Fungi that are barely lichenized or non-lichenized and closely related to lichenized taxa, the so-called borderline fungi, are an important element in reconstructing the evolutionary history of lichenized lineages. Arthoniaceae is a prime example including non-lichenized, saprotrophic lineages which potentially were precursors to lichenized taxa. In this study, we focused on saprotrophic species of

Bipolaris species are important plant pathogens with a worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate environments. Species recognition in Bipolaris has been problematic due to a lack of molecular data from ex-type cultures, the use of few gene regions for species resolution and overlapping morphological characters. In this study, we evaluate the efficiency of different DNA barcodes in species delimitation

The Hypoxylaceae (Xylariales, Ascomycota) is a diverse family of mainly saprotrophic fungi, which commonly occur in angiosperm-dominated forests around the world. Despite their importance in forest and plant ecology as well as a prolific source of secondary metabolites and enzymes, genome sequences of related taxa are scarce and usually derived from environmental isolates. To address this lack of knowledge

Strigula sensu lato has been previously defined based on phenotype characters as a rather broad genus including tropical to temperate species growing on a wide array of substrata. In this study, based on a multilocus phylogenetic approach, we show that foliicolous species form six well-delimited clades that correlate with diagnostic phenotype features, including thallus morphology, carbonization of

This article provides morphological descriptions and illustrations of microfungi associated with the invasive weed, Chromolaena odorata, which were mainly collected in northern Thailand. Seventy-seven taxa distributed in ten orders, 23 families (of which Neomassarinaceae is new), 12 new genera (Chromolaenicola, Chromolaenomyces, Longiappendispora, Pseudocapulatispora, Murichromolaenicola, Neoophiobolus

Molecular phylogenetic studies of cultures derived from some specimens of plant-inhabiting Sordariomycetes using ITS, LSU, rpb2 and tub2 DNA sequence data revealed close affinities to strains of Muscodor. The taxonomy of this biotechnologically important genus, which exclusively consists of endophytes with sterile mycelia that produce antibiotic volatile secondary metabolites, was based on a rather

A new classification of the taxa formerly ascribed to Biannulariaceae (≡ Catathelasmataceae), viz. Catathelasma (type), Callistosporium, Pleurocollybia, Macrocybe, Pseudolaccaria, Guyanagarika and Anupama is here proposed. Phylogenetic inference of the Tricholomatineae based on the analysis of a combined dataset of nuclear genes including ITS, 18S and 28S rDNA, tef1 and rpb2 data supports significantly

Coelomycete is a general term used for asexual fungi which produce conidia in fruiting bodies: pycnidial, acervular, cupulate, pycnothyria or stromatic conidiomata. The group contains numerous plant pathogenic, saprobic and endophytic species associated with a wide range of hosts. Traditionally, morphological characters and host associations have been used as criteria to identify and classify coelomycetes

Fungal diversity notes is one of the important journal series of fungal taxonomy that provide detailed descriptions and illustrations of new fungal taxa, as well as providing new information of fungal taxa worldwide. This article is the 11th contribution to the fungal diversity notes series, in which 126 taxa distributed in two phyla, six classes, 24 orders and 55 families are described and illustrated

Sordariomycetes is one of the largest classes of Ascomycota that comprises a highly diverse range of fungi mainly characterized by perithecial ascomata and inoperculate unitunicate asci. Freshwater Sordariomycetes play an important role in ecosystems and some of them have the potential to produce bioactive compounds. This study documents and reviews the freshwater Sordariomycetes, which is one of the

Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is one of the oldest crops cultivated by mankind. Numerous fungal taxa have been reported from this host, although most were not identified beyond genus level. In this study, we explored 31 sampling sites in Guangxi and Guangdong Provinces (China), and collected 370 diseased samples from leaves and roots of sugarcane, from which 762 strains were isolated. Our preliminary

Since 2007, the quality of Russula descriptions has improved and the use of molecular support for species delimitation and the number of published new species has increased. However, the description style is not consistent and has regional or author-specific patterns. Most recent publications still favour descriptions of spores compared to hymenium and pileipellis elements, and usually only the spore

The Basidiomycota constitutes a major phylum of the kingdom Fungi and is second in species numbers to the Ascomycota. The present work provides an overview of all validly published, currently used basidiomycete genera to date in a single document. An outline of all genera of Basidiomycota is provided, which includes 1928 currently used genera names, with 1263 synonyms, which are distributed in 241

This is a continuation of a series focused on providing a stable platform for the taxonomy of phytopathogenic fungi and organisms. This paper focuses on 25 phytopathogenic genera: Alternaria, Capnodium, Chaetothyrina, Cytospora, Cyphellophora, Cyttaria, Dactylonectria, Diplodia, Dothiorella, Entoleuca, Eutiarosporella, Fusarium, Ilyonectria, Lasiodiplodia, Macrophomina, Medeolaria, Neonectria, Neopestalotiopsis

Symbiotic associations between mammals and fungi have been well documented and are widely regarded as vital to ecosystem functions around the world. Symbioses between birds and fungi are also ecologically vital but have been far less thoroughly studied. This manuscript is the first to review a wide range of symbiotic associations between birds and fungi. We compile the largest list to date of bird

The huge land areas in China provide highly diverse habitats for macrofungi. Of these macrofungi, many are directly related to people’s daily life and have been utilized by ancient Chinese for at least 6800 years. In this study, we evaluate the current known resource diversity of Chinese macrofungi. A total of 1662 taxa are summarized, and all species names and their authorities have been checked and

Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to the immense range of habitats that fungi inhabit, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Moreover,

Micropeltidaceae species are flyspeck fungi which have been subjected to few systematic studies. We re-examined 27 genera which were accepted in the Micropeltidaceae and re-described them based on herbaria materials and protologues. Based on morphology and phylogenetic investigations, we transfer Micropeltidaceae to a new order, Micropeltidales (Lecanoromycetes). Genera with bluish or greenish upper

Polyporaceae is one of the most important families of Basidiomycota. Investigations on the species diversity, taxonomy and phylogeny of Polyporaceae in China are carried out. So far 217 species belonging to 42 genera are reported from China. Two new genera: Amylosporia gen. nov. and Murinicarpus gen. nov., twelve new species: Coriolopsis dendriformis sp. nov., C. hainanensis sp. nov., Funalia cystidiata

Index Fungorum, Species Fungorum and MycoBank are the key fungal nomenclature and taxonomic databases that can be sourced to find taxonomic details concerning fungi, while DNA sequence data can be sourced from the NCBI, EBI and UNITE databases. Nomenclature and ecological data on freshwater fungi can be accessed on http://fungi.life.illinois.edu/, while http://www.marinespecies.org/provides a comprehensive

This article is the tenth series of the Fungal Diversity Notes, where 114 taxa distributed in three phyla, ten classes, 30 orders and 53 families are described and illustrated. Taxa described in the present study include one new family (viz. Pseudoberkleasmiaceae in Dothideomycetes), five new genera (Caatingomyces, Cryptoschizotrema, Neoacladium, Paramassaria and Trochilispora) and 71 new species,

Using the basic GenBank local alignment search tool program (BLAST) to identify fungi collected in a recently protected beech forest at Montricher (Switzerland), the number of ITS sequences associated to the wrong taxon name appears to be around 30%, even higher than previously estimated. Such results rely on the in-depth re-examination of BLAST results for the most interesting species that were collected

Inaccurate taxonomic placement of fossils can lead to the accumulation of errors in molecular clock studies and their generated evolutionary lineages. There are limited fossil data that can be used in divergence time estimations. Therefore, reliable morphological characterization and taxonomical identification of fossil fungi are extremely important. Most fossils of Dothideomycetes and Sordariomycetes

There were errors in Figs. 1 and 2 in the original publication. Figure panels 1a, 1b, 1h and 1p did not match the legend. The correct Fig. 1 is published below. In Fig. 2, the word Fusion should be Fusional.

The genus Lactarius Pers. (Russulales) is a cosmopolitan group of Basidiomycota that forms ectomycorrhizal relationships primarily with both deciduous and coniferous trees. Although the genus has been well-studied in Europe and North America, only fragmentary researches have been carried out on Asian species. In particular, the distribution of Lactarius species in South Korea is poorly understood due

This article is the ninth in the series of Fungal Diversity Notes, where 107 taxa distributed in three phyla, nine classes, 31 orders and 57 families are described and illustrated. Taxa described in the present study include 12 new genera, 74 new species, three new combinations, two reference specimens, a re-circumscription of the epitype, and 15 records of sexual-asexual morph connections, new hosts

Fungicolous fungi are a very large, diverse, ecological and trophic group of organisms that are associated with other fungi. This association occurs with species of different lineages across the fungal kingdom. They are recognized as symbionts, mycoparasites, saprotrophs, and even neutrals. Wherever fungi have been found, fungicolous taxa have also been found. Homogeneous environments favour the development

This paper is the second in a series focused on providing a stable platform for the taxonomy of phytopathogenic fungi. It focuses on 25 phytopathogenic genera: Alternaria, Bipolaris, Boeremia, Botryosphaeria, Calonectria, Coniella, Corticiaceae, Curvularia, Elsinoe, Entyloma, Erythricium, Fomitiporia, Fulviformes, Laetisaria, Limonomyces, Neofabraea, Neofusicoccum, Phaeoacremonium, Phellinotus, Phyllosticta

Here, we show that Lichinodium (Lichinaceae, Lichinomycetes, Ascomycota) constitutes a formerly unrecognized lineage within the Leotiomycetes, thus being the first lichenized lineage recognized in the superclass Sordariomyceta (Leotiomycetes, Laboulbeniomycetes and Sordariomycetes). To infer the position of Lichinodium, we constructed two multilocus phylogenies based on six and five gene regions (nuLSU

Botryosphaeriales was introduced in 2006 for a single family Botryosphaeriaceae. Since then the number of families has increased as a result of the transfer of one family (Planistromellaceae) into the order, re-instatement of another (Phyllostictaceae), while others resulted from raising genera to family status (Aplosporellaceae, Endomelanconiopsisaceae, Melanopsaceae, Pseudofusicoccumaceae, Saccharataceae

Fungi have been often neglected, despite the fact that they provided penicillin, lovastatin and many other important medicines. They are an understudied, but essential, fascinating and biotechnologically useful group of organisms. The study of fungi in northern Thailand has been carried out by us since 2005. These studies have been diverse, ranging from ecological aspects, phylogenetics with the incorportation

An account is provided of the world’s ten most feared fungi. Within areas of interest, we have organized the entries in the order of concern. We put four human pathogens first as this is of concern to most people. This is followed by fungi producing mycotoxins that are highly harmful for humans; Aspergillus flavus, the main producer of aflatoxins, was used as an example. Problems due to indoor air

Numerous agents of infections in humans and other mammals are found among fungi that are able to survive extreme environmental conditions and to quickly adapt to novel habitats. Nevertheless, the relationship between opportunistic potential and polyextremotolerance was not yet studied systematically in fungi. Here, the link between polyextremotolerance and opportunistic pathogenicity is shown in a

This paper provides illustrated descriptions of micro-fungi newly found on Pandanaceae in China and Thailand. The fungi are accommodated in 31 families. New taxa described include a new family, seven new genera, 65 new species, 16 previously known species. A new family: Malaysiascaceae (Glomerellales). New genera are Acremoniisimulans (Plectosphaerellaceae), Pandanaceomyces, Pseudoachroiostachy (Nectriaceae)

This study deals with an extensive taxonomic reevaluation focusing on phylogenetic relationships and morphological characterization of Tubeufiales, especially those helicosporous hyphomycetes which are difficult to identify. Based on evidence from DNA sequence data and morphology, we introduce 13 new genera in the family Tubeufiaceae, viz. Acanthotubeufia, Dematiohelicoma, Dematiohelicomyces, Dematiohelicosporum

Demarcation of family, genus and species boundaries in the Diaporthales has been tentative due to uninformative illustrations and descriptions, overlapping morphological characteristics, misplacement or poor condition of type specimens and shortage of molecular data from ex-type cultures. In this study, we obtained the type specimens or other authentic specimens of diaporthalean taxa from worldwide

Compared to the higher fungi (Dikarya), taxonomic and evolutionary studies on the basal clades of fungi are fewer in number. Thus, the generic boundaries and higher ranks in the basal clades of fungi are poorly known. Recent DNA based taxonomic studies have provided reliable and accurate information. It is therefore necessary to compile all available information since basal clades genera lack updated

Fungal stromata were recently discovered in association with charcoal and burnt soil aggregates during an archaeological survey in the Châtillon-sur-Seine forest massif. The wood and soil in the samples were dated to the medieval period (between 738 and 1411 AD). Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed that a few of the stromatal fragments still contained ascospores. Their macromorphological

Phylogenomic datasets continue to enhance our understanding of evolutionary relationships in many lineages of organisms. However, genome-scale data have not been widely implemented in reconstructing relationships in lichenized fungi. Here we generate a data set comprised of 2556 single-copy protein-coding genes to reconstruct previously unresolved relationships in the most diverse family of lichen-forming

Mushrooms in the basidiomycete family Amanitaceae are very important both economically and ecologically. However, the delimitation of the family is still controversial, in part due to limited taxon sampling and in part because of insufficient gene fragment employed for molecular phylogenetic analyses. Furthermore, species diversity in the family is likely to have been largely underestimated, due to

The advantages and disadvantages of giving a valid name to a sequence of DNA detected from environmental specimens is presently a hot debate amongst the mycological community. The idea of using intracellular DNA (“mgDNA”) from environmental samples as holotypes seems at face value, to be a good idea, considering the expansion of knowledge among these ‘dark taxa’ or ‘dark matter fungi’ that it could

The family Ajellomycetaceae (Onygenales) includes mammal-associated pathogens within the genera Blastomyces, Emmonsia, Histoplasma and Paracoccidioides, as well as the recently described genera, Emergomyces that causes disease in immunocompromised hosts, and Emmonsiellopsis, known only from soil. To further assess the phylogenetic relationships among and between members of these genera and several

The class Pezizomycetes is monophyletic within the subdivision Pezizomycotina. The main distinguishing character of this class is operculate asci, although in some taxa this character has been lost. The circumscription of the families and generic level delimitation in Pezizomycetes is still controversial, although several molecular phylogenetic studies have been published on this group. This paper

High-throughput sequencing studies generate vast amounts of taxonomic data. Evolutionary ecological hypotheses of the recovered taxa and Species Hypotheses are difficult to test due to problems with alignments and the lack of a phylogenetic backbone. We propose an updated phylum- and class-level fungal classification accounting for monophyly and divergence time so that the main taxonomic ranks are

A new classification of several clitocyboid taxa is here proposed to accommodate results from multigenic phylogenetic inference. The analysis of ITS rDNA as well as a combined dataset including 18S and 28S rDNA, tef1 and rpb2 data, support significantly a shared monophyletic origin of the genera Pseudoclitocybe, Musumecia and Pogonoloma, and the species Clitocybe alexandri and C. harperi. The new family

Grapevines (Vitis vinifera) are colonized by ubiquitous microorganisms known as endophytes, which may have advantageous or neutral effects without causing disease symptoms. Certain endophytes are uncultivable, so culture-independent approaches such as next generation sequencing (NGS) can help for a better understanding of their ecology and distribution. To date, there are no studies which directly

This study is unique as it compares traditional and high-resolution culture-independent approaches using the same set of samples to study the saprotrophic fungi on Vitis vinifera. We identified the saprotrophic communities of table grape (Red Globe) and wine grape (Carbanate Gernischet) in China using both traditional and culture-independent techniques. The traditional approach used direct observations

This paper is the seventh in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, where 131 taxa accommodated in 28 families are mainly described from Rosa (Rosaceae) and a few other hosts. Novel fungal taxa are described in the present study, including 17 new genera, 93 new species, four combinations, a sexual record for a species and new host records for 16 species. Bhatiellae, Cycasicola, Dactylidina, Embarria, Hawksworthiana

For the very first time, morpho-anatomical features of both fruiting bodies as well as below-ground structures have been confronted with a newly produced multigene phylogeny of root symbiotic basidiomycetes using one of the most speciose genera of ectomycorrhizal fungi (Russula, Russulales) as an example. In this first of two papers, the authors focus more specifically on below-ground structures. Our

Obligate anaerobic fungi of the phylum Neocallimastigomycota play a key role in digesting fibrous feeds in the gut of herbivores, but little is known about their global diversity. In this study, the collective diversity of gut anaerobic fungi was examined using all curated internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) sequences of anaerobic gut fungi available in GenBank. The 262,770 quality-checked fungal

Taxonomic placement of genera have been changing rapidly as taxonomists widely use DNA sequence data in phylogenetic and evolutionary studies. It is essential to update existing databases/outlines based on recent studies, since these sources are widely used as a foundation for other research. In this outline, we merge both asexual and sexual genera into one outline. The phylum Ascomycota comprises

This is the sixth in a series of papers where we bring collaborating mycologists together to produce a set of notes of several taxa of fungi. In this study we introduce a new family Fuscostagonosporaceae in Dothideomycetes. We also introduce the new ascomycete genera Acericola, Castellaniomyces, Dictyosporina and Longitudinalis and new species Acericola italica, Alternariaster trigonosporus, Amarenomyces

Ophiobolus is a large genus of Phaeosphaeriaceae comprising more than 350 possible species, most of which are saprobes on herbaceous plants in Europe and North America. Ophiobolus species are polyphyletic and the type of Ophiobolus is not represented in GenBank. Therefore, an increased taxon sampling of ophiobolus-like taxa and epitypification of the type species, O. disseminans is reported. Multigene

The ecological significance of fungi occurring asymptomatically inside living plant leaves is poorly understood. Given the broad saprotrophic potential of many endophytic fungi, we hypothesized that they persist in decaying litter for an extended period of time after leaf abscission. Fungal assemblages were assessed by high-throughput sequencing in autumn leaves of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and in the

Knowledge of the relationships and thus the classification of fungi, has developed rapidly with increasingly widespread use of molecular techniques, over the past 10–15 years, and continues to accelerate. Several genera have been found to be polyphyletic, and their generic concepts have subsequently been emended. New names have thus been introduced for species which are phylogenetically distinct from

Species and generic recognition in the order Xylariales has been uncertain due to lack of molecular data from authentic cultures, as well as overlapping morphological characteristics. In this study, we revise the families Graphostromataceae, Hypoxylaceae, Lopadostomataceae and Xylariaceae in Xylariales. Our study is based on DNA sequence data derived from living cultures of fresh isolates, data from

Discomycetes are an artificial grouping of apothecia-producing fungi in the phylum Ascomycota. Molecular-based studies have revealed that the discomycetes can be found among ten classes of Ascomycota. The classification of discomycetes has been a major challenge due to the lack of a clear understanding of the important morphological characters, as well as a lack of reference strains. In this review

Species with relatively small, membraneous, black ascomata, with or without long necks, unitunicate, cylindrical asci with apical rings and fusiform, hyaline ascospores with or without mucilaginous sheaths are common in freshwater habitats in tropical and temperate regions. Many of these taxa have originally been recorded as Annulatascaceae-like taxa. Twenty genera have been included in the family

The history of assigning ranks to fungi, as well as the relative importance of using divergence time estimates is reviewed. The paper pays tribute to the major mycological players, and especially to David Hawksworth on his 70th birthday and his contribution to fungal ranking in Systema Ascomycetum from 1982 to 1998. Following the conclusion of the latter series, the ranking continued with the Outlines

In this paper, we provide a phylogenetic overview of Basidiomycota and related phyla in relation to ten years of DNA based phylogenetic studies since the AFTOL publications in 2007. We selected 529 species to address phylogenetic relationships of higher-level taxa using a maximum-likelihood framework and sequence data from six genes traditionally used in fungal molecular systematics (nrLSU, nrSSU,