Phylogenetic assessment and taxonomic revision of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mariannaea</Emphasis>

Four new species of Mariannaea were described in this paper, namely M. chlamydospora, M. cinerea, M. fusiformis, and M. lignicola. Mariannaea chlamydospora is characterized by its cream-colored, zonate colonies on PDA, smooth conidiophores, fusiform conidia, and abundant chlamydospores. Mariannaea cinerea forms grey colonies and ellipsoidal to subglobose conidia. Mariannaea fusiformis forms purple colonies and fusiform to subglobose conidia. Mariannaea lignicola has brown conidiophores and broad hyphae. The molecular phylogeny was inferred using ITS, LSU, and TUB-2 loci. The type species of Mariannaea (M. elegans) is epitypified. The variety M. elegans var. punicea is raised to species rank. Mariannaea clavispora is excluded from Mariannaea because of its cylindrical phialides, straight conidial chains and deviating phylogenetic affinity. Mariannaea nipponica did not fit well the generic concept of Mariannaea based on their morphological characters, and its generic placement remains uncertain. A key to the currently accepted 15 species of Mariannaea is provided.     

Fungal Infection of Mantis Shrimp (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oratosquilla oratoria</Emphasis>) Caused by Two Anamorphic Fungi Found in Japan

Two fungal pathogens of the mantis shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) in Yamaguchi and Aichi Prefectures, Japan are described as the new species Plectosporium oratosquillae and Acremonium sp. (a member of the Emericellopsis marine clade). Both fungi infect the gills of the mantis shrimp, which become brown or black due to melanization. The former species is characterized by its slow growth on artificial seawater yeast extract peptone glucose (PYGS) agar, pale yellow to pale orange or grayish yellow colonies, short cylindrical solitary phialides with a wavy tip, and one-celled ellipsoidal conidia. Although lacking the two-celled conidia demonstrated by the type species Plectosporium tabacinum, the taxonomic placement of the new species was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal DNA (ITS1, 5.8S rDNA and ITS2). Acremonium sp., the other causal pathogen, differs from P. oratosquillae by its fast growth on PYGS agar, pale orange to salmon-colored colonies, long, slender conidiophores consisting of solitary phialides with tips lacking an undulate outline, and typically cylindrical conidia. Analysis of ITS and β-tubulin gene sequences placed this fungus within the phylogenetically distinct Emericellopsis (anam. Acremonium) marine clade. Various physiological characteristics of both pathogens were also investigated. This is the first report of a fungal infection found on the mantis shrimp in Japan.     

New species ofAcremonium, Cylindrocarpon andVerticillium from soil in the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands, Japan

Three new soil fungi from the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands, Japan are described:Acremonium macroclavatum, characterized by large clavate guttulate conidia;Cylindrocarpon boninense, characterized by 3–7-septate clavate macroconidia, terminal or intercalary chlamydospores, rarely produced unicellular clavate microconidia; andVerticillium hahajimaense, characterized by conidial heads bearing cylindrical conidia, and catenulate chlamydospores.     

Three newAspergillus species isolated from clinical sources as a causal agent of human aspergillosis

Three new species ofAspergillus isolated from clinical sources in China are described and illustrated:A. beijingensis, A. qizutongii andA. wangduanlii. The first species is characterized by spreading colonies, yellow to grayish green conidial heads, smooth-walled conidiophores with a clavate vesicle, uniseriate aspergilla and nearly globose, micro-verrucose conidia. The second is characterized by spreading colonies, olive-yellow conidial heads, conspicuously roughened conidiophores with a flask-shaped vesicle, uniseriate but often secondarily proliferating aspergilla and globose, smooth conidia. The third is characterized by rapidly growing colonies, dull green conidial heads, smooth to irregularly roughened conidiophores which are often surrounded by coiled hyphae in the basal part and are terminally swollen into a globose or irregular shaped vesicle, uniseriate aspergilla and globose, micro-verrucose conidia.     

Fusarium fractiflexum sp. nov. and two other species within theGibberella fujikuroi species complex recently discovered in Japan that form aerial conidia in false heads

Morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted on 12 strains ofFusarium, deposited in MAFF asF. subglutinans (≡F. moniliforme var.subglutinans≡F. sacchari var.subglutinans) orFusarium sp. because they formed aerial conidia in false heads in the dark. These strains were resolved as three distinct species within theGibberella fujikuroi species complex. A new species,F. fractiflexum, and two species new to Japan,F. circinatum andF. concentricum, are described and illustrated and their morphological features are discussed.Fusarium fractiflexum, isolated from diseased yellow leaf spots ofCymbidium spp., is differentiated from other fusaria based on its yellowish colonies and aerial conidia formed in false heads in the dark and in zigzag-like conidial chains under black light. Japanese strains ofF. circinatum also formed elongate, coiled sterile hyphae. Phialidic aerial conidia with a pointed apex and a wedgeshaped base were found inF. concentricum cultured under black light and represent a new diagnostic character of the species, in addition to colonies with alternating concentric rings when cultured on PDA. Based on DNA sequences of the β-tubulin gene and two other loci, strains ofF. fractiflexum were resolved phylogenetically as members of the Asian clade of theG. fujikuroi species complex. In addition, Japanese strains ofF. circinatum andF. concentricum were phylogenetically identical to the ex-type strains.     

Relative susceptibility of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spodoptera litura</Emphasis> pupae to selected entomopathogenic fungi

The pupae of Spodoptera litura (Fab.), (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a polyphagous pest affecting common crops in Indian subcontinent, were treated with different concentrations of conidia of four isolates of entomopathogenic fungi belonging to three species, Metarhizium anisopliae var. anisopliae (Metschnikov) Sorokin (ARSEF 7487), Lecanicillium muscarium (Petch) Zare & W Gams (two isolates ARSEF 7037 and ARSEF 6118) and Cordyceps cardinalis Sung & Spatafora (ARSEF 7193) under laboratory conditions. Suspensions (10⁸/ml) of conidia harvested from Sabouraud dextrose agar yeast extract (SDAY) plates resulted in the highest mortality (85.8%) with M. anisopliae and the lowest mortality (57.3%) with C. cardinalis. The values of LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ suggested that M. anisopliae was the most virulent fungal strain followed by L. muscarium (ARSEF 7037). However, C. cardinalis was the least virulent species among the fungi used in the bioassay. In soil bioassays, drenching the soil with conidial suspensions of ARSEF 7487 and ARSEF 7037 (10⁸ conidia/g of soil) reduced the adult emergence from pupa by 81.3% and 72.5%, respectively, while premixing the sterile soil with conidia killed lesser number of pupae (62.9% by ARSEF 7487 and 54.6% by ARSEF 7037). Our findings suggest that M. anisopliae (ARSEF 7487) and L. muscarium (ARSEF 7037) are potent entomopathogens and could be developed into biocontrol agents against rice cutworm in IPM programs. Handling editor: Helen Roy     

Materials for the fungus flora of Japan (57)

Two microfungi are described as new to Japan:Amaurascopsis reticulatus (Amauroascaceae, Ascomycetes), isolated from forest soil in Kamakura, has not been recorded since it was originally found and is characterized by yellow to orange-red ascomata with undifferentiated peridial hyphae and globose ascospores with contorted ridges appearing irregularly punctate-reticulate; andHobsonia mirabilis (helicosporous hyphomycete), isolated from the cut stem of a thistle in Hachijo-jima, is characterized by gelatinous sporodochia and hyaline, tortuously coiled conidia. (56): Okuda, T. and Yamamoto, K., Mycoscience41: 411–414, 2000.     

Fusarium nisikadoi, a new species from Japan

A new species ofFusarium, F. nisikadoi, isolated fromPhyllostachys nigra var.henonis (bamboo) andTriticum aestivum (wheat) in Japan, is described, illustrated and discussed. This species is differentiated from other known species of the genus by the following characteristics: whitish colony color, long zigzag-like chains of 0–3(-5)-septate clavate conidia, intermixed with pyriform conidia, produced mostly from monophialides and rarely from polyphialides in the aerial mycelium, very long and slender sporodochial conidia, and no chlamydospores. The long chains of septate conidia are known only in this species of the genusFusarium. The conidiophores on the aerial mycelium sometimes proliferate sympodially. The species is tentatively placed in the form-sectionLiseola.     

腺苷酸核糖基化因子BbarfA介导白僵菌孢子萌发和毒力

【目的】探究腺苷酸糖基化因子ARF在球孢白僵菌(Beauveria bassiana)中存在种类及生物学功能。【方法】利用BLASTp搜索球孢白僵菌非冗余蛋白数据库,鉴定ARF并进行聚类分析,结合表达分析、反义抑制、超量表达野生型基因和GTP解离位点与结合位点突变的基因,解析其中1个ARF与白僵菌发育分化、逆境胁迫反应和毒力的关系。【结果】球孢白僵菌中存在至少6个ARF或类似蛋白,分别聚类于酵母、人类ARF及其类似蛋白的不同类群。其中BBA_01574与人类的ARF3、ARF4和ARF5聚为一类,命名为BbarfA。BbarfA在成熟的分生孢子和球形膨大时期表达明显高于芽管伸长期。反义抑制BbarfA加速了孢子萌发,提高了菌株毒力,而超量表达BbarfA和点突变GTP解离区域的BbarfA则延迟了孢子萌发速度,降低了菌株毒力。尽管BbarfA转录受高盐、髙渗、氧化和高温胁迫的诱导,但遗传修饰的转化子与野生菌株对上述胁迫反应的敏感性无明显差异。【结论】BbarfA介导分生孢子萌发和毒力。     

Relationship between number and type of adhesions of Penicillium oxalicum conidia to tomato roots and biological control of tomato wilt

We studied (a) the extent adhesion of Penicillium oxalicum conidia to tomato roots after application of P. oxalicum conidial formulations with or without stickers, (b) the relationship between the extent of conidial adhesion to roots and biocontrol of the conidial formulations against tomato wilt, and (c) colonisation of roots by P. oxalicum. Adhesion of P. oxalicum conidia to tomato roots occurred within the first minute of contact between the root and the conidial formulation and the bonding strength was sufficiently strong to prevent conidial removal from the roots. In addition, some formulations with stickers that increased conidial adhesion to roots improved the biocontrol of tomato wilt, when compared to that of formulations without stickers. A “dried conidia without stickers” with 0.025% Nu-Film 17 had no effect on the biocontrol of tomato wilt, despite good adherence of the conidia to the roots. The numbers of P. oxalicum conidia that adhered to the roots was constant for 60 days after application of a “dried conidia without stickers” conidial formulation. The significance of these results (speed of adhesion, number of adhered conidia, and variability of conidial external surface) are discussed in relation to the biocontrol success of tomato wilt using different types of conidial formulations with and without stickers.     

Consecutive monitoring of lifelong production of conidia by individual conidiophores of Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei on barley leaves by digital microscopic techniques with electrostatic micromanipulation

Conidial formation and secession by living conidiophores of Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei on barley leaves were consecutively monitored using a high-fidelity digital microscopic technique combined with electrostatic micromanipulation to trap the released conidia. Conidial chains formed on conidiophores through a series of septum-mediated division and growth of generative cells. Apical conidial cells on the conidiophores were abstricted after the conidial chains developed ten conidial cells. The conidia were electrically conductive, and a positive charge was induced in the cells by a negatively polarized insulator probe (ebonite). The electrostatic force between the conidia and the insulator was used to attract the abstricted conidia from the conidiophores on leaves. This conidium movement from the targeted conidiophore to the rod was directly viewed under the digital microscope, and the length of the interval between conidial septation and secession, the total number of the conidia produced by a single conidiophore, and the modes of conidiogenesis were clarified. During the stage of conidial secession, the generative cells pushed new conidial cells upwards by repeated division and growth. The successive release of two apical conidia was synchronized with the successive septation and growth of a generative cell. The release ceased after 4-5 conidia were released without division and growth of the generative cell. Thus, the life of an individual conidiophore (from the erection of the conidiophore to the release of the final conidium) was shown to be 107 h and to produce an average of 33 conidia. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the direct estimation of life-long conidial production by a powdery mildew on host leaves.     

Evolutionary relationships among aquatic anamorphs and teleomorphs: Lemonniera, Margaritispora, and Goniopila

The hypothesis that similar conidial morphologies in aquatic hyphomycetes are a result of convergent evolution was tested using molecular sequence data. Cladistic analyses were performed on partial sequences of 28S rDNA of seven species of Lemonniera, one species of Margaritispora and one species of Goniopila. Lemonniera has tetraradiate conidia with long arms, whereas Margaritispora and Goniopila have typically globose (isodiametric) conidia, with short conical protuberances in a stellate or quadrangular arrangement. Lemonniera and Margaritispora have phialidic conidiogenesis and both produce dark, minute sclerotia in culture whereas Goniopila has holoblastic conidiogenesis and does not produce sclerotia in culture. Goniopila produces a microconidial phialidic synanamorph in culture. All three genera have schizolytic conidial secession. Molecular analyses demonstrate that Lemonniera species are placed in two distinct clades: one within Leotiomycetes; the other within Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes. Margaritispora is placed with Lemonniera species within Leotiomycetes. Goniopila and Lemonniera pseudofloscula are placed within Dothideomycetes. No morphological character was entirely congruent with the molecular derived phylogeny. This suggests that for the group of species studied, conidial shape is not a reliable indicator of phylogeny but more likely the result of convergent evolution in response to the aquatic environment.     

The taxonomy of some Swartzieae (Leguminosae, subfam. Papilionoideae) from southeastern brazil

Three new species of Swartzieae are described and illustrated:Swartzia alternifoliolata, S. capixabensis, andZollernia cowanii. Swartzia apetala var.blanchetii and var.subcordata are considered to be synonyms ofS. apetala var.apetala, andS. grazielana a synonym ofS. macrostachya var.macrostachya. Keys to southeastern Brazil members ofSwartzia andZollernia are provided.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Hirsutella proturicola</Emphasis> sp. nov. isolated from a proturan, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Baculentulus</Emphasis> densus (Protura,Hexapoda)

A new species of Hirsutella, H. proturicola, isolated from a subterranean proturan (Baculentulus densus; Protura, Hexapoda), is described and illustrated. Hirsutella proturicola is characterized by producing monoblastic phialides of 24–51.5 × 2.5–5 μm with a slightly roughened neck, fusiform and curved conidia of 9–18 × 2.5–4 μm that have a truncate base and a papillate projection often capped with sheath-like mucilage, and pluricellular, globose to subglobose chlamydospores of 21–48 × 21–41.5 μm. This species is morphologically and phylogenetically close to H. rostrata, an acaropathogenic species, but can be distinguished from the size of the phialides and the size and shape of the conidia.     

A new species of Dinemasporium from sugar cane on Irabujima island, Japan

Dinemasporium longicapillatum sp. nov., isolated from a decaying leaf of sugar cane collected in Irabujima island, Japan, is described and illustrated. It is similar to D. strigosum and D. strigosulum in conidial length/width ratio, but differs mainly in its smaller conidia and longer conidial appendages.     

Conidial germination and germ tube elongation of Phomopsis amaranthicola and Microsphaeropsis amaranthi on leaf surfaces of seven Amaranthus species: Implications for biological control

Microsphaeropsis amaranthi and Phomopsis amaranthicola are potential biological control agents for several Amaranthus species. In an effort to understand the initial infection processes with these pathogens, a study was conducted of the conidial germination and germ tube length (μm) on the weed leaf surfaces at 21 °C and 28 °C. Weeds included Amaranthus rudis, A. palmeri, A. powellii, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus, A. hybridus, and A. albus. For P. amaranthicola, conidial germination and germ tube length varied among the seven weed species at both temperatures, while for M. amaranthi the differences in germ tube lengths were significant among weed species only at 21 °C. While the conidia of M. amaranthi and P. amaranthicola germinated on the leaf surfaces of all seven weed species, temperature appeared to impact the number and length of germ tubes on the leaf surfaces. The percentage of germinated conidia and the length of germ tubes at both temperatures were often greater for M. amaranthi than for P. amaranthicola. In order for the fungal pathogen to successfully infect and kill a weedy host, conidia must germinate and form a germ tube, two processes that vary with host species and temperature for M. amaranthi and P. amaranthicola. The extent to which successive infection processes, e.g., penetration, invasion and colonization, contribute to host specificity warrants study.     

沉水玛利亚霉新种以及链状玛利亚霉的新生境记录

通过形态特征与系统发育分析(LSU和ITS),报道了玛利亚霉属Mariannaea的1个新种和1个新记录种.新种沉水玛利亚霉Mariannaea submersa的主要形态特征为透明、分支状的分生孢子梗上带有3-6个环生瓶梗,产孢细胞烧瓶形至锥形,分子孢子为宽梭形至卵圆形,无隔膜,颜色透明且带有尖锐顶部和截断底部.链状...     

Scanning electron microscopy of the conidia produced by the mycelial form of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis

The conidia produced by the mycelial form of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis were examined by scanning electron microscopy for the first time. Several different conidial types were characterized. These included intercalary arthroconidia, several types of septate conidia that are formed from other conidia, pedunculate conidia, and terminal hyphal conidia. In addition, the ultrastructure of the supporting pedestal of the pedunculate conidium was found to be separated from the mother conidium by a septum in some instances, and at other times it was not.     

A revision of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Heterospathe elegans</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arecaceae</Emphasis>) complex in New Guinea

Summary  Three closely affiliated species of Heterospathe Scheff. (H. elegans (Becc.) Becc., H. humilis Becc. and H. versteegiana Becc.) from New Guinea are revised. They are reduced to a single species which is divided into two subspecies, and the new combination H. elegans subsp. humilis (Becc.) M. S. Trudgen & W. J. Baker is made. The subspecies can be readily distinguished by their growth habit. Epitypes are designated for the three previously published names, as informative material on the habit is not included in the existing type specimens. A new, potentially related species is described as H. pullenii M. S. Trudgen & W. J. Baker.