Improved understanding of mycorrhizal diversity in mycoheterotrophic (MH) plants is a key element of studies that investigate their evolution. MH plants are completely dependent on their mycorrhizal fungi for carbon. Mycorrhizal fungi of the MH genus Yoania (Orchidaceae), which is distributed in East Asia, have yet to be identified. We identified the mycobionts of three Japanese Yoania species, Y.

Few ophiostomatoid fungi have been reported from the margin of the Tibetan Plateau and none have been found in the central portion of the region. In a survey of ophiostomatoid fungi associated with spruce bark beetles in Tibetan subalpine forests, numerous strains of Leptographium s. l. (Ophiostomataceae) were isolated from Orthotomicus sp. (Coleoptera: Scolytinae) and its galleries infesting Picea

Helotiales is one of the most diverse groups of apothecial ascomycetes, including 3000–4000 taxa. Recent progress in the systematics, ecology, and their applications through research is herein reviewed based on the experiences of the author with a special emphasis on activities in Japan. In the past 30 y, more than 50 helotialean taxa have been added to the mycobiota of Japan, including new taxa. With

Known as auxin which regulate the plant growth, indoleacetic acid (IAA) was also found to be synthesized in basidiomycetes Ganoderma lucidum in our previously work. In the present study, the effect of excess exogenous IAA on mycelium of G. lucidum was determined. Result shows that the mycelium growth was significantly inhibited under 10 μM IAA treatment. The transcripts of both the IAA treated group

An aecidium-type rust fungus, which causes rust disease in Choerospondias axillaris (Anacardiaceae), was found on Kyusyu Is., Japan. A sequence analysis of genomic ribosomal DNA showed that this rust fungus genetically matches Stereostratum corticioides, a causal agent of culm rust disease of bamboos and broadleaf bamboos. Inoculation experiments and further nucleotide sequence analyses that included

Matsutake, the fruiting body of Tricholoma matsutake, is among the most economically important edible ectomycorrhizal (EM) mushrooms worldwide. This EM fungus develops “shiros”, which are mycelial aggregations that develop in association with the roots of EM coniferous trees and soil particles in well-drained and nutrient-poor forest soil. The fruiting bodies occur on the periphery of the outward-growing

Truffle species indigenous to Japan include a white-colored truffle Tuber japonicum and two black-colored truffles, T. himalayense and T. longispinosum. As the fruiting bodies of these Tuber species are promising edible, studies on the artificial cultivation for these truffles are currently underway in Japan. In the present study, we investigated the influence of pH on in vitro mycelial growth in these

Japanese bladdernut shrub, Staphylea bumalda (Staphyleaceae), was found infected by a fungus in Prefectures of Ibaraki and Tochigi, central Japan. The fungus produced telia beneath the host epidermis and basidiospores on metabasidia emerging from the sori on the abaxial leaf surface. Probasidia were single-celled, sessile, short-cylindrical, thin-walled, and laterally free. A four-celled metabasidium

A stinkhorn fungus was collected from the mountainous area of Yoshida campus, Yamaguchi University, Japan. Morphological characterization and similarity of large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences identified the fungus as Pseudocolus fusiformis. MonoTrap™ was combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from the fungus harvested at different

Aspergillus is a monophyletic genus comprising the subgenera Aspergillus, Circumdati, Cremei, Fumigati, Nidulantes and Polypaecilum. The subgenus Circumdati contains many economically important species and mycotoxin producers. Section Jani was recently introduced with morphological and molecular support. In the present study, two strains isolated from farmland soil were assigned in section Jani based

The present study demonstrates that Sporisorium reilianum, a phytopathogenic fungus of corn, produces intracellular xylanolytic activity during submerged fermentation. Production reached its highest levels in a medium containing glucose, corn hemicellulose and yeast extract. An intracellular xylanase was purified by a process that included precipitation with ammonium sulfate, ion exchange chromatography

A mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway regulates specialized cellular responses to external stimuli. In Bipolaris maydis, a Chk1 MAPK orthologous to Fus3/Kss1 MAPKs of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is known to regulate various developmental processes, including the formation of appressoria. However, upstream factors that regulate the Chk1 cascade have not been well clarified. In this

Deconica cokeriana is proposed as a new combination based on morphological and molecular data. This species is fully described, discussed, and illustrated. Until now, D. cokeriana is only known from the eastern USA, specifically from Connecticut, Georgia, Ohio, and Tennessee.

A verticillium-like fungus forming a whitish colony and mainly solitary phialides that produced fusiform to cylindrical conidia in chains was isolated from uredinia of Phakopsora pachyrhizi, a causal agent of soybean rust. In addition, two similar looking isolates were obtained from Prostigmata mites. Our taxonomic study based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis using ITS rDNA and LSU rDNA D1/D2

Imidazole-4-carboxamide (ICA) and 2-azahypoxanthine (AHX) obtained from Lepista sordida inhibit and promote the growth of herbaceous plants, respectively. In this study, we examined the effects of these compounds on the growth and ectomycorrhizal (EM) colonization of Pinus densiflora seedlings inoculated with Tricholoma matsutake that forms EM associations with pines. The EM colonization by T. matsutake

Moisture content (MC) is an important factor in the freshness of shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes). In this study, we developed a simple prediction method for MC of shiitake mushrooms using near-infrared (NIR) imaging at 1450 nm, as the band at 1450 nm is strongly correlated with OH groups. First, a NIR image was captured by an InGaAs sensor with a bandpass filter of 1450 nm; the captured image

The relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) roots in pure and mixed stand compositions of Dryas octopetala, Salix repens and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi grown in Scottish coastal arctic/alpine relict habitat was described through ECM morphotyping and comparisons of fungal internal transcribed spacer sequences. Neither specific ECM morphotypes nor the morphotype communities were found in association

A rust fungus was found on leaves of Antheroporum glaucum (Fabaceae, Faboideae) in Provinces of Petchaburi and Ratchaburi, western Thailand. No rust fungus was previously reported on this legume tree species. The new rust fungus was apparently microcyclic, producing telia surrounding dense aggregates of spermogonia, on the abaxial leaf surface. Teliospores were produced by sympodial proliferation from

Two new wood-inhabiting fungal species, Tubulicrinis xantha and T. yunnanensis spp. nov., are described based on morphological and molecular characters. Tubulicrinis xantha is characterized by resupinate, furfuraceous basidiomata with buff to yellowish hymenial surface, amyloid lyocystidia and cylindrical to allantoid, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth basidiospores (5.3–6.3 × 1.2–1.6 μm). Tubulicrinis

Taxonomic studies including morphological observations and phylogenetic analyses were conducted on Japanese “uragin-take”, an unidentified species from Amazonia, Brazil and their allies. Phylogenetic analyses using ITS, nrLSU and RPB2 regions revealed that “uragin-take”, Neofomitella polyzonata and the unidentified species formed a monophyletic clade separate from the clade including the other four

Three poorly known species of Ravenelia with limited geographic distribution and one widespread species parasitizing leguminous trees (Fabaceae) were newly found in Thailand. Ravenelia odoratissimae occurred on Albizia odoratissima; R. ornata on Abrus pulchellus, Ab. precatorius, and Abrus sp.; R. parasnathii on Acacia comosa and an unidentified Acacia species; and R. tandonii on Acacia catechu. Acacia

The classification system and evolutionary history of Erysiphaceae have been studied based on the results of molecular phylogenetic analyses. However, the sequence data used for these phylogenetic estimations have been limited to the nrDNA of ca., 50 taxa, and the relationships among higher taxonomic groups are not well understood. To provide a phylogenetic overview of Erysiphaceae, we performed phylogenetic

Two scopulariopsis-like fungi were isolated when surveying fungi in pig farm soils in China. Sexual structures of these fungi were not observed and their conidia had spinous walls. Phylogenetic analysis based on nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 and intervening 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene (ITS), large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU), beta-tubulin (tub2) and translation elongation

Multiclavula petricola is described as a new species based on morphological characters, its unique habitat on rocks, and the result of molecular phylogenetic analyses of the sequence of internal transcribed spacer of the nuclear ribosomal DNA. The fruiting bodies of M. petricola were dispersed on wet rock surface with numerous lichenized globules. The globular thallus was organized by several green

Isaria macroscyticola is a hypocrealean pathogen of Cydnidae first described by Dr. Yosio Kobayasi in 1941. Since then, records of this species have been limited, and therefore no cultures have been established and its phylogenetic position is unknown. Recently, synnemata on Macroscytus japonensis were collected from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. These were identified as I. macroscyticola based on the

The genus Candelabrum, an aero-aquatic fungus, produces chandelier-shaped conidia that can float on the water. Seven species have been described in the genus. Our phylogenetic analysis based on the D1/D2 regions of the large subunit rDNA (LSU) revealed that the genus Candelabrum contains two separate lineages, C. spinulosum group (C. clathrosphaeroides, C. desmidiaceum, C. japonense, and C. spinulosum

Over 90 years have passed since Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, the first recognized, naturally occurring antibiotic. Penicillin is a representative of a group of metabolites produced by large multienzyme complexes [nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs)] in a ribosome-independent fashion. Nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) are structurally diverse metabolites produced almost exclusively by

A new species is described in the Mucorales family Syncephalastraceae: Syncephalastrum contaminatum, isolated as an in vitro culture from a laboratory contaminant. The species has variable copies of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, requiring cloning of these regions prior to Sanger sequencing before subsequent use in phylogenetic comparisons with other fungi. The genome of the strain

Five Simplicillium isolates were obtained from foam generated in an aquarium in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Using a combination of micro-morphological characteristics and multigene (ITS, SSU, LSU, TEF) phylogenics, the isolates were identified as S. subtropicum and a new species which were previously undescribed. Simplicillium spumae, which is a new species, differs from known Simplicillium species in

In Coprinus comatus, we sampled and observed different maturity stages of basidium to find the possible causes of binucleate basidiospores by microscopy using the HCI-Giemsa and DAPI staining methods. In basidium, following karyogamy, a single nucleolus was observed. We found evidence suggesting post-meiotic mitosis following nuclear migration in the spores. Post-meiotic mitosis occurred in the basidiospores

Alkaliphilic xylanase from Neosartorya spinosa UZ-2-11 was purified using a three-step of purification scheme of ammonium sulphate precipitation followed by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration and DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography, and compared its properties with N. tatenoi KKU-CLB-3-2-4-1 of our previous report. The purified xylanase from N. spinosa UZ-2-11 exhibited maximum activity at pH 9.0

Biodiesel (fatty acids methyl esters, FAME) has attracted considerable attention as an environmentally and eco-friendly alternative for diesel engines. This research manipulates the use of Aspergillus whole-cell lipase as a biocatalyst for biodiesel production from waste frying oil (WFO). A total of 17 isolates of Aspergillus species screened for lipase and esterase production abilities. Qualitatively

A newly described species of Pithoascus from roots of Ferula ovina differs from other Pithoascus species by producing larger ascomata than all described species except P. exsertus. The shape of its ascospores is similar to that of P. lunatus, but differs from it by having an asexual state. This new species differs from P. ater by having a sexual state. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated ITS

Rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) and lychee (Litchi chinensis) are tropical trees in the Sapindaceae that produce delicious edible fruits and are increasingly cultivated in tropical regions. These trees are afflicted with a stem canker disease associated with the ascomycete Dolabra nepheliae. Previously known from Asia and Australia, this fungus was recently reported from Hawaii and Puerto Rico. The