genes and adding the obtained sequences into a large phylogenetic framework. The present study showed that Foc Race 1 is the most common strain in northern Viet Nam, causing 74% of all the infections. A more in-depth molecular characterization shows that of the Foc Race 1 infections, 92% are caused by Fusarium tardichlamydosporum and 8% by F. duoseptatum. Compared to Foc Race 1, Foc TR4 (represented by F. odoratissimum) account for only 10.5% of the Fusarium wilting in northern Viet Nam demonstrating that Foc TR4 is not yet a dominant strain in the region. Foc Race 2 infections of Vietnamese bananas also account for 10.5% of the Fusarium wilting in northern Viet Nam. One of the isolates cultured from diseased bananas collected in northern Viet Nam was phylogenetically not positioned within the F. oxysporum species complex (FOSC), but in contrast fell within the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC). As a result, it is possible that a new pathogen for bananas has been found. Besides being present on several ABB ‘Tay banana’, Foc Race 1 was also found as pathogen on wild Musa lutea, showing the importance of wild bananas as possible sink for Foc.

This paper deals with some of the larger, more or less yellowish or orange Cantharellus species from the tropical African woodlands and rain forests. Four new species with clamp connections are described: Cantharellus guineensis, C. mikemboensis, C. pseudomiomboensis and C. stramineus. The new taxa show moderate to strong resemblance to either Cantharellus rufopunctatus or C. miomboensis. A two-locus phylogeny, based on part of the protein coding genes rpb2 and tef-1, resolved them as a highly supported clade within Cantharellus subgenus Rubrinus, a subgenus still exclusively composed of tropical African species. This monophyletic clade is here described as a new section within subg. Rubrinus. As the subgenus was previously defined as being composed of chanterelles lacking clamp connections, the definition of the subgenus is here amended. Illustrations and new records are also presented for Cantharellus afrocibarius, C. defibulatus, C. miomboensis, C. rufopunctatus and C. sublaevis. This paper provides first sequences for C. defibulatus, C. rufopunctatus and C. sublaevis, all of which are here epitypified, as well as new sequences for more than a dozen other Cantharellus. Cantharellus cibarius var. latifolius is considered a synonym of C. afrocibarius. An identification key to all mainland African Cantharellus is proposed.

Four species are added to Phylloporia. Three species, originating from the western edge of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest in Gabon (central Africa), are described as new. Phylloporia afrospathulata sp. nov. forms seasonal, stipitate, solitary basidiomata emerging from soil, more likely connected to buried roots, and has broadly ellipsoid basidiospores. Phylloporia inonotoides sp. nov. forms seasonal sessile, soft basidiomata, solitary at the base of small-stemmed trees including Crotonogyne manniana (Euphorbiaceae) and Garcinia cf. smeathmannii (Clusiaceae). It has a homogeneous context, large pores (2-3 mm), and oblong-ellipsoid to suballantoid basidiospores. Phylloporia fulva sp. nov. forms sessile, conchate, mostly pendant, gregarious basidiomata emerging from the trunk of an unidentified small-stemmed tree and has small, subglobose basidiospores. This species is compared to Polyporus pullus and Phylloporia pulla comb. nov. and proposed based on the study of the type specimen. Phylogenetic inferences using partial nuc 28S DNA sequence data (region including the D1/D2/D3 domains) and the most exhaustive dataset available to date resolved these new morphospecies as three distinct terminal lineages. No sequence data of P. pulla currently is available. The 28S-based phylogenic inferences poorly resolved the interspecific relationships within the Phylloporia clade.

Aim The geographical distributions of most fungal species are still poorly known; consequently, their origins and historical distributions remain largely understudied. High levels of cryptic diversity, scarce fossil records and poorly sampled regions can explain some of these shortcomings. We extensively sampled an iconic group of edible ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, Amanita caesarea and its allies, in order to infer evolutionary patterns on a global scale. Location Worldwide. Methods DNA sequences from three nuclear genes were derived for 120 collections. Divergence times were estimated using fossil calibrations within the Agaricomycetes, followed by more inclusive (A. sect. Caesareae + outgroup) root-recalibrated estimations. Ultrametric trees from beast were used in ancestral-area reconstructions and to infer geodispersal models. They were further used in diversification-rate analyses using maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods. Results Molecular dating and ancestral-area reconstruction indicated a Palaeotropical origin of A. sect. Caesareae between the Palaeocene and Eocene. Dispersal events to temperate regions in Mediterranean Europe, eastern Australia and North and Central America, occurred mostly during the late Miocene and Pliocene. A boreotropical model was supported as the most likely mode of geodispersal. Diversification rates were significantly higher in the New World than in the Old World. Main conclusions We present evidence that this group of edible EM mushrooms was ancestrally Palaeotropical from around the Eocene to the late Miocene, reaching temperate insular and continental areas during the late Miocene and Pliocene. The mode of dispersal is largely consistent with Wolfe's boreotropical hypothesis. We also found that the overall diversification rate has been rather constant, but has increased relatively recently in the New World, possibly as a result of the well-documented Plio-Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.

During the revision of the Neotropical Fomitiporia species, a collection from French Guiana was found to represent an undescribed species, on the basis of both morphological and molecular (DNA sequence) data. This taxon is described and illustrated as Fomitiporia expansa sp. nov. It is characterized by widely effused basidiomata, extending over 1 m long, with a variable greyish to light brownish grey pore surface, and microscopically in having basidiospores averaging 6.0 × 5.5 µm. It is known for the time being from a single specimen originating in the western edge of French Guiana, in rainforest. The species belongs to the Fomitiporia langloisii lineage. This lineage contains for the time being species with resupinate basidiomata spanning over the Neotropics.

Coltriciella sonorensis is described here as a new species from Mexico. It is characterized by pleuropodal, flabelliform basidiomes, rounded to elongated or daedaloid pores, a well-developed sub-hymenium, and oblong to cylindrical basidiospores, slightly attenuated towards the apex. The specimen was collected on soil in an open Quercus stand in mixed Quercus–tropical deciduous forest in the Sierra de Alamos–Rio Cuchujaqui Biosphere Reserve, Sonora, Mexico. From a phylogenetic perspective, the species appears to be related to C. oblectabilis, also occurring in Mexico.

Fomitiporia nobilissima sp. nov., F. gabonensis sp. nov. and F. ivindoensis sp. nov., three species from the rainforest of the Guineo-Congolian phytogeographic region in Gabon, are described and illustrated. These species share a pileate basidiome, small basidiospores and an absence of setae. The critical morphological features that differentiate them are the pileus habit or shape, pore surface color, pore diameter and possibly ecology. Each new species forms distinct but closely related clades in phylogenetic analysis of DNA sequences from nuclear ribosomal LSU, ITS and translation elongation factor 1-α. Other species in sub-Saharan Africa are discussed briefly. A key to six species of Fomitiporia from sub-Saharan Africa is provided. The new combination Fomitiporia apiahyna is proposed.

Phellinus gabonensis sp. nov. is described and illustrated on the basis of several collections made in three protected areas of primary rain forest in the western edge of the Guineo–Congolian center of endemism, in Gabon. The species is characterized by resupinate, perennial basidiomes, numerous, straight to commonly apically hooked hymenial setae, and ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, thin- to thick-walled, hyaline to yellowish basidiospores. Both the morphology and the phylogenetic inferences based on partial nuc-LSU relate this species to Ph. caribaeo-quercicolus.

Phylloporia rzedowskii and Phylloporia ulloai, both collected in tropical forests of the Sierra of the Huasteca Potosina, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, are described as new species. The main critical morphological features that characterize them are the pileus shape, the pore diameter, the basidiospores shape and size, and, possibly, their ecology, such as the host relationships (specificity/preference). Both species also form distinct clades in phylogenetic analysis based on partial DNA sequences data from the nuclear ribosomal LSU. An identification key for 10 species reported from the Americas is proposed.

t In the frame of a revision of the Fomitiporia species with pileate basidiomata in the New World, several collections originating from Andean, high elevation forests of Argentina were found to represent a terminal clade in multilocus phylogenetic inferences (including nuclear ribosomal partial LSU and ITS-5.8S, partial tef1-α and RPB2 genes). These collections also represent a singular morphotype within Fomitiporia, characterized by mostly pileate basidiomata, with a soft corky consistency, roughly sulcate pilei, a “duplex” context with a thin black line, and dextrinoid basidiospores, averaging 5.9×5.3 μm. It also has a well-marked autecology, occurring on shrubby trees in high elevation forests along the Andean range. A search in the literature for a name pointed toward Phellinus baccharidis, despite the fact that this species was repeatedly described with non-dextrinoid basidiospores. Examination of the type of P. baccharidis confirmed the main morphological features as previously described, but for the reaction of basidiospores in Melzer’s reagent, which was found to be strongly positive (dextrinoid), and an overall similarity with our own specimens; hence, the new combination Fomitiporia baccharidis is proposed. The species is redescribed and illustrated. It is so far known from Argentina and Ecuador. Its phylogenetic relationships with the South American Fomitiporia are briefly discussed. Fil: Amalfi, Mario. Université Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica Fil: Robledo, Gerardo Lucio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina Fil: Decock, Cony. Université Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica

During the revision of the Neotropical Fomitiporia species with resupinate basidiomata, several collections from southern Brazil, central Argentina, and French Guiana were found to represent an undescribed species, on the basis of molecular (DNA sequence) and additional morphological and distributional data. This taxon is described and illustrated as Fomitiporia neotropica sp. nov. The species belongs to the Fomitiporia langloisii lineage, the lineage type within Fomitiporia that so far contains only species with resupinate basidiomata spanning exclusively over the Neotropics. Fomitiporia neotropica is morphologically variable regarding the presence/absence of hymenial setae, and secondarily, regarding the pore size. It also inhabits distinct ecosystems characterized by variable moisture regimes. The range of divergent positions in the DNA sequences used in this study (ITS, 28S, partial tef1-α, and rpb2), between specimens from distant origins, are of the same magnitude as those between specimens of other related species, such as F. langloisii , F. dryophila , F. maxonii, or F. mediterranea. A key to the species from the F. langloisii lineage is given. Fil: de Campos Santana, Marisa. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Amalfi, Mario. Universite Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica. Jardin Botanique National de Belgique; Bélgica Fil: Robledo, Gerardo Lucio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina Fil: Borges Da Silveira, Rosa. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Decock, Cony. Universite Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica

Microbiology (ELIM), Universite catholique de Louvain, Croix du Sud 2 bte L7.05.06, B-1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Abstract: Fomitiporia castilloi sp. nov. from the lowland rainforest in French Guyana is described, illustrated and its phylogenetic affinities are discussed. This species is characterized by pileate basidiomata, a plicate margin, abundant, variably shaped hymenial setae and basidiospores averaging ≅ 6 × 5 μm. In phylogenetic inferences based on a DNA sequence dataset of four loci (5�c end of the LSU, ITS-5.8S, partial tef1 and rpb2), F. castilloi occupies an isolated position, basal to a clade that is composed exclusively of Neotropical species with resupinate basidiomata. The phylogenetic inferences also provide evidence of an unreported complexity within the Neotropical taxa, with multiple clades closely related to F. apiahyna and F. texana, representing additional potential species.

Fomitiporia cupressicola sp. nov., found in living Cupressus arizonica, is described on the basis of several collections originating from a high altitude forest in the northern Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. The species forms a monophyletic clade, basal to a larger lineage comprising species originating mainly from temperate to Mediterranean areas of the northern hemisphere. The phylogenetic approach in Fomitiporia also revealed multiple unnamed clades within the F. robusta complex in the southern USA and northern Mexico, representing potential species. The status of the F. robusta complex in North America is discussed briefly.

"Se describen e ilustran por primera vez para México 6 especies del género Fomitiporia: F. apiahyna, F. calkinsii, F. dryophila, F. langloisii, F. maxonii y F. texana, y se amplía la distribución de F. sonorae para el estado de Querétaro. Los ejemplares proceden de 18 estados de la República Mexicana, están depositados en los Herbarios CESUES, ENCB, FCME, IBUG, ITCV, MEXU, UJAT, UNL, UJED de México y en el MUCL de Bélgica. Se presenta un mapa de distribución de las especies estudiadas."

Perenniporiella chaquenia sp. nov. is described from Argentina. New records of P. pendula and P micropora are discussed. A key to Perenniporiella species is presented. Preliminary phylogenetic relationships of Perenniporiella are inferred from parsimony and Bayesian analysis of a combined set of DNA sequence data (nuclear ribosomal partial LSU and ITS). It. demonstrated that Perenniporiella forms a well resolved monophyletic clade distantly related to Perenniporia s.s. It also clearly showed that within Perenniporia as Usually conceived other morphologically homogeneous group of taxa, Such as the P. ochroleuca or P. vicina alliances, form well resolved clades, which Could be recognized as distinct genera. The differentiation of the hyphal system and the basidiospores morphology are outlined as critical features for the definition of genera in the Perenniporia complex. Fil: Robledo, Gerardo Lucio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Amalfi, Mario. Université Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica Fil: Castillo, Gabriel. Université de Liege; Bélgica Fil: Rajchenberg, Mario. Centro de Investigación y Extensión Forestal Andino Patagónico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Decock, Cony. Université Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica

Phylloporia nouraguensis sp. nov. is described on the basis of several collections made in French Guiana. The species was found growing on living (or occasionally dead), small apical twigs of a species of Myrcia (Myrtaceae), in the so-called "low forest" covering the upper slopes of the Nouragues inselberg. Fil: Decock, Cony. Universite Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica Fil: Amalfi, Mario. Universite Catholique de Louvain; Bélgica Fil: Robledo, Gerardo Lucio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (p); Argentina Fil: Castillo, Gabriel. Université de Liège; Bélgica

Two little known species of Phallales, Mutinus zenkeri and Blumenavia angolensis, were collected on the volcanic island of Sao Tome in the Gulf of Guinea, Africa. Descriptions and in situ photographs are provided for both species. Inferences of their phylogenetic relationships within the Phallales are provided based on partial nucLSU rDNA sequence data.