Mycoscience最新文献

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage produced by fermenting steamed rice and koji (a culture of Aspergillus oryzae on steamed rice) with sake yeast, a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sake yeast strains are important for maintaining product quality and process efficiency. In this study, a S. cerevisiae strain from Muramatsu Park, Gosen City, Niigata Prefecture was isolated using a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. The yeast strain was cultured using the mass spore-cell/cell-cell mating method with a sake yeast haploid. The resultant hybrid yeast strain, HG-3-F2, exhibited superior efficiency in alcoholic fermentation compared with the HG-3 strain. Our findings support the applicability of these original and mating strains in sake brewing.

Russula rubrosquamosa (Russulaceae, Russlales) is described as a novel species from Yunnan Province, southwestern China. It is morphologically recognised by a small basidiocarp with orange-yellow to orange-red scales on the pileus and stipe, white lamellae, orange-red to bright red basal mycelia, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid basidiospores with dense warts and short or long ridges. Phylogenetically analyses of DNA sequences from part of the 28S gene combined with the nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region also confirm that R. rubrosquamosa forms an independent lineage within Russula subgenus Heterophyllidia section Ingratae. A comprehensive description, color photographs of fresh basidiomata, line-drawings of microstructures and comparisons with morphologically similar species are provided in this paper.

Most Mucoromycota fungi form zygospores as sexual reproductive structures. When two colonies of compatible strains meet, zygospores are formed in the area where the colonies meet. The structure and development of zygospores have been studied for a long time by light microscopy and electron microscopy. This study is the first time-lapse report on the dynamic movements of sexual and asexual reproductive processes by live imaging in Gilbertella persicaria (Choanephoraceae, Mucorales). Our live imaging analysis indicated the formation of zygospores begin immediately after two aerial hyphae contact whether at the tip or middle of the hyphae. The early-stage zygospores elongated from the contact site with a rate of 1.2–1.7 μm/s and reach < 200 μm in 2–3 h. Following maturation of zygospores, from progametangia to gametangia and maturation stage, took a few hours, in total 5 to 6 h after the first contact of two hyphae. When a zygospore was formed near the tip of hypha in contact with the partner hypha, the hyphal growth ceased. When zygospore was formed behind the tip of the hypha, the hyphal growth continued without slowing down. This study provides quantitative spatio-temporal information on the dynamics of zygospore formation.

Fungal bioluminescence is mystifying humans since ancient times. Nevertheless, the biosynthetic pathway behind this phenomenon was only very recently resolved. Fungal bioluminescence occurs in five distantly related linages (Omphalotaceae lineage, Armillaria lineage, mycenoid lineage, Lucentipes lineage and Eoscyphella lineage) of the basidiomycete order Agaricales. Recent research suggests fungal bioluminescence has emerged 160 million years ago in the most common ancestor of the mycenoid and marasmioid clade and is maintained since then. Surprisingly, in the mycenoid linage, primarily represented by the genus Mycena, most species are considered non-luminescent, implying that many mycenoid species have lost their bioluminescent ability. Here, we report evidence for bioluminescence in Mycena crocata and show that the genome of this species is fully equipped with the genes associated with fungal bioluminescence. Mycena crocata is a long-known species frequently reported from Europe and Japan, which was considered non-luminescent until now. The low light emission intensity and the restriction of the luminescence to the vegetative mycelium and the base of the basidiome may be reasons why bioluminescence was not perceived earlier. We assume there might be other known Mycena species whose luminescent properties are not yet discovered, and that therefore the number of bioluminescent Mycena species is currently underestimated.

The present study introduces a novel fungus, Cystoderma yongpingense, which was identified in the southwestern region of China. The new species is characterized by a pileus that ranges in color from light orange-red to orange-red; the pileus has a wrinkled surface and is accompanied by a persistent annulus that is membranous and floccose-scaly. Above the annulus, the color transitions from white to yellowish brown. This proposal is substantiated through analyses encompassing both morphological characteristics and phylogenetic relationships. The phylogenetic position of the newly discovered species has been further corroborated through comprehensive maximum likelihood and Bayesian sequence analyses of the ITS + nrLSU DNA regions. Additionally, the technical description of C. yongpingense is enhanced by detailed illustrations and comparative studies with species that are closely related.

Myxomycete distribution along urban–rural gradients remains to be studied in detail. The ancient plant Metasequoia glyptostroboides has been mainly planted in urban parks and green areas in Japan, and it provides new habitats for myxomycetes on its growing tree bark. Here, we examined myxomycetes on bark along urbanization gradients, estimated by land-use coverage types. Survey sites were selected at 20 locations in western Japan, where the bark was sampled from 10 trees at each site. The bark samples were cultured in 10 Petri dishes per tree using the moist chamber technique. Myxomycete fruiting colonies occurred in 71% of cultures, and 44 species were identified across surveys. Diderma chondrioderma occurred at all sites, with the next most abundant species being Licea variabilis and Perichaena vermicularis. Twenty-two myxomycete communities ordinated using non-metric multidimensional scaling showed a significant negative correlation with building coverage and bark pH, increasing along the first axis. Relative abundances of Physarum crateriforme and Licea biforis positively correlated with increasing building coverage. Overall, urbanization causes alternation of the myxomycete community structure without diversity loss, and intermediate urbanization diversified species diversity on M. glyptostroboides tree bark.

The reproduction and dispersal strategies of lichens play a major role in shaping their population structure and photobiont diversity. Sexual reproduction, which is common, leads to high lichen genetic diversity and low photobiont selectivity. However, the lichen genus Endocarpon adopts a special co-dispersal model in which algal cells from the photobiont and ascospores from the mycobiont are released together into the environment. To explore the dispersal strategy impact on population structures, a total of 62 Endocarpon individuals and 12 related Verrucariaceae genera individuals, representing co-dispersal strategy and conventional independent dispersal mode were studied. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Endocarpon, with a large-scale geographical distribution, showed an extremely high specificity of symbiotic associations with their photobiont. Furthermore, three types of group I intron at 1769 site have been found in most Endocarpon mycobionts, which showed a high variety of group I intron in the same insertion site even in the same species collected from one location. This study suggested that the ascospore-alga co-dispersal mode of Endocarpon resulted in this unusual mycobiont-photobiont relationship; also provided an evidence for the horizontal transfer of group I intron that may suggest the origin of the complexity and diversity of lichen symbiotic associations.

A new species of Coltricia, C. raigadensis is described from tropical region of Maharashtra, India. The species is recognized on the basis of morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses using rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, partial 28S rDNA and partial 18S rDNA sequences. Coltricia raigadensis is characterized by centrally stipitate basidiocarps, adpressed velutinate to tomentose pileal surface, small pores (2–4 per mm), globose to subglobose, thick walled basidiospores measuring 5.6–7 × 5–6.64 μm.

Pythium amaminum sp. nov. was isolated from river and reservoir water on Amami island, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The species can grow at temperatures between 10 °C and 35 °C. At the optimum temperature of 25 °C, the radial growth rate is 22.5 mm per day. Pythium amaminum produces filamentous sporangia consisting of branched, lobulate or digitate elements forming large complexes. Zoospores form inside the vesicle, which is discharged through a long tube at least 320 μm. Globose oogonia are ornamented with conical blunt spines. Oospores are aplerotic and globose. Antheridia twine around the oogonia or stick to them. These features having a both of the long discharge tube from sporangium and oogonia with spines are not observed in any other species of the genus Pythium, and thus we conclude that P. amaminum is a new Pythium species.

The lectotype and epitype of Neofusicoccum laricinum proposed in previous studies failed to meet the requirements of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants. Here, we propose a valid lectotype and epitype for this species that meet the requirements of the Code.