Mycoscience最新文献

We reevaluated the species belonging to the genus Pyrrhoderma that were collected from Japan and Malaysia based phylogenetic analyses and morphological investigations. We found that Pyr. sendaiense is distinct from Pyr. adamantinum. Pyrrhoderma species with setal hyphae include Pyr. lamaoense, Pyr. noxium, Pyr. sublamaensis, and Pyr. williamsii. Pyrrhoderma noxium, synonymized with Pyr. sublamaense in earlier studies, was distinct from Pyr. sublamaense. All isolates from trees damaged by brown root rot were accommodated in the same clade with Pyr. noxium, and the cause of the disease was confirmed as Pyr. noxium. Pyrrhoderma williamsii resembles Pyr. lamaoense but is distinguished by a glabrous pileus surface and abundant hymenial setae. Fulvoderma species are similar to some Pyrrhoderma species but are distinguished by the duplex context separated by a thin crust composed of nonagglutinated hyphae. Some Inonotus species produce setal hyphae in the trama and context like some Pyrrhoderma species. However, the hyphae of these Inonotus species are acuminate at the tip, tapered toward the base, and often swollen toward the tip, whereas those of the Pyrrhoderma species are cylindrical and mostly equal. The following new combinations are proposed: Pyrrhoderma williamsii and Fulvoderma vallatum.

An aggregated retention system retains several groups of trees within cutblocks to maintain public functions such as biodiversity conservation. We examined ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungal communities associated with regenerating Abies sachalinensis seedlings and their surrounding trees at different locations; inside and at the edge of the retained patches, and in clear-cut areas 10 and 50 m from the edge. The EcM fungi on the roots were grouped into operational taxonomic units (OTU) based on the similarity of their ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer sequences. Higher OTU richness was found inside (63 OTUs) and at the edge of the patches (59 OTUs) compared to clear-cut areas (33 or 25 OTUs). The ordination analysis inferred that location may influence the EcM fungal communities. However, further studies with more site replications are needed to clarify the effects of the patches on shaping EcM fungal communities.

Rust species classified in Ochropsora, Aplopsora, and Cerotelium pro parte were re-examined and re-circumscribed by morphology, host preference, life cycle pattern, and geographic distribution. Macrocyclic heteroecious life cycle was proven for seven species by field observations and experimental inoculations. Partial molecular phylogenetic analyses were also included in the taxonomic decision. Anamorphic fungi and others, that were newly discovered and assumed to be related to these genera, were also examined in the same manner. Aplopsora was synonymized under Ochropsora. One fungus named under Cerotelium and two anamorphic fungi were determined as species of Ochropsora. Fifteen species were recognized in Ochropsora: O. ariae, O. asari, O. asiatica, O. corni, O. cumminsii, O. ehimensis, O. dicentrae, O. kraunhiae, O. laporteae, O. lonicerae, O. nambuana, O. nyssae, O. panacis, O. staphyleae, and O. tanakae. Most of Ochropsora species are distributed in eastern Asia. Only O. ariae is known in northwestern Europe and O. cumminsii, O. dicentrae, and O. nyssae are known in eastern North America. The disjunct distribution of Ochropsora in the Northern Hemisphere is interpretated by disjunctions of ancestral species once broadly distributed in the Northern Hemisphere and subsequent species diversification, migration, and extinction in each of the three geographic regions.

About 70 y after the first report by Yosio Kobayasi, we collected a little-known synnematous hyphomycete, Hymenostilbe mycetophila, on decaying basidiocarps of Favolaschia nipponica growing on dead culms of two bamboo species in Tateyama (on Sasa kurilensis), Chichibu (type locality of H. mycetophila; on Sasamorpha borealis), and Shigakogen (on S. kurilensis) in Japan, and obtained isolates of both the parasite and its host. Kobayasi provided only brief Latin and Japanese descriptions and quite elementary illustrations for H. mycetophila, without depositing any herbarium specimens including the holotype. In this paper, a lectotype and an epitype of this species are designated respectively from the original protolog (illustration) of Kobayasi and our new material collected in Chichibu. Phialidic conidiogenesis and 2- to 3-level verticillate conidiophores terminating in a whorl of 2-5 phialides were newly observed in this fungus on the natural substrate. ITS-LSU sequences of five isolates of H. mycetophila collected in the three locations were identical. Phylogenetic analyses of these markers placed H. mycetophila in Leotiales, although other species of Hymenostilbe are classified in Hypocreales at present. A new genus Kobayasiyomyces for H. mycetophila and a new combination, K. mycetophilus, are proposed here based on our morphological, ecological and phylogenetic data.

In nature, only white-rot fungi can completely decompose wood biomass in the environmental carbon cycle. However, their degradation strategy is still unclear. Despite many studies on the lab-scale wood-decay process, investigations on the open-field process have been limited by their difficulty. Here, we aimed to elucidate the degradation strategy of white-rot fungi in nature by monitoring the chemical composition changes of logs exposed to the white-rot fungus, Grifola frondosa, over 4 y of cultivation using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Grifola frondosa began to decompose lignin and deacetylate hemicellulose in the first 2 y and then degraded polysaccharides in the next 1 y. Finally, lignin decomposition recurred after the third year. Thus, our study revealed that G. frondosa decayed wood in a repetitive two-stage process: lignin and polysaccharide degradation. The switching cycle may promote efficient degradation.

Diderma microsporum is a taxonomically controversial species of Myxomycetes. Currently, it is treated as a synonym for Diderma effusum. In this study, two specimens from Lafa Mountain National Forest Park in Jilin Province of China were researched concerning morphology with the light microscope and scanning electronic microscope and compared with the holotype from Japan to confirm that the species was first discovered in China. It is mainly characterized by cushion-shaped plasmodiocarps; single peridium, ornamented with dense flake-like lime crystals on the outer surface; columella absent; capillitium (0.99-)1.29-2.05(-2.30) μm diam, with spindle-shaped enlargement forms at branching points, decorated with dense small warts; spores (5.70-)6.49-6.87(-7.61) μm diam, warted and with clusters of large warts. In addition, the partial nucleotide sequences of nuclear 18S rDNA and elongation factor-1 alpha genes of D. microsporum differed clearly from those of other Diderma species. The results supported the rationality that D. microsporum is an independent species. Light microscopic photos, scanning electron microscopic photos, and an emended description of morphological characters are provided.

Cordyceps militaris is a well-known medicinal mushroom widely exploited in traditional medicine and nutraceuticals. In this study, we aim to establish a new platform for improving the production of beneficial ingredients in this fungus. We successfully generated uridine/uracil auxotrophic mutants (ΔpyrG) in five homokaryotic C. militaris strains. The efficiency of the pyrG deletion by homologous recombination reached 100% in all the C. militaris strains. Genetic transformation of the C. militaris ΔpyrG strains mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens using the native pyrG auxotrophic marker resulted in high transformation yields of 109-810 transformants per 10⁵ conidia. Additionally, the pyrG marker from Aspergillus oryzae was also functional for the genetic transformation of C. militaris ΔpyrG. We further showed that the gpd1 and tef1 genes were strongly expressed during the mycelial growth of C. militaris, and their promoter sequences were integrated into binary vectors for enhancing recombinant expression. With the constructed platform, the strong heterologous expression of the DsRed protein was proven, and the genomic integration of the endogenous CmFE gene encoding a serine protease under the regulation of the tef1 promoter significantly increased the activity of this enzyme in C. militaris. Our work provides a promising platform for food-grade recombinant expression in C. militaris.

A Phialocephala-like hyphomycete was found on a dead petiole of the fern Angiopteris lygodiifolia in Taiwan. It differs from all other known fungi by its pale brown cordiform conidia in brown masses on the top of penicillately branched dematiaceous conidiophores, and is described as new genus and species Phaeophialocephala cardiospora. By its pigmented conidia, this species differs from Phialocephala trigonospora, which is transferred to another new genus, Cardiocephala, Sordariomycetidae, incertae sedis. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS, LSU and TEF sequences indicate particularly close relationship of Phaeophialocephala cardiospora to Caligospora and Caliciastrum in the Chaetosphaeriaceae. An almost identical environmental ITS2 sequence from the USA and a brief morphological characterization from a fungus-distribution database in Denmark indicate that the fungus is probably widespread but rarely encountered.

The C. cinerea septins are observed at the hyphal tip and septum in the growing vegetative hyphae. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, septin dynamics have been suggested to be regulated by septin phosphorylation through protein kinases such as Cla4. To gain insight into the relationship between C. cinerea septins and C. cinerea Cla4 protein kinase (Cc.Cla4), we conducted disruption of the C. cinerea cla4 gene (Cc.cla4) by CRISPR/Cas9 system and analyzed the phenotypes of Cc.cla4Δ strains. The vegetative hyphae of the Cc.cla4Δ strains grow slowly in the zigzag shape and are highly branched compared to the wild-type hyphae. The enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) tagged Cc.Cdc3 septin in the Cc.cla4Δ strain was observed in the growing vegetative hyphae. Although EGFP-Cc.Cdc3 signals localized at the plasma membrane of the hyphal tip region, they did not accumulate as a dome with a hole at the hyphal tip as observed in the wild type. Instead, the Cc.Cdc3 was found to stay at the hyphal tip, which split into two tips thereafter. These results suggest that Cc.Cla4 is required for assembly of the hyphal tip apparatus that enables the rapid linear growth of the apical cells.

Tricholoma matsutake is an important wild edible mycorrhizal mushroom in Japan. The domestic matsutake harvest has been declining for 80 y. Nagano Prefecture, a central region of Japan, is the area that has been most productive of matsutake during the past 20 y. To study how matsutake harvesting was affected by forest management, an experimental site was established in a pine forest in Nagano Prefecture in 1980. Two plots were established: a managed plot (MP) in which all trees except pine were cut, pine trees were thinned, and soil litter layer was removed; and a control plot (CP) with no forest management. The numbers of matsutake fruiting bodies were recorded annually in both plots for 41 y. The annual matsutake harvest was stable in the MP but decreased in the CP, while the number of shiro increased in the MP and was stable at the low level in the CP. These trends were suggested to be affected significantly by the thicker humus layer and large root biomass other than pines in the CP. This is the longest record of matsutake harvest in the managed forest, which reveals the importance of such long-term forest management for the sustainable matsutake harvesting.