Editorial comment–volume 60 of Fungal diversity Special issue dedicated to the COST Action FA1103,“Endophytes in Biotechnology and Agriculture”

Summary:The European Cooperation in Science and Technology(COST)aims to promote joint interdisciplinary research in various areas and provides substantial funding to international consortia to conduct networking activities such as workshops,training schools,and short time international student exchanges.Even though primarily European Scientists are eligible to propose COST Actions and to receive funding,the international community can and does participate.This special issue is dedicated to a COST Action FA1103 on biotechnological and agricultural exploitation of endophytes,entertained by 150 scientists from over 20 countries.Eleven original papers,one review and two non COST Action papers have been compiled,all of which are dealing with various aspects of fundamental and applied research on fungal endophytes.The broad spectrum of the contributions,which are representative of the scientific scope of the Action,is illustrated by reports on innovative methods for all taxa inventories(molecular ecology),studies relating to bioprospecting.

Endophytic species of Colletotrichum associated with mango in northeastern Brazil

Endophytic species of Colletotrichum associated with Mangifera indica(mango)are poorly understood.In this study,Colletotrichum species were isolated from mango in Pernambuco State,Brazil.There were significant differences in isolation frequencies of Colletotrichum species among sites and plant tissues.Mature leaf blades were colonized by most Colletotrichum isolates at the majority of sites.Partial sequences of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase(GAPDH)of 97 Colletotrichum isolates were amplified as an initial measure of genetic diversity.Phylogenetic analysis with a subset of 22 isolates were performed based on a multilocus dataset(ACT,TUB2,CAL,CHS-1,GAPDH,ITS)followed by Apn2/MAT IGS sequence-analysis for isolates within the C.gloeosporioides species complex.Molecular analysis associated with phenotypic characteristics revealed six previously described species[C.asianum,C.cliviae,C.dianesei(syn.C.melanocaulon),C.fructicola,C.karstii and C.tropicale]and one new species.This new species is introduced as C.endomangiferae.All species isolated were pathogenic on mango fruits but varied in their virulence.There was no distribution pattern of species among sites and plant tissues,although C.asianum was the most prevalent species at all sites and in all plant tissues studied.Five previously reported Colletotrichum species causing anthracnose in mango fruits in northeastern Brazil were also recovered as endophytes.

泰国北部柯蚱属一新种(直翅目:蚱科:蚱亚科)（英文）

记述采自泰国北部的柯蚱属1新种:尖角柯蚱Coptotettix acutiangulus Zha sp.nov.并附以照片,且与近似种安氏柯蚱Coptotettix annandalei做了详细的形态学比较,该新种可能同时分布于尼泊尔;文章还对尖角柯蚱的生态学及习性做了简要讨论。

贵州喀斯特地区波蚱属一新种记述(直翅目:蚱总科:短翼蚱科)（英文）

在对中国贵州金沙县冷水河自然保护区的生物多样性调查过程中,发现波蚱属1新种:金沙波蚱B olivaritettix jinshaensis Zha&Wen sp.nov.。该新种近似于元宝山波蚱B.yuanbaoshanensis Zheng&Jiang,1995,主要区别:1)头顶宽为1眼宽的1.8倍(♂)或2.0倍(♀);2)侧面观头顶和颜面隆起组成在复眼前突出且明显可见;3)前胸背板中隆线在沟前区侧隆线之间部分间断或模糊;4)前胸背板及后足腿节均明显长于后者;5)雌性产卵瓣较后者宽,长为宽的3.8倍。

Fungal diversity notes 1–110:taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal species

This paper is a compilation of notes on 110 fungal taxa,including one new family,10 new genera,and 76 new species,representing a wide taxonomic and geographic range.The new family,Paradictyoarthriniaceae is introduced based on its distinct lineage in Dothideomycetes and its unique morphology.The family is sister to Biatriosporaceae and Roussoellaceae.The new genera are Allophaeosphaeria(Phaeosphaeriaceae),Amphibambusa(Amphisphaeriaceae),Brunneomycosphaerella(Capnodiales genera incertae cedis),Chaetocapnodium(Capnodiaceae),Flammeascoma(Anteagloniaceae),Multiseptospora(Pleosporales genera incertae cedis),Neogaeumannomyces(Magnaporthaceae),Palmiascoma(Bambusicolaceae),Paralecia(Squamarinaceae)and Sarimanas(Melanommataceae).The newly described species are the Ascomycota Aliquandostipite manochii,Allophaeosphaeria dactylidis,A.muriformia,Alternaria cesenica,Amphibambusa bambusicola,Amphisphaeria sorbi,Annulohypoxylon thailandicum,Atrotorquata spartii,Brunneomycosphaerella laburni,Byssosphaeria musae,Camarosporium aborescentis,C.aureum,C.frutexensis,Chaetocapnodium siamensis,Chaetothyrium agathis,Colletotrichum sedi,Conicomyces pseudotransvaalensis,Cytospora berberidis,C.sibiraeae,Diaporthe thunbergiicola,Diatrype palmicola,Dictyosporium aquaticum,D.meiosporum,D.thailandicum,Didymella cirsii,Dinemasporium nelloi,Flammeascoma bambusae,Kalmusia italica,K.spartii,Keissleriella sparticola,Lauriomyces synnematicus,Leptosphaeria ebuli,Lophiostoma pseudodictyosporium,L.ravennicum,Lophiotrema eburnoides,Montagnula graminicola,Multiseptospora thailandica,Myrothecium macrosporum,Natantispora unipolaris,Neogaeumannomyces bambusicola,Neosetophoma clematidis,N.italica,Oxydothis atypica,Palmiascoma gregariascomum,Paraconiothyrium nelloi,P.thysanolaenae,Paradictyoarthrinium tectonicola,Paralecia pratorum,Paraphaeosphaeria spartii,Pestalotiopsis digitalis,P.dracontomelon,P.italiana,Phaeoisaria pseudoclematidis,Phragmocapnias philippinensis,Pseudocamarosporium cotinae,Pseudocercospora tamarindi,Pseudotrichia rubriostiolata,P.thailandica,Psiloglonium multiseptatum,Saagaromyces mangrovei,Sarimanas pseudofluviatile,S.shirakamiense,Tothia spartii,Trichomerium siamensis,Wojnowicia dactylidicola,W.dactylidis and W.lonicerae.The Basidiomycota Agaricus flavicentrus,A.hanthanaensis,A.parvibicolor,A.sodalis,Cantharellus luteostipitatus,Lactarius atrobrunneus,L.politus,Phylloporia dependens and Russula cortinarioides are also introduced.Epitypifications or reference specimens are designated for Hapalocystis berkeleyi,Meliola tamarindi,Pallidocercospora acaciigena,Phaeosphaeria musae,Plenodomus agnitus,Psiloglonium colihuae,P.sasicola and Zasmidium musae while notes and/or new sequence data are provided for Annulohypoxylon leptascum,A.nitens,A.stygium,Biscogniauxia marginata,Fasciatispora nypae,Hypoxylon fendleri,H.monticulosum,Leptosphaeria doliolum,Microsphaeropsis olivacea,Neomicrothyrium,Paraleptosphaeria nitschkei,Phoma medicaginis and Saccotheciaceae.A full description of each species is provided with light micrographs(or drawings).Molecular data is provided for 90 taxa and used to generate phylogenetic trees to establish a natural classification for species.

The ApMat marker can resolve Colletotrichum species: a case study with Mangifera indica

Anthracnose disease caused by the Colletotrichum gloeosporioides species complex is a major problem worldwide.In this study,we investigated the phylogenetic diversity of 207 Indian Colletotrichum isolates,associated with symptomatic and asymptomatic tissues of mango,belonging to this species complex.Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on a 6-gene dataset(act,cal,chs1,gapdh,ITS and tub2),followed by ApMat sequence-analysis.The ApMat-based phylogeny was found to be superior as it provided finer resolution in most of the species-level clades.Importantly,the ApMat marker identified seven lineages within C.siamense sensu lato,including C.jasmini-sambac,C.hymenocallidis,C.melanocaulon,C.siamense sensu stricto and three undesignated,potentially novel lineages.In this study,C.fragariae sensu stricto,C.fructicola,C.jasmini-sambac,C.melanocaulon and five undesignated,potentially novel lineages were found to be associated with mango tissues.There is a need to develop a consensus among mycologists as to which genes should be used to define and delimit a Colletotrichum species and in the mean time mycologists should voluntarily restrain from describing new species based on inadequate datasets.

Towards a natural classification and backbone tree for Sordariomycetes

Sordariomycetes is one of the largest classes of Ascomycota and is characterised by perithecial ascomata and inoperculate unitunicate asci.The class includes many important plant pathogens,as well as endophytes,saprobes,epiphytes,and fungicolous,lichenized or lichenicolous taxa.The class includes freshwater,marine and terrestrial taxa and has a worldwide distribution.This paper provides an updated outline of the Sordariomycetes and a backbone tree incorporating asexual and sexual genera in the class.Based on phylogeny and morphology we introduced three subclasses;Diaporthomycetidae,Lulworthiomycetidae and Meliolomycetidae and five orders;Amplistromatales,Annulatascales,Falcocladiales,Jobellisiales and Togniniales.The outline is based on literature to the end of 2014 and the backbone tree published in this paper.Notes for 397 taxa with information,such as new family and genera novelties,novel molecular data published since the Outline of Ascomycota 2009,and new links between sexual and asexual genera and thus synonymies,are provided.The Sordariomycetes now comprises six subclasses,28 orders,90 families and 1344 genera.In addition a list of 829 genera with uncertain placement in Sordariomycetesis also provided.

Anthostomella is polyphyletic comprising several genera in Xylariaceae

Anthostomella has long been regarded as a large,but polyphyletic genus in the family Xylariaceae,but species in this group generally lack phylogenetic data.In this study,14 anthostomella-like taxa collected from Italy,were studied using both morphology and molecular data.Single ascospore isolates were obtained and the asexual morphs of five taxa established.The phylogenetic relationships of the xylariaceous taxa were inferred using combined ITS,RPB2,βtubulin and LSU gene regions.We introduce new sequence data for 24 with included the 14 new anthostomella-like taxa.The subfamilies Hypoxyloideae and Xylarioideae within Xylariaceae were recognized as the two major clades with high bootstrap support.Within the two clades 21 subclades were resolved and the anthostomella-like taxa clustered in five of these subclades indicating that the genus is polyphyletic.Anthostomella sensu stricto comprised A.forlicesenica,A.formosa,A.helicofissa,A.rubicola and A.obesa.The A.formosa and A.rubicola collections morphologically closely resemble the type specimens and therefore we designate reference specimens.Three new species Anthostomella helicofissa,A.forlicesenica and A.obesa are also introduced.Four distinct lineages of anthostomella-like taxa correspondent to four new genera,Anthocanalis,Brunneiperidium,Lunatiannulus and Pyriformiascoma,which are also introduced,while one clustered in Astrocystis and is introduced as a new species.Keys to the new anthostomella-like genera and species examined in this study are provided.

Valsaria and the Valsariales

More than 100 recent collections of Valsaria sensu lato mostly from Europe were used to elucidate the species composition within the genus.Multigene phylogeny based on SSU,LSU,ITS,rpb2 and tef1 sequences revealed a monophyletic group of ten species within the Dothideomycetes,belonging to three morphologically similar genera.This group could not be accommodated in any known family and are thus classified in the new family Valsariaceae and the new order Valsariales.The genus Valsaria sensu stricto comprises V.insitiva,V.robiniae,V.rudis,V.spartii,V.lopadostomoides sp.nov.and V.neotropica sp.nov.,which are phylogenetically well-defined,but morphologically nearly indistinguishable species.The new monotypic genus Bambusaria is introduced to accommodate Valsaria bambusae.Munkovalsaria rubra and Valsaria fulvopruinata are combined in Myrmaecium,a genus traditionally treated as a synonym of Valsaria,which comprises three species,with M.rubricosum as its generic type.This work is presented as a basis for additional species to be detected in future.

The sooty moulds

Sooty moulds are a remarkable,but poorly understood group of fungi.They coat fruits and leaves superficially with black mycelia,which reduces photosynthesis rates of host plants.Few researchers have,however,tried to quantify their economic importance.Sooty moulds have been well-studied at the morphological level,but they are poorly represented in a natural classification based on phylogeny.Representatives are presently known in Antennulariellaceae,Capnodiaceae,Chaetothyriaceae,Coccodiniaceae,Euantennariaceae,Metacapnodiaceae and Trichomeriaceae and several miscellaneous genera.However,molecular data is available for only five families.Most sooty mould colonies comprise numerous species and thus it is hard to confirm relationships between genera or sexual and asexual states.Future studies need to obtain single spore isolates of species to test their phylogenetic affinities and linkages between morphs.Next generation sequencing has shown sooty mould colonies to contain many more fungal species than expected,but it is not clear which species are dominant or active in the communities.They are more common in tropical,subtropical and warm temperate regions and thus their prevalence in temperate regions is likely to increase with global warming.Sooty moulds are rarely parasitized by fungicolous taxa and these may have biocontrol potential.They apparently grow in extreme environments and may be xerophilic.This needs testing as xerophilic taxa may be of interest for industrial applications.Sooty moulds grow on sugars and appear to out-compete typical“weed”fungi and bacteria.They may produce antibiotics for this purpose and their biochemical potential for obtaining novel bioactive compounds for medical application is underexplored.

One stop shop:backbones trees for important phytopathogenic genera:Ⅰ(2014)

Many fungi are pathogenic on plants and cause significant damage in agriculture and forestry.They are also part of the natural ecosystem and may play a role in regulating plant numbers/density.Morphological identification and analysis of plant pathogenic fungi,while important,is often hampered by the scarcity of discriminatory taxonomic characters and the endophytic or inconspicuous nature of these fungi.Molecular(DNA sequence)data for plant pathogenic fungi have emerged as key information for diagnostic and classification studies,although hampered in part by non-standard laboratory practices and analytical methods.To facilitate current and future research,this study provides phylogenetic synopses for 25 groups of plant pathogenic fungi in the Ascomycota,Basidiomycota,Mucormycotina(Fungi),and Oomycota,using recent molecular data,up-to-date names,and the latest taxonomic insights.Lineagespecific laboratory protocols together with advice on their application,as well as general observations,are also provided.We hope to maintain updated backbone trees of these fungal lineages over time and to publish them jointly as new data emerge.Researchers of plant pathogenic fungi not covered by the present study are invited to join this future effort.Bipolaris,Botryosphaeriaceae,Botryosphaeria,Botrytis,Choanephora,Colletotrichum,Curvularia,Diaporthe,Diplodia,Dothiorella,Fusarium,Gilbertella,Lasiodiplodia,Mucor,Neofusicoccum,Pestalotiopsis,Phyllosticta,Phytophthora,Puccinia,Pyrenophora,Pythium,Rhizopus,Stagonosporopsis,Ustilago and Verticillium are dealt with in this paper.