The Faces of Fungi database:fungal names linked with morphology,phylogeny and human impacts

Taxonomic names are key links between various databases that store information on different organisms.Several global fungal nomenclural and taxonomic databases(notably Index Fungorum,Species Fungorum and MycoBank)can be sourced to find taxonomic details about fungi,while DNA sequence data can be sourced from NCBI,EBI and UNITE databases.Although the sequence data may be linked to a name,the quality of the metadata is variable and generally there is no corresponding link to images,descriptions or herbarium material.There is generally no way to establish the accuracy of the names in these genomic databases,other than whether the submission is from a reputable source.To tackle this problem,a new database(FacesofFungi),accessible at www.facesoffungi.org(FoF)has been established.This fungal database allows deposition of taxonomic data,phenotypic details and other useful data,which will enhance our current taxonomic understanding and ultimately enable mycologists to gain better and updated insights into the current fungal classification system.In addition,the database will also allow access to comprehensive metadata including descriptions of voucher and type specimens.This database is user-friendly,providing links and easy access between taxonomic ranks,with the classification system based primarily on molecular data(from the literature and via updated web-based phylogenetic trees),and to a lesser extent on morphological data when molecular data are unavailable.In FoF species are not only linked to the closest phylogenetic representatives,but also relevant data is provided,wherever available,on various applied aspects,such as ecological,industrial,quarantine and chemical uses.The data include the three main fungal groups(Ascomycota,Basidiomycota,Basal fungi)and fungus-like organisms.The FoF webpage is an output funded by the Mushroom Research Foundation which is an NGO with seven directors with mycological expertise.The webpage has 76 curators,and with the help of these specialists,FoF will provide an updated natural classification of the fungi,with illustrated accounts of species linked to molecular data.The present paper introduces the FoF database to the scientific community and briefly reviews some of the problems associated with classification and identification of the main fungal groups.The structure and use of the database is then explained.We would like to invite all mycologists to contribute to these web pages.

Biodiversity studies of myxomycetes in Madagascar

The results of the first comprehensive study of myxomycetes from the island of Madagascar,a world biodiversity hotspot,are reported in this paper.The island is of continental origin,the fourth largest in the world,and has been geographically isolated for more than 160 million years,since its separation from Gondwanaland.The isolation,size and topography of Madagascar have triggered the development of a great variety of different habitats and favoured multiple evolutionary pathways,resulting in many animals and plants that exist nowhere else on earth.Fieldwork for the biodiversity survey of the central and southern parts of the island took place in May 2009,to coincide with the end of the rainy season.Tropical moist forest,sclerophyll forest and dry forest were selected for sampling in Ranomafana,Andringitra,Andohahela and L’Isalo National Parks.Some unique vegetation was sampled in the spiny dry forest and succulent scrub with plants from the genera Alluaudia,Euphorbia,Kalanchoe and Pachypodium.The survey produced 124 species from 22 different genera in more than 750 myxomycete collections.In this paper one species,Perichaena madagascariensis,is described as new to science,21 species are new records for Africa,and 106 are reported for the first time from Madagascar.Some unusual collections included Physarum lakhanpalii that appeared on Ravenala madagascariensis,Fuligo intermedia and Licea nannengae found on Adansonia grandidieri,Perichaena pulcherrima,Physarum dictyosporum,and P.echinosporum on Euphorbia and Licea rufocuprea on bark.The scope,methods and results of this survey are included in this paper,and comments are made on the ecology,distribution and substrate association of the myxomycetes of these areas of Madagascar.Macrographs,micrographs and SEM images of interesting species are included.The results indicate that the island of Madagascar has a unique assemblage of species of myxomycetes,different from neighbouring islands and from similar but distant environments.

The biodiversity of myxomycetes in central Chile

The results obtained from two expeditions to survey the biodiversity of myxomycetes in Central Chile are reported in this paper.The surveys were carried out as part of Global Biodiversity of Eumycetozoans project funded by the National Science Foundation(USA)and the Myxotropic project funded by the Spanish Government.The expeditions were made to the temperate zone of the central part of the country between 23°and 39°South latitudes,which is characterized by Mediterranean vegetation,as well as to the transition areas between the arid and semi-arid regions of northern Chile,and the humid,cold Valdivian and Andean-Patagonian forests of the far South.Eight of the fifteen regions of the country,from Antofagasta to Araucanía,in selected areas where the native vegetation is well preserved,were included in these surveys.Over 600 collections were obtained,and a total of 110 species of myxomycetes representing 29 genera have been identified.Two of these(Dianema succulenticola,Didymium chilense)are species new to science and are described in this paper,12 species(Collaria nigricapillitia,Comatricha alta,Cribraria oregana,Dianema depressum,Didymium eximium,D.nivicolum,Enerthenema melanospermum,Lepidoderma chailletii,Macbrideola ovoidea,Physarum clavisporum,Ph.newtonii and Trichia alpina)were previously unknown for either the Neotropics or South America,and 49 additional species are new records for Chile.Comments are provided on the morphology,distribution and ecology of selected species and light and SEM micrographs of the most significant species are included.An evaluation of the biodiversity of myxomycetes in Chile,with special emphasis on the endemic plants that provided the substrates with which they were associated,and a comparative analysis of our results with those from other countries of South America is presented.

Myxomycetes:Biology,Systematics,Biogeography,and Ecology

黏菌是丰富多彩的生物多样性世界提供给人类的一个独特类群。Myxomycetes:Biology,Systematics,Biogeography,and Ecology是迄今为止全方位、多视角展示黏菌生物学的第一本巨著。由美国阿肯色大学Steven L.Stephenson教授等活跃在当今黏菌各研究领域的,以及来自全球11个国家的29位国际知名黏菌学者共同完成。全书按照领域和专题分为13章,由不同作者分别编写,中国工程院院士、《菌物研究》主编、吉林农业大学李玉教授及其团队成员工琦教授和刘朴教授是"第六章黏菌生理学和生物化学"的作者。

Myxomycetes associated with grasslands of the western central United States

The assemblages of myxomycetes associated with the three types of temperate grasslands(tall grass,mixed grass and short grass)found across the western central United States were examined by collecting samples for isolation of these organisms from nine study sites.Samples consisted of two types of ground litter,two types of aerial litter(dead but still attached plant parts)and dung.These were brought back to the laboratory and used to prepare a series of moist chamber cultures.These cultures yielded 1,301 collections of myxomycetes representing 59 species in 18 genera.Some collections could be identified only to genus and one in particular(Lepidoderma sp.)appears to be an undescribed taxon.Physarum spectabile was recorded for the first time in North America.Overall,only eight species(Badhamia melanospora,Didymium anellus,D.difforme,D.squamulosum,Perichaena depressa,Physarum cinereum,P.pusillum,and Stemonitis fusca)were recovered from all nine study sites and thus are considered to represent a core component of the myxomycete biota of temperate grasslands.

Effect of forest disturbance on myxomycete assemblages in the southwestern Peruvian Amazon

Although the effects of microenvironmental factors on distribution patterns in myxomycetes have been investigated,studies of the responses of this group of organisms to different regimes of forest disturbance are relatively few in number.In an effort to understand the implications of forest fragmentation and habitat loss on myxomycetes,the project described herein was carried out at the Los Amigos Biological Station in southeastern Peru.The structure and composition of assemblages of myxomycetes were investigated in relation to three different forest types and climatic periods in the area of study.An analysis of the most commonly recorded substrates was carried out as well.The results suggested that habitat loss,through differences in forest structure,was the factor determining most of the differences in fruiting body abundance of myxomycetes among forest types.In addition,a switch in the ecological strategy of dispersal seemed to be an important factor accounting for differences in the fruiting body abundance and structure of assemblages of myxomycetes between collecting periods.This study provides evidence indicating that for microbial assemblages to maintain the balance of functional interactions within a particular forest ecosystem,the conservation of the forests themselves should be considered.

Neochaetosphaerella thaxteriospora gen.et sp.nov.and Tympanopsis texensis sp.nov.(Coronophorales,Ascomycota)from Texas,USA

Ascomata of three species of coronophoraceous fungi collected from the Big Thicket National Preserve and an area immediately adjacent to the preserve were examined with a scanning electron microscope to reveal the distinctive features of the ascomatal surface.Based on the results of the examination,two new species(Neochaetosphaerella thaxteriospora and Tympanopsis texensis)are herein described and discussed.Both a description and an illustration of Scortechinia acanthostroma are also provided.

Erratum to: The biodiversity of myxomycetes in central Chile

Erratum to:Fungal Diversity DOI 10.1007/s13225-012-0159-8 The original publication contains the following errors:Page 18,second paragraph,line 14:Delete the last sentence(“In the Neotropics,this species has been reported previously from Costa Rica(Rojas et al.2010)and the Windward Islands.”),which should not have been included in this paragraph.Page 18,fifth paragraph(under Didymium comatum),lines 26–27:Delete“(11-)”from the end of line 26.