Mycological Progress最新文献

Antherospora vaillantii is an anther smut fungus that was originally considered occurring on Muscari spp. around the world; however, cryptic species were revealed during recent taxonomic investigations, thus emphasizing the importance of host specificity. In Japan, A. vaillantii was identified on Barnardia japonica in 1936. Although the recent revelations indicate that it may be part of a complex based on the host plant genus, the phylogenetic placement of this Japanese species is currently unresolved. In this investigation, seven specimens of the A. vaillantii complex were collected from the Kanto area of Japan, and six new single teliospore isolates were established. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer sequences and large subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA (28S) region indicated that the new samples formed a monophyletic clade with other Antherospora spp. among Floromycetaceae lineage. Our samples were separated from other known species of Antherospora and formed a robust monophyletic clade in any analysis. Detailed morphological observations revealed that the new samples could be distinguished from other known Antherospora species. As a result, it is proposed that Antherospora barnardiae can accommodate B. japonica parasites.

Holocarpic oomycetes, which had fallen into relative scientific obscurity for quite some time, recently regained scientific interest. Among these organisms, some stand out for infecting commercially valuable red algae, such as the nori algae of the genus Pyropia, rendering them economically significant. After having observed simple holocarpic pathogens of green algae in previous sampling trips, most of which we could not fully characterise due to their scarcity, we now discovered a parasite of the widespread littoral green algae Urospora neglecta. This previously unnoticed parasite turned out to be distinct from another green algae-infesting species, Sirolpidium bryopsidis. This finding led us to formally describe it as Sirolpidium litorale, marking the first new species of holocarpic oomycetes of green algae to be found on the shores of Blávík, East Iceland. The ease of cultivation of U. neglecta offers a unique opportunity to establish a genetically tractable system for studying how Sirolpidium interacts with algae. This could help uncover the underlying mechanisms behind the pathogenicity of the species of this genus and provide valuable insights into their ecological roles and evolutionary history.

Three new Clavulina species, namely C. baiyunensis, C. minor, and C. lilaceorosea, were described from specimens collected from Baiyun Mountain, Guangzhou, China, based on detailed morphological studies and phylogenetic analyses of the nucleotide sequences of three loci (ITS, LSU, and RPB2). Clavulina baiyunensis is characterized by light brown to brown basidiomata with hyaline tramal hyphae. Clavulina minor has diminutive, dull white to pale brown basidiomata with hyaline tramal hyphae. Clavulina lilaceorosea has pale brown to ochre brown basidiomata with palmate branches, and light brown walls of tramal hyphae. All three new species have abundant clamp connections. A key to the known species of Clavulina from China is provided.

Graphical Abstract

Phylogenetic inference is done regularly in many biological studies not focussed on the phylogeny itself, but which use phylogeny as a tool to infer hypotheses for the interpretation of laboratory experiments. However, phylogenetic inference is often performed at low standards in these studies, which can result in wrong interpretations. Using high-standard phylogenetic inference tools usually requires substantial methodological knowledge or is only possible with paid tools. To enable beginners, researchers for which phylogeny is just one tool of many, and scientists in biodiversity discovery a quick and easy access to current phylogenetic methods, the TrEase web service with an intuitive interface was developed. It offers a complete pipeline with commonly used phylogeny-related software, which can run the whole process of sequence acquisition, reference sequence search, alignment and phylogenetic inference with a single execution command once the necessary parameters have been selected from drop-down menus. It allows choosing alternate programmes for each step and also offers the flexibility to use any part of the pipeline independently. Along with providing a compact pipeline, this web service provides several functionalities to avoid manual intervention such as sorting sequences into the same orientation, cutting reference sequences, removal of redundant sequences and the possibility to choose reference sequences from top ‘species’ hits instead of top GenBank entry hits. All resulting trees and intermediate files are made available for download for subsequent use. Thus, the TrEase service offers a barrier-free entry into standard phylogenetic analyses. It is available at http://thines-lab.senckenberg.de/trease.

Marine fungi have been proven as potential sources of natural metabolites with significant bioactivities that have not been sufficiently explored. This highlights the need for intensifying research to reach sustainable utilization of this huge factory of biodiverse metabolites. Aromatic-bisabolane sesquiterpenoids (ABSs) are a rare class of monocyclic sesquiterpenoids that have been reported from fungi, gorgonians, corals, sponges, and plants. These metabolites possessed significant bioactivities and intriguing chemical frameworks, indicating their substantial pharmaceutical and/or agricultural values. The current work covered the reported data on fungal ABSs, including their sources, isolation, structure characterization, and bioactivities. In addition, their Pin1 inhibitory potential as anticancer agents was assessed using in silico studies. Out of the compounds studied, 17 compounds showed docking scores which surpassed that of the reference ligand. Among these, three compounds demonstrated superior MM-GBSA binding free energies compared to the reference ligand. These three compounds underwent subsequent MD simulations, confirming the stability of their interactions. These findings suggested aspergoterpenin A, engyodontiumone I, (+)-1-hydroxyboivinianic acid, and methyl(S)-3-hydroxy-4-(2-hydroxy-6-methylheptan-2-yl) benzoate as possible new Pin1 inhibitors for further in vitro against prostate and esophageal cancer cells.

Downy mildews are the most species-rich group of oomycetes, with more than 700 known species. The relationships within the main downy mildew lineages (i.e. the downy mildews with pyriform haustoria, the downy mildews with coloured conidia, and the brassicolous downy mildews) are increasingly well resolved, and 20 well-characterised monophyletic genera have been described. However, their relationships to each other, the various lineages of graminicolous downy mildews, and to the species subsumed in Phytophthora are still unresolved. Recent phylogenomic studies have suggested a polyphyly of the downy mildews, but with a limited taxon sampling within Phytophthora. As taxon sampling is crucial for inferring relationships between large groups, we have conducted a multigene analysis with a set of 72 Phytophthora species and included all known downy mildew lineages. In addition, we performed approximately unbiased (AU) testing as an additional approach to evaluate major nodes. Our analyses resolve the downy mildews as a monophyletic assemblage in all phylogenetic algorithms used. We thus conclude that the evolution of the obligate biotrophy characteristic of downy mildews was a singular event and that all downy mildew pathogens can be traced to a single ancestor.