Two new species ofConiochaeta with a cephalothecoid peridium wall

Two new species ofConiochaeta, isolated from Japanese soils, are described and illustrated:C. cephalothecoides, which is characterized by dark brown ascomata clothed with short setae, cylindrical asci and ovoid to almond-shaped or pyriform ascospores with a longitudinal germ slit; andC. dumosa, which is characterized by dark brown ascomata clothed with short setae and dense hyphal hairs, cylindrical asci and ellipsoid-fusoid ascospores with a longitudinal germ slit. These species are distinguished from most species of the genus by the unique cephalothecoid peridium of their ascomata. The associated anamorphs of both species are assignable to the form-genusLecythophora.     

中国木霉属两个新种

报道了采自我国海南省和福建省的木霉属Trichoderma 2个新种。南方木霉子座紫色至紫红色,垫状至盘状,子囊壳壁橙色至橙褐色,子囊孢子无色;绿黄木霉具有淡黄色子座,绿色孔口,球形至近球形的子囊壳,以及大的子囊和绿色子囊孢子。提供了这2个种的详细描述及宏观和微观特征的图示。     

华南地区炭角菌属研究4.采自云南省的一新种(英文)

报道了采自云南省的炭角菌属一新种。该种的主要特点是子座半球形,子座中部与基质间有窄的连接,子囊孢子具斜至螺旋形芽缝。文中对该种进行了详细的形态描述,并提供了显微结构图及其与相近种的讨论。     

采集自贵州的两个稀有虫草

1994年6月采集自贵州梵净山和荔波茂兰保护区的虫草属真菌,中国新记录种──螳螂虫草（CordycepsmantidaecolaKob.etShim.）和属于蛇形虫草亚属头状组的一新种──贵州虫草（CordycepsguizhouensisLiu,LiangetLiusp.nov）。贵州虫草寄生于刺蛾茧上,茧表面褐色,椭圆形,大小为4～6×5～9mm,在一个茧上可长1～2根子座,子座单生,不分枝,圆柱形,高1．5～5cm;柄和可孕部分界线不明,粗细相当,直径1～2mm,均为淡黄色,可孕部分皮层为丝状细胞的伪柔组织,有的柄部为白色;子囊壳散埋生,梨形,黄色,230～250×160～180μm;子囊为棍棒状或纺锤形,60～140×5～8μm,头部3～4μm;每个子囊中有8个子囊孢子,子囊孢子梭形,具3～4个隔膜,40～60×0．8～1．7μm,不断裂成次生子囊孢子。     

Two new ascomycetes from rainforest litter in Costa Rica

Two new ascomycetes, Boerlagiomyces costaricensis (Pleosporales) and Scopinella musciformis (Sordariales sensu lato), from litter samples collected in rainforests of Costa Rica, are described and illustrated. Boerlagiomyces costaricensis has globose, ostiolate ascomata covered by numerous setae-like hairs; cylindrical, fissitunicate asci without apical structures; and large, fusiform, muriform, hyaline to pale brown ascospores. Scopinella musciformis is characterized by ostiolate ascomata with a few compact clusters of hypha-like hairs distributed on the peridial surface and a long neck; ovate to ellipsoidal unitunicate asci; and small quadrangular ascospores with diagonal germ slits.     

Four new species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Trichoderma</Emphasis> with hyaline ascospores from central China

Collections of Trichoderma producing hyaline ascospores from central China were examined. Four new species, Trichoderma asterineum, T. henanense, T. odoratum and T. pseudobritdaniae, were discovered, described and illustrated. Their phylogenetic positions were explored based on sequence analyses of the combined RNA polymerase II subunit b (rpb2) and translation elongation factor 1 alpha (tef1) genes. As a sister of T. leguminosarum, T. asterineum can be easily recognised by its pale yellow stromata, ochre to brown ostiolar dots surrounded by stellate cracks, green conidia and slow growth. Trichoderma henanense is distinctive in pulvinate or discoid, dirty yellow to brownish yellow stromata, brown to dark brown ostiolar dots, small monomorphic ascospores in relatively short asci and white colonies with dense aerial hyphae in cultures. Trichoderma odoratum forms an independent lineage as a sister of T. henanense and is characterised by yellow to greyish yellow, pulvinate stromata with dark brown or reddish brown projecting ostiolar dots, slow growth, trichoderma- to verticillium-like conidiophores, hyaline conidia and producing a mushroom-like odour in culture. Trichoderma pseudobritdaniae is closely associated with but easily separated from T. britdaniae in pulvinate, brownish yellow or greyish yellow stromata with dark brown or grey black ostiolar dots, relatively large perithecia, monomorphic ascospores, somewhat low growth rate, trichoderma- to verticillium-like conidiophores and hyaline conidia. Morphological distinctions and sequence divergences between the new species and their close relatives are discussed.     

具有无色子囊孢子的木霉属两新种

报道了采自我国安徽省金寨县天堂寨的木霉属 Trichoderma 两个新种。新种天堂寨木霉T. tiantangzhaiense位于Hypocreanum分支,子座黄褐色至淡褐色,平垫状至盘状,子囊孢子相对较小;新种余氏木霉T. yui与沃格玛木霉T. voglmayrii亲缘关系较近,具有橙褐色至金棕色子座,褐色至红褐色孔口区和绿色分生孢子。本文提供了这两种木霉宏观和微观特征的详细描述及图示,并探讨了其分类地位。     

Pandanicola graminella comb. nov. fromFestuca filiformis in the Canary Islands, West Africa

Anthostomella graminella has been re-examined and ascomata were found to be immersed beneath a clypeus. Asci were unitunicate, broad cylindrical, and lacked an apical apparatus, while ascospores were inequilaterally ellipsoidal, 1–2 seriate, brown to light brown and unicellular, with bipolar germ pores. Based on these characters,A. graminella is transferred toPandanicola. An illustration of this species and a tabulated comparison of this species withPandanicola calocarpa is given.     

具有绿色子囊孢子的木霉属两个新种——波密木霉和绿领木霉

在广东和西藏进行子囊菌资源调查,发现木霉属具有绿色子囊孢子的两个新种,命名为波密木霉和绿领木霉。波密木霉的子座小型,橙褐色至黄绿色,垫状,分生孢子梗为trichoderma型。绿领木霉的子座微小,垫状至陀螺形,淡黄色至淡绿色,其孔口处明显色暗,皮层表面带绿色。基于RPB2和TEF1基因的系统发育分析表明,两个新种作为散在的末端分枝夹杂在具有绿色子囊孢子的已命名分支之间。     

Apiosordaria antarctica and Thielavia antarctica, two new ascomycetes from Antarctica

Two new species of ascomycetes, Apiosordaria antarctica, isolated from soil, and Thielavia antarctica, isolated from a sample of the lichen Usnea cf. aurantio-atra, both collected on King George Island (Antarctica), are described and illustrated. Apiosordaria antarctica is characterized by ostiolate ascomata with agglutinated hairs, eight-spored, uniseriate and cylindrical asci, and two-celled, irregularly navicular ascospores, with an upper cell ornamented with very small warts and with an apical germ pore. Thielavia antarctica is characterized by nonostiolate ascomata, with a thick peridium, eight-spored, cylindrical asci, uniseriate, oblate, ovoid ascospores, a slightly protruding apical germ pore, and a phialidic anamorph.     

New record of the fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Coniochaeta prunicola</Emphasis> on peaches from Slovakia

The first record of Coniochaeta prunicola Damm & Crous (Coniochaetales, Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota) as a pathogen of Persica vulgaris Mill. described and illustrated from Nitra district, Slovakia. C. prunicola was isolated from symptomatic leaves of host tree and based on morphological attributes identified for the first time as a causative agent of peach tree damage. C. prunicola is characterized by dark brown ascomata clothed with setae, the fasciculate, unitunicate, cylindrical asci and broadly almond-shaped, ellipsoidal ascospores with a longitudinal germ slit.     

Phylogenetic relationships of Nemania plumbea sp. nov. and related taxa based on ribosomal ITS and RPB2 sequences

During a survey fungal diversity of xylariaceous fungi in Thailand, a new Nemania species, N. plumbea, was identified. Nemania plumbea is characterized by soft-textured grey stromata on a persistent mat of white hyphae, pale brown ascospores with a short germ-slit on the more convex side. It also produces a Geniculosporium-like anamorph in culture. In order to evaluate its phylogenetic relationships among related species and genera, ITS-5.8S rDNA and RPB2 were analysed separately and simultaneously. Results from the phylogenetic analyses indicate that there is close phylogenetic association between N. plumbea and N. aenea. A preliminary account into the natural grouping of Xylariaceae based on ITS-5.8S rDNA and RPB2 sequences is also discussed.     

从天然蛹虫草不同部位分离菌株特性比较

以采集自泰山地区的6株野生蛹虫草为研究对象,分别通过菌核、子座组织分离和子囊孢子分离法共获得18个菌株,经ITS鉴定均为蛹虫草菌株后,进一步对18个菌株进行了菌丝生长速度、菌落形态、出草试验、主要活性物质（虫草素、腺苷、虫草多糖、β-类胡萝卜素、叶黄素）和交配型的测定分析。结果表明：在菌丝长势、出草产量和整齐度方面,从子囊孢子分离得到的菌株普遍优于组织分离菌株;而在活性物质含量方面,从子囊孢子和子座分离得到的菌株普遍优于菌核分离菌株。通过交配型测定发现,从菌核、子座和子囊孢子分离得到的18个菌株均不存在交配型缺失现象。     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Kretzschmaria varians</Emphasis> sp. nov., <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xylaria coremiifera</Emphasis> sp. nov. and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xylaria umbonata</Emphasis> sp. nov. from Costa Rica

Kretzschmaria varians, a species apparently related to K. micropus, is described as new. It is distinguished primarily by having asci with 2 to 8 ascospores with inconstant germination slit length and remains of synnemata on stromata and surrounding substrate. Xylaria coremiifera, described here as new, bears small fragile coremia on pulvinate stromata and the surrounding substrate. Asci often have fewer than 8 ascospores, most frequently 4. Xylaria umbonata, described here as new, produces perithecia around a central umbo that appears to be the remains of a synnema. Ascospores have long spiralling germination slits.     

Effects of humidity and temperature on ascospore discharge of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Graphostroma platystoma</Emphasis> in the laboratory and in the field

The effects of air humidity and temperature on the ascospore discharge of Graphostroma platystoma were experimentally investigated. The ascospores were not discharged from the stromata in air at 100% relative humidity (RH). However, they were discharged from the wetted stromata at 3°, 10°, and 24°C under 100% RH or nearly so. The amount of the discharged ascospore was large at 24°C, medium at 10°C, and small at 3°C. The ascospores in the rainwater that washed down the stromata were counted after rainfall in the field. The discharge was observed from September to the following May.     

Two new species of pyrenomycetous ascomycetes from New Caledonia

Two new species of Pyrenomycetes from forest soil in New Caledonia,Anthostomella pacifica andChaetomium novaecaledonicum, are described and illustrated.Anthostomella pacifica is characterized by non-ostiolate ascomata, cylindrical asci with an amyloid apical apparatus, and two-celled ascospores (dark apical cylindrical and hyaline basal dwarfed cells) with longitudinal germ slits.Chaetomium novae-caledonicum is characterized by ostiolate ascomata, straight terminal hairs, arcuate lateral hairs with a recurved tip, and very small, ovoid-flattened ascospores.This research was supported in part by Monbusho International Scientific Research Program: Field Research, No. 05041093.     

Association of slugs with the fungal pathogen Epichloë typhina (Ascomycotina: Clavicipitaceae): potential role in stroma fertilisation and disease spread

Epichloë spp. are endophytes of grasses, and form epiphytic external stromata on flowering tillers. E. typhina was first noticed infecting Dactylis glomerata (= orchardgrass, cocksfoot) stands in the Willamette Valley in 1996, and soon became the primary factor limiting the longevity of seed production fields. Several species of slugs are present in these fields, and we investigated their role in E. typhina biology. Pre‐dawn surveys of D. glomerata fields in 2009 and 2010 found Prophysaon andersoni and Arion subfuscus slugs feeding on the fungal stromata. When unfertilised and fertilised immature stromata predominated, approximately 80% of the individuals of these two species that were seen on plants were found on the stromata. As the majority of stromata reached maturity the presence of these species on stromata declined to between 20–40%. The common agricultural slug pest, Deroceras reticulatum, was on stromata only 20% of the time early in the season, and declined to <5% at stromata maturity. Observations of frass from slugs determined that the most common constituent was the food sources upon which the slug species was usually found during these surveys. Typically 100% of the frass from P. andersoni and A. subfuscus contained stroma material, compared to 25% for D. reticulatum. Spermatia, and ascospores later in the season, were commonly seen in the frass of slugs that consumed stromata. Some slugs that had no stroma material in their frass appeared to have consumed spermatia and ascospores from the leaf surface. A multiple‐choice laboratory test confirmed the different proportional preferences of P. andersoni and D. reticulatum for stroma (0.72 vs 0.20) and leaf (0.07 vs 0.38), respectively. Two laboratory multiple‐choice tests, and a field survey, found that P. andersoni preferred unfertilised and immature stroma over mature stroma. D. reticulatum is the most common and abundant slug in Willamette Valley grass seed fields, yet it is the least likely to move spermatia between unfertilised stromata, or ascospores to uninfected plants. P. andersoni and A. subfuscus are mycophagous, frequently transport viable spermatia and ascospores in their frass; yet they are generally confined to field edges. Data and observations suggest the role of slugs in the epidemiology of E. typhina is small compared to other factors.     

The powdery mildew fungus Podosphaera fusca (synonym Podosphaera xanthii), a constant threat to cucurbits

Numerous vegetable crops are susceptible to powdery mildew, but cucurbits are arguably the group most severely affected. Podosphaera fusca (synonym Podosphaera xanthii ) is the main causal agent of cucurbit powdery mildew and one of the most important limiting factors for cucurbit production worldwide. Although great efforts have been invested in disease control, by contrast, many basic aspects of the biology of P. fusca remain unknown.
Taxonomy: Podosphaera fusca (Fr.) Braun & Shishkoff. Kingdom Fungi; Phylum Ascomycota; Subdivision Pezizomycotina; Class Leotiomycetes; Order Erysiphales; Family Erysiphaceae; genus Podosphaera ; species fusca.
Identification: Superficial persistent mycelium. Conidia in chains, hyaline, ellipsoid to ovoid or doliform, about 24–40 × 15–22 µm, with cylindrical or cone-shaped fibrosin bodies, which often germinate from a lateral face and produce a broad, clavate germ tube and cylindrical foot-cells. Unbranched erect conidiophores. Cleistothecia globose, mostly 70–100 µm in diameter, dark brown/black. One ascus per cleistothecium with eight ascospores.
Host range: Angiosperm species that include several families, such as Asteracea, Cucurbitaceae, Lamiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Solanaceae and Verbenaceae.
Disease symptoms: White colonies develop on leaf surfaces, petioles and stems. Under favourable environmental conditions, the colonies coalesce and the host tissue becomes chlorotic and usually senesces early.
Control: Chemical control and the use of resistant cultivars. Resistance has been documented in populations of P. fusca to some of the chemicals registered for control.     

Conlarium duplumascospora gen. et. sp. nov. and Jobellisia guangdongensis sp. nov. from freshwater habitats in China

Conlarium duplumascospora gen. et. sp. nov. and Jobellisia guangdongensis sp. nov. are described and illustrated from submerged wood collected from Guangdong Province, China. Conlarium duplumascospora is characterized by gregarious, coriaceous and beaked ascomata; cylindrical, unitunicate asci with a bipartite apical ring; biseriate, fusiform, hyaline, 0-5-septate ascospores with or without appendages; and anamorph with muriform conidia. Jobellisia guangdongensis is characterized by globose to subglobose, gregarious and papillate ascomata; three-layered peridium; cylindrical, unitunicate asci with a refractive apical ring; and one-septate, fusiform, greenish brown ascospores. Sequence analyses of partial nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) were performed to infer the phylogenetic affinities of these new taxa. A key to species of Jobellisia is provided.     

Structure and mating system of the graminicolous fungal epibiont Echinodothis tuberiformis (Clavicipitales)

The developmental morphology and mating system of the epibiont Echinodothis tuberiformis is investigated. The structure of conidial stromata, conidia, perithecial stromata, asci, and ascospores is documented. Crosses involving transfer of conidia between stromata resulted in formation of perithecia, indicating a heterothallic mating system. Comparisons are made to other members of the Clavicipitales that are presently classified in the tribe Balansieae. It is suggested that this epibiont bears a closer relationship to the grass endophytes classified in the genus Epichloë (Fr.) Tul. than to several other members of the Balansieae.