Volume 3 - 2020 - issue 1

1. Partial mutual exclusion of ectomycorrhizal and saprobic fungi in a tropical seasonal rainforest

Authors: Ediriweera AN, Karunarathna SC, Xu J, Hyde KD, Mortimer PE, Schaefer DA

Recieved: 20 September 2019, Accepted: 30 January 2020, Published: 06 February 2020

Spatial distributions of ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi may differ in tropical forests for several reasons. If they do, it could have profound implications for carbon cycling across landscapes. We examined distributions of ectomycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi in a 20 hectare forest study plot in China by collecting and identifying sporocarps (mushrooms) over two years. We found that for sporocarp numbers, species, and contributions to Shannon diversity, saprotrophic fungi were highest near stream channels and decreased with distance therefrom. Ectomycorrhizal species numbers and contributions to Shannon diversity were highest in plots most distant from stream channels. Earlier research here showed soil phosphorus availability to decrease away from stream channels, and ectomycorrhizal fungi should be favored where soil phosphorus is low. Aggressive negative interactions between these fungal guilds should intensify this pattern. We suggest that litter decomposition rates here should be highest near stream channels, because of strong domination by saprotrophic fungi.

Keywords: ectomycorrhizal fungi – saprobic fungi – stream side ecology – tropical forests – Xishuangbanna

2. https://sordariomycetes.org/, a platform for the identification, ranking and classification of taxa within Sordariomycetes

Authors: Bundhun D, Maharachchikumbura SSN, Jeewon R, Senanayake IC, Jayawardena RS, Hongsanan S, Samarakoon MC, Dayarathne MC, Huang SK, Perera RH, Jing Y, Hyde KD

Recieved: 11 January 2020, Accepted: 16 March 2020, Published: 03 April 2020

The class Sordariomycetes has, over the years, been subjected to numerous taxonomic and phylogenetic changes, resulting in rapid updates in classification. This has resulted in a vast amount of taxonomic information available as publications and in databases. With the aim of compiling all these scattered data and presenting them comprehensively in a single platform, a new website (Sordariomycetes.org), accessible at https://sordariomycetes.org/ is established. This database conveys coherent and up-to-date information on the ranking and classification of taxa within Sordariomycetes. Notes, descriptions and photographic plates of the type or reference materials, phylogenetic trees, the current number of morphologically accepted species and those with molecular data along with their ecological and / or economic importance in each genus are provided. This is a user-friendly platform, which provides easy access to relevant information.

Keywords: genera – nomenclature – phylogeny – taxonomy – webpage

3. AJOM new records and collections of fungi: 1–100

Authors: Hyde KD, de Silva NI, Jeewon R, Bhat DJ, Phookamsak R, Doilom M, Boonmee S, Jayawardena RS, Maharachchikumbura SSN, Senanayake IC, Manawasinghe IS, Liu NG, Abeywickrama PD, Chaiwan N, Karunarathna A, Pem D, Lin CG, Sysouphanthong P, Luo ZL, Wei DP, Wanasinghe DN, Norphanphoun C, Tennakoon DS, Samarakoon MC, Jayasiri SC, Jiang HB, Zeng XY, Li JF, Wijesinghe SN, Devadatha B, Goonasekara ID, Brahmanage RS, Yang EF, Aluthmuhandiram JVS, Dayarathne MC, Marasinghe DS, Li WJ, Dissanayake LS, Dong W, Huanraluek N, Lumyong S, Liu JK, Karunarathna SC, Jones EBG, Al-Sadi AM, Xu JC, Harishchandra D, Sarma VV

Recieved: 17 February 2020, Accepted: 15 March 2020, Published: 26 April 2020

This paper is the first in the AJOM series in which we report 100 new collections of fungi which include new species, host and country records. In all, nine new species, 90 new records and one new combination are introduced. The purpose of this series is to provide an outlet for publishing collections with sequence data, so that these observations will not be wasted and mycologists can use the information to update fungal classification and better identification of species. Previously, numerous species were described from the first collection and no further data on the species were published as it was considered low impact. This series will, therefore, increase the knowledge on the host occurrence, biogeography and sequence variability in each taxon dealt with. The distribution and hosts for each listed species are added if backed up by sequence data.

Keywords: 9 new taxa – 90 new records – Ascomycota – Dothideomycetes – Leotiomycetes – Molecular phylogeny – Sordariomycetes – Taxonomy

4. Morphology and multigene phylogeny reveal a new species and a new record of Rhytidhysteron (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota) from China

Authors: De Silva NI, Tennakoon DS, Thambugala KM, Karunarathna SC, Lumyong S, Hyde KD

Recieved: 10 March 2020, Accepted: 13 April 2020, Published: 05 May 2020

Rhytidhysteron is an ecologically diverse group of Dothideomycetes occurring as endophytes, saprobes and weak pathogens on woody plants in terrestrial and intertidal habitats. During our field surveys in China, we collected Rhytidhysteron species on dead twigs of Magnolia grandiflora and decaying wood of Morus australis. Both morphology and multigene phylogenetic analyses showed one taxon to be a new species, while the other is a new record of Rhytidhysteron thailandicum. Combined LSU, SSU, ITS and tef1 sequence data were used for the phylogenetic analyses. Descriptions, micrographs and a phylogenetic tree to show the placement of the two species in Rhytidhysteron (Hysteriaceae) are provided.

Keywords: 1 new taxon – Hysteriaceae – Hysteriales – Magnolia grandiflora – Morus australis – Rhytidhysteron magnoliae

5. New host record of Nothophoma quercina (Didymellaceae, Pleosporales) from Ulmus minor × Ulmus pumila in Russia

Authors: Chaiwan N, Manawasinghe IS, Doilom M, Bulgakov TS, Karunarathna SC, Hyde KD, Jayawardena RS

Recieved: 04 July 2019, Accepted: 02 May 2020, Published: 02 June 2020

A fungus was collected from a dead twig of Ulmus minor x Ulmus pumila in Southern European Russia. The phylogenetic analysis based on combined gene regions of Internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU), beta-tubulin (TUB2) and the second-largest subunit of nuclear RNA polymerase II (RPB2) sequence dataset shows that species clusters within the genus Nothophoma. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic results confirmed that the fungus is Nothophoma quercina. Since this is the first report of N. quercina from Ulmus, we report this species as a new host record from Ulmus minor × Ulmus pumila in Russia. A detailed description, colour photographs and a phylogenetic tree to show the placement of N. quercina are given.

Keywords: Ascomycota – phylogeny – saprobe – single spore isolation – taxonomy

6. Protocol development in sampling foliicolous lichens in varying leaf areas

Authors: Paguirigan JAG, Bagaoisan JB, Chan AB, Matalicia SJB, Villanueva CKG

Recieved: 24 December 2019, Accepted: 01 June 2020, Published: 15 June 2020

The Philippines, a biodiversity hotspot, harbors various types of flora and fauna and yet its biodiversity is heavily threatened. The country is home to some of the richest and most important ecosystems which house a high percentage of plant and animal life that are vulnerable to extinction. With this, the great interest of research in the country focuses on biodiversity. However, limited information on the Philippine lichen flora is available and foliicolous lichens are still untapped and have long remained unknown. To understand more about these organisms, 140 leaf samples were obtained from 14 host plants collected at Consocep, Mount Isarog, Tigaon, Camarines Sur, Philippines in this study. The mean percentage of foliicolous lichen area compared to the leaf area observed as a whole, by half, and by quarter was analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA). Means and its standard errors (SEM) were used to summarize the percentage of leaf area with foliicolous lichen. The results showed that the foliicolous lichen area measured for the whole, half or quarter leaf areas gave the same data and analysis results, when the leaf age is considered. Linear regression model also showed the positive correlation between the lichen area and the leaf area. A protocol was made for the first time to analyze the distribution of foliicolous lichens on various leaf samples. The developed protocol in studying foliicolous lichens includes (1) the use of mature leaves (9th–13th leaf from the apical bud), (2) use of half or quarter portion of the leaf for longer, wider leaves, (3) use of a 1 cm × 1 cm transparent leaf grid to measure the leaf area, and (4) the use of regression model to compute the area covered by the foliicolous lichens.

Keywords: leaves – lichen – linear regression – Mount Isarog – Protocol

7. Aspergillus curvatus, a new species in section Circumdati isolated from an alkaline water of Lake Khadra in Wadi-El-Natron, Egypt

Authors: Al-Bedak OA, Moubasher AH, Ismail MA, Mohamed RA

Recieved: 12 April 2020, Accepted: 15 May 2020, Published: 10 July 2020

In this study, a novel Aspergillus belonging to the Ochraceous group was isolated from a sample of alkaline water taken from the Khadra lake in Wadi-El-Natron Depression, Egypt, and is identified in the current study as Aspergillus curvatus. The novel species was introduced based on phenotypic characters and molecular evidence. Aspergillus curvatus is characterized by its strongly-curved conidiophores; this species is distinguishable from other species in section Circumdati by its morphological characteristics. The pure culture of Aspergillus curvatus is deposited at the Assiut University Mycological Centre cultural collection (AUMC 11038) and the Egyptian Microbial Culture Collection Network (EMCCN 2213). ITS gene sequence was deposited in the GenBank (MN006961). The novel species was registered at the MycoBank (MB831990) with its description

Keywords: ITS – lakes – new taxon – phylogeny – saline

8. Addition to Melanommataceae: a new record of Alpinaria rhododendri from Shangri La, China

Authors: Thiyagaraja V, Hyde KD, Wanasinghe DN, Worthy FR, Karunarathna SC

Recieved: 12 April 2020, Accepted: 02 June 2020, Published: 10 July 2020

The recently established monotypic genus Alpinaria comprises A. rhododendri. It occurs on Rhododendron species and is distributed across Europe, India and North America. The genus was previously established to epitypify Cucurbitaria rhododendri and was assigned to Melanommataceae based on multigene phylogenetic analyses. In this study, a fungal taxon growing on unidentified dicotyledonous wood was collected from Shangri La, Yunnan Province, China. Our taxon clustered with Alpinaria in the combined LSU, SSU, ITS and TEF1-α phylogenetic tree based on maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses. Our collection is characterized by globose, ostiolate ascomata, pseudoparaphyses, cylindrical, bitunicate, fissitunicate asci and 8-spored, ellipsoid and septate ascospores. Morphology and multigene phylogenetic analyses support the identification of our taxon as A. rhododendri, a new geographical record for China.

Keywords: Dothideomycetes – phylogeny – Pleosporales – Rhododendron – taxonomy

9. New host records for three saprobic Dothideomycetes in Thailand

Authors: Huanraluek N, Jayawardena RS, Thambugala KM, Tian Q

Recieved: 07 March 2020, Accepted: 28 May 2020, Published: 24 August 2020

Three dothideomycetous saprobic species, Clavatispora thailandica, Muyocopron dipterocarpi and Rhytidhysteron neorufulum were collected from dead twigs in Thailand. Multigene phylogenetic analyses confirmed their taxonomic placement. Clavatispora thailandica and Rhytidhysteron neorufulum are reported on Hevea brasiliensis (rubber), while Muyocopron dipterocarpi is described from Mangifera indica (mango) in Thailand for the first time. Newly collected species are compared with other similar species and comprehensive descriptions and micrographs are provided.

Keywords: Clavatispora – morphology – Muyocopron – phylogeny – Rhytidhysteron

10. Assemblage and diversity of asexual fungi in 10 terrestrial damp leaf litters: Comparison of two incubation techniques

Authors: Sridhar KR, Nagesh H, Sharathchandra K

Recieved: 23 May 2020, Accepted: 10 July 2020, Published: 08 September 2020

Freshwater and aero-aquatic hyphomycetes are also known to occur outside their usual aquatic habitats. Thus, this study aims to evaluate their assemblage and diversity in terrestrial damp leaf litters of 10 tree species in scrub jungles of southwestern India. Discs cut from the rinsed leaf litter collected during southwest monsoon were incubated in damp chambers (2 weeks) and bubble chambers (48 hours). Post-incubation at the damp chamber, discs were transferred to sterile, distilled water and shaken on a rotary shaker to release the conidia. Another set of leaf discs from rinsed leaf litter was incubated in sterile distilled water in cotton plugged conical flasks and bubbled through Pasteur pipettes. Released conidia in distilled water were filtered through Millipore filters, mounted on the microscope slides and stained with aniline blue to score the conidia. A total of 31 species of aquatic hyphomycetes were recorded in both methods of incubation. Even though the total number of species (21 vs 20 spp.) and exclusive species (11 vs 10 spp.) were almost equal in both methods, the species composition is varied. Among the nine core-groups (frequency of occurrence, >25%), Flagellospora curvula, Lunulospora curvula and Triscelophous konajensis were common in both methods. The species richness, as well as the conidial abundance were higher for Acacia auriculiformis, Ficus benghalensis and Tectona grandis in litters using both methods. For Artocarpus hirsutus, Careya arborea and Terminalia paniculata, the species richness was high but the conidial output was very low. Despite showing a higher number of species for Artocarpus hirsutus, Eucalyptus tereticornis and Ficus religiosa using both methods, the conidial richness was high only in damp incubation, while it was opposite for the Anacardium occidentale. The species diversity, as well as their equitability, were higher in the damp chamber than bubble chamber incubation. The rarefaction curves for the number of species vs. number of samples and the number of species vs. number of conidia were almost consistent in both methods. Damp chamber incubation, as well as bubble chamber incubation, could be improved to get a more complete picture of colonized mycota in damp leaf litter.

Keywords: aquatic fungi – aero-aquatic fungi – bubble chamber – damp chamber – Ingoldian fungi – scrub jungles

11. Daldinia eschscholtzii: an endophytic fungus isolated from Psidium guajava as an alternative source of bioactive secondary metabolites

Authors: Chutulo EC, Chalannavar RK

Recieved: 23 March 2020, Accepted: 10 July 2020, Published: 01 October 2020

The endophytic fungi were isolated from healthy Psidium guajava leaves after surface disinfection. The selected bioactive isolate was identified based on colony morphology and microscopic characteristics of the fungus. The evolutionary relationship of the fungus was inferred from the ITS-rRNA sequence analysis using MEGA-X and the fungus is identified as Daldinia eschscholtzii. The secondary metabolite was extracted from the selected endophytic fungus cultured in rice medium and potato dextrose broth medium. The solvent extract was evaluated for antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities. The extract showed strong antibacterial activity against the tested bacteria by the agar well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extract observed was 0.312 to 5 mg/ml. The antioxidant activity was determined by 1,1‑diphenyl‑2‑picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), reducing power, and phosphomolybdenum assays have shown strong inhibitory capacity. The total flavonoid and phenolic content estimates amounted to 27.4763 ± 0.68 quercetin equivalent per gram (QE/g) of the extract and 43.853056 ± 0.059 gallic acid equivalent per gram (GAE/g) of the extract, respectively. The extract showed potent cytotoxicity against the lung adino carcinoma human cancer cell line A519 (92.66 ± 0.56%), whereas it is nontoxic to the normal mouse fibroblast cell line NIH3T3. The GC-MS analysis of the extract exhibited the presence of 18 major volatile organic compounds. Therefore, this endophyte can be a renewable source for therapeutic compounds and have the potential to develop antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant agents. To our knowledge, this is the first report of D. eschscholtzii as an endophyte from P. guajava leaves.

Keywords: antibacterial – antioxidant – GC-MS analysis – ITS-rRNA sequencing – MTT assay

12. Pathogenicity of five Botryosphaeriaceae species isolated from Tectona grandis (teak): the pathogenic potential of Lasiodiplodia species

Authors: Dong W, Doilom M, Hyde KD, Phillips A, Yan K, To-anun C, Xu JC, Zhang H, Nalumpang S

Recieved: 05 June 2020, Accepted: 10 September 2020, Published: 02 October 2020

Botryosphaeriaceae species commonly cause cankers and diebacks on woody hosts widely threatening forests and plantations. In this study, pathogenicity tests on Tectona grandis were conducted for five Botryosphaeriaceae species, viz. Barriopsis tectonae, Dothiorella tectonae, Lasiodiplodia brasiliense, L. pseudotheobromae and Sphaeropsis eucalypticola. Detached and wounded T. grandis twigs were inoculated with 0.1 cm3 agar plugs cut from the margins of actively growing colonies. Lesion development was recorded seven days after inoculation. Two isolates of L. pseudotheobromae (MFLUCC 12-0772 and MFLUCC 12-0796) associated with cankers and dieback were significantly pathogenic on T. grandis. However, each of these isolates was found only in one site amongst the 35 sites surveyed. Three species, B. tectonae, D. tectonae and S. eucalypticola were not pathogenic on T. grandis. It is supposed that these species might act as endophytes or saprobes on T. grandis. Two saprobic isolates L. brasiliense (MFLUCC 11-0414) and L. pseudotheobromae (MFLUCC 12-0053) were likely to be potential pathogens. This is the first report of the pathogenic potential of saprobic L. brasiliense and L. pseudotheobromae on teak in Thailand. The possible reasons for lesions caused by these two saprobes are discussed.

Keywords: cankers – dieback – saprobes – Thailand

13. Production of extracellular oxidases in the mycelium of the bioluminescent Neonothopanus nambi (Omphalotaceae, Basidiomycota) grown in submerged culture in different media

Authors: Mogilnaya OA, Ronzhin NO, Posokhina ED, Bondar VS

Recieved: 17 July 2020, Accepted: 09 September 2020, Published: 02 October 2020

Comparative investigations have been conducted to study extracellular peroxidase and alcohol oxidase activities of Neonothopanus nambi grown in submerged culture of different nutrient media. The activities of the enzymes were determined both in the pellets and in the enzyme concentrates. For determining the activity in pellets, mycelial pellets were removed before measuring the nutrient media. The enzyme concentrates were produced by treating the pellets with β-glucosidase. The composition of the nutrient medium affects the biosynthesis rate of fungal extracellular enzymes and the effectiveness of their secretion to the external medium. The most effective release of extracellular oxidases to the external medium was observed in the experiment with the fungus cultivated in the medium based on malt extract (ME). Treatment of N. nambi mycelial biomass with β-glucosidase can be recommended as a technique for extracting pool of extracellular enzymes (including oxidases) from basidiomycetes. This technique can be employed to derive extracts rich in extracellular fungal enzymes and containing low amounts of ballast impurities from basidiomycetes, using a relatively mild treatment, which does not involve the destruction of the biomass.

Keywords: β-glucosidase – fungi – mycelial pellets – nutrient media

14. www.freshwaterfungi.org, an online platform for the taxonomic classification of freshwater fungi

Authors: Calabon MS, Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Chandrasiri S, Dong W, Fryar SC, Yang J, Luo ZL, Lu YZ, Bao DF, Boonmee S

Recieved: 31 July 2020, Accepted: 16 September 2020, Published: 06 October 2020

The number of extant freshwater fungi is rapidly increasing, and the published information of taxonomic data are scattered among different online journal archives. The only online repository, http://fungi.life.illinois.edu/, deals with freshwater ascomycetes and their asexual morphs. Other freshwater fungal groups are not included. The newly developed webpage (www.freshwaterfungi.org/) serves as a gateway to freshwater fungal systematics that provides comprehensive and updated information including detailed descriptions, photographic plates and illustrations, notes, phylogenetic trees, estimated and extant list of species, and other related information. The website is developed with user-friendly interfaces, and the usage is discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Database Website – Freshwater Ascomycota – Freshwater Basidiomycota – Freshwater Chytridiomycota – Microsporidia – Molecular Phylogeny

15. Isolation and Characterization of Fungi Species Associated with Some Selected Fruits Sold in Gashua Markets, Nigeria

Authors: Thliza IA, Rose KL, Mary AM, Nachabatha M, Haruna SS, Mohammed A

Recieved: 30 May 2020, Accepted: 01 October 2020, Published: 22 October 2020

The study aimed at isolation and characterization of fungi species associated with some selected fruits sold in Gashua markets. A total of forty-five fruits with a proportion of fifteen (five oranges, five bananas and five apples) from each market, labeled and were transported to the laboratory in a clean polythene bag for analysis. The sampled fruits were surface-sterilized for 3 minutes with 1% Sodium hypochlorite and rinsed using sterile distilled running water three times and cultured on a Potato Dextrose Agar, replicated three times and, were labeled accordingly. The plates were incubated in an inverted position at 26-30oC for 5-7 days. The identification was aided by using the identification keys. A total of eight (8) fungi species were isolated. The maximum percentage of fungi was noticed in apple as 50%, while banana and orange had the same percentage of 24.99% each. Mucor hiemalis and Rhizopus oligosporus had the highest percentage of 16.67% each out of the eight (8) fungi species isolated. The high percentage of contamination of apple by fungal species could be attributed to poor hygiene during handling and high exposure to environmental conditions or contaminants.

Keywords: Citrus sinensis – Musa sapientum – Malus domestica – Microorganism

16. Two new Sordariomycetes records from forest soils in Thailand

Authors: Yasanthika WAE, Wanasinghe DN, Karunarathna SC, Bhat DJ, Samarakoon SMBC, Ren GC,Monkai J, Mortimer PE, Hyde KD

Recieved: 02 September 2020, Accepted: 09 October 2020, Published: 26 October 2020

Forest soils contain relatively high levels of fungal diversity compared to other soil types and are primarily comprised of pathogens, saprobes or mutualists. This study was conducted to investigate the fungal diversity of mixed deciduous forest soils in Thailand. Fungi were isolated using a dilution plate method and are illustrated, described and subjected to combined phylogenetic analyses (maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses). We herewith report Beltraniella fertilis and Stachybotrys subcylindrospora for the first time from mixed deciduous forest soils of northern Thailand.

Keywords: Beltraniella fertilis – dilution plate method – phylogeny – soil fungi – Stachybotrys subcylindrospora

17. Sexual morph of Diaporthe manihotia (Diaporthales, Ascomycota) from tea in Yunnan province, China

Authors: Abeywickrama PD, Wanasinghe DN, Karunarathna SC, Jayawardena RS, Hyde KD, Zhang W, Li X, Yan J

Recieved: 28 March 2020, Accepted: 01 August 2020, Published: 06 November 2020

A sexual morph of a Diaporthe species was collected from a dead aerial branch of Camellia sp., in Yunnan Province, China. Multi-locus phylogeny of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (BT), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-a), calmodulin (cal) and Histone (H3) genes showed that our strain clustered with Diaporthe manihotia (CBS 505.76) with high statistical support. A comprehensive description, photographs of micro-morphological characteristics and a phylogenetic tree to show the placement of the taxon are provided. This is the first host report of D. manihotia from Camellia sp.

Keywords: Diaporthaceae – Morphology – Phylogeny – Saprobes – Taxonomy– Tea

18. The diversity of endolichenic fungi – A review

Authors: Chakarwarti J, Nayaka S, Srivastava S

Recieved: 08 October 2020, Accepted: 12 November 2020, Published: 03 December 2020

Endolichenic fungi reside inside the lichen thalli without showing any visible symptoms of their presence. The fossil record of endolichenic fungi dates back to 415 million years, however, they have been successfully isolated only since the 1990s. Several reviews are available dealing with the bioprospecting potential of unique metabolites produced by endolichenic fungi; however, reviews addressing their taxonomic diversity are lacking. In this review, the names and the current taxonomic status of the endolichenic fungi reported so far are compiled and updated. The study indicated that approximately 500 endolichenic fungi are isolated of which only 135 identified up to species level. A large number of endolichenic fungi are either partially identified up to genus level or treated as unidentified. The reasons for such treatment are discussed. The study also revealed that only 114 well-known species of lichens belonging to 22 families are utilized for isolation of endolichenic fungi, while in some cases hosts were not identified. These lichens belong mostly to macro lichens with Parmeliaceae as the dominant members. The occurrence of the endolichenic fungi on different groups of plants indicates that they are not host-specific.

Keywords: Endosymbionts – lichenicolous fungi – miniature ecosystem – symbiosis

19. New geographical records of Neopestalotiopsis and Pestalotiopsis species in Guangdong Province, China

Authors: Senanayake IC, Lian TT, Mai XM, Jeewon R, Maharachchikumbura SSN, Hyde KD, Zeng YJ,Tian SL, Xie N

Recieved: 22 August 2020, Accepted: 01 December 2020, Published: 08 December 2020

A study of monocotyledon inhabiting fungi in Guangdong Province, China resulted in the collection of several pestaloid taxa. Evidence from multi-locus phylogenies using ITS, BT and tef 1–α, together with morphology revealed Neopestalotiopsis alpapicalis, Pestalotiopsis diploclisiae and P. parva from living leaves of Phoenix roebelenii. Pestalotiopsis parva was also found on a dead petiole of Phoenix sp. and P. diploclisiae on dead leaves of Butia sp. Pestalotiopsis foedans, P. lawsoniae, P. macadamia and P. virgatula have been reported in Guangdong Province, and Pestalotiopsis parva and P. diploclisiae reported for the first time. This Neopestalotiopsis alpapicalis collection is the first species of the genus collected from this province. We provide descriptions and illustrations for these three isolates. Additionally, we provide a list of Pestalotiopsis and Neopestalotiopsis species recorded from China.

Keywords: Appendage bearing conidia – Coelomycetes – Monocotyledons – Saprobes – Sporocadaceae

20. Novel Use of Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy to Image Dark Septate Endophytic Fungi in Cucurbita maxima

Authors: Hulse JD

Recieved: 21 August 2020, Accepted: 01 December 2020, Published: 18 December 2020

This manuscript provides a novel technical report on the first use of laser scanning confocal microscopy to image dark septate endophytic fungi. This research was conducted using the model organism, Cucurbita maxima, which is known for its diversely shaped and enormously sized fruits. Dark septate endophytic fungi are a paraphyletic group of fungi that convergently evolved to express phenotypes with highly melanized hyphae, septae, and are obligate endophytes of thousands of plant species. These fungi are known to be in association with various mycorrhizas ranging from arbuscular, orchidaceous, and ectomycorrhiza, although the ecological role of dark septate endophytic fungi within their host is still unclear. Dark septate endophytic fungal research has been documented with bright field light microscopy due to their melanized hyphae, but until now, no researchers have imaged dark septate endophytic fungi with laser scanning confocal microscopy. This manuscript provides the first laser scanning confocal micrographs of dark septate endophytic fungi and the first laser scanning confocal micrographs of dark septate endophyte fungi in Cucurbita maxima to date.

Keywords: Agriculture – Biology – Ecology – Microbiology – Microscope – Mycology

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