The ultrastructure of the septal pore cap (SPC) of Asterodon, Asterostroma and Coltricia were examined to establish the taxonomic position of these genera. Asterostroma has dolipores with perforate SPCs and is classified in the Lachnocladiaceae. In contrast, Asterodon and Coltricia have dolipores with imperforate SPCs and belong to the Hymenochaetaceae. Other selected species of genera belonging to the Hymenochaetaceae like Hydnochaete, Coltriciella, Inonotus, Onnia, and Cyclomyces also contained imperforate SPCs. Coltriciella, Inonotus and Cyclomyces moreover presented a lamella of endoplasmic reticulum above the imperforate SPC after chemical fixation. Such a lamella could rarely be observed in Coltricia only after high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution. Cryofixed fungal cells of Cyclomyces and Coltricia showed differences in the architecture of the matrix of the SPC. Coltricia showed a more layered matrix structure than the SPC of Cyclomyces. In addition, transmission- and scanning electron microscopy revealed an indent in the centre of the imperforate SPC of Cyclomyces, indicating a reduced thickness, and resulting into a tented profile in cross-sections.

Coemansia aciculifera, C. scorpioidea and C. thaxteri were found in the rhizosphere of wheat and a fungus resembling C. spiralis was found in the rhizosphere of barley from two fields in eastern England when serially washed root pieces were incubated on low nutrient agar (SNA).

The presence of some fungi on a variety of food products, like cheeses or cured meat products, is beneficial for the ripening of the product and for the development of specific flavour features. The utilization of these fungi as starters, which are inoculated normally as asexual spores on the food products at the beginning of the ripening process, is becoming a usual procedure in the food industry. The starter culture also prevents undesirable fungi or bacteria from growing on the product. Penicillium nalgiovense is the most frequently used starter for cured and fermented meat products, but the fact that this fungus can secrete penicillin to the meat product makes it important to get strains unable to synthesize this antibiotic. In this work we report that P. nalgiovense strains impaired in penicillin production can be obtained by disruption of the pcbAB gene (the first gene of the penicillin biosynthetic pathway). When applied as starter on cecina (a salted, smoke-cured beef meat product from the region of León, Spain), the pcbAB-disrupted strain showed no differences with respect to the parental penicillin-producing strain in its ability to colonize the meat pieces and to control their normal mycoflora. Both strains exerted a similar control on the presence of bacteria in cecina. A similar proportion of penicillin-sensitive and penicillin-resistant bacteria were isolated from pieces inoculated with the penicillin-producing or the non-producing P. nalgiovense strains. The decrease of the bacterial population on the surface of cecina seems to be due to the higher competition for nutrients as a consequence of the inoculation and development of the P. nalgiovense mycelium and not due to the production of penicillin by this fungus. Penicillin production was less affected than growth in a solid medium with high NaCl concentrations; this suggests that the high salt concentration present in cecina is not a limiting factor for penicillin production by P. nalgiovense.

Conioscypha is reviewed, with a discussion on generic concepts and conidiogenesis. A new genus, Conioscyphopsis, is described from submerged wood in Australia, and a key to species in both genera is provided. Conioscyphopsis australiensis sp. nov. is similar to species of Conioscypha in lacking conspicuous conidiophores, but its dematiaceous, unicellular conidia are produced from ampulliform conidiogenous cells borne on semi-immersed hyphae. Conioscyphopsis differs from Conioscypha mainly in its conidiogenesis. Conidiogenesis in Conioscypha is intermediate between ‘annellidic’ and ‘phialidic’, single conidia being produced endogenously within indeterminate, percurrently proliferating conidiogenous cells. In Conioscyphopsis, conidiogenesis is ‘enteroblastic-phialidic’, solitary conidia being produced exogenously from determinate, but percurrently regenerating conidiogenous cells.

Hebeloma radicosoides sp. nov. is described, illustrated and characterised. It superficially resembles H. radicosum in having a long-rooting stipe with a well-formed, membranous annulus and in having preference for animal wastes as its resources. Its pileus is yellower than that of H. radicosum, and it fruits after addition of urea to soil, whereas H. radicosum does not. It also fruits on various animal wastes whereas H. radicosum specifically fruits on mole or mouse middens. Unlike H. radicosum, H. radicosoides has no distinct odour. Hebeloma radicosoides also resembles Hebeloma luchuense and H. spoliatum in having a long-rooting stipe and in fruiting on urea-treated soil, but differs from them by having a yellowish scaly pileus and distinct, membranous annulus.

Competing ectomycorrhizal fungi can cause problems during the commercial production of edible Tuber species infected plants in greenhouses and later when infected plants are transplanted to the field. We investigated the effect of selective fungicides on Tuber borchii, in the presence of Hebeloma sinapizans, both in vitro and during the production of T. borchii infected Quercus pubescens. Oxycarboxin completely suppressed the growth of H. sinapizans but had only a weak fungitoxic effect on the growth of T. borchii both in vitro and on Q. pubescens roots. In contrast, other fungicides either suppressed both fungi or T. borchii more than H. sinapizans.

Over 600 basidiomycetes were isolated from indigenous forests and commercial Eucalyptus and Pinus plantations in South Africa. One hundred and twenty of the cultures were identified and biochemical tests were done to screen the cultures for characteristics that are favourable for biopulping. Most of the white-rot fungi previously associated with biopulping elsewhere in the world were also isolated in South Africa, as well as an isolate with uniquely regulated ligninolytic systems. Phanerochaete chrysosporium was found to be a natural coloniser of wood chip piles in South Africa.

Potebniamyces pyri (anamorph Phacidiopycnis piri) is the causal agent of Phacidiopycnis rot of apples and pears. The disease has recently been recognized in pears in the USA. Little information on the basic biology of the fungus is available. In this paper, we report the effects of culture media, temperature, water potential and pH on mycelial growth, and the effects of media and light on pycnidia production. Prune juice agar was the best for rapid mycelial growth. Pear juice agar, apple juice agar, potato dextrose agar, and oatmeal agar (OMA) also favoured mycelial growth. Czapek-Dox agar was not suitable for mycelial growth. The fungus was able to grow at temperatures from −3 to 25 °C. Optimal mycelial growth occurred between 15 and 20 °. The average radial growth rate on OMA was 3.9 mm d−1 at 15 ° and 4.4 mm d−1 at 20 °. Mycelial growth was not observed after 10 d at 30 °, but growth resumed at 20 °. The fungus failed to resume growth at 20 ° after being incubated for 10 d at 35 °. The fungus was able to grow at water potentials as low as −4 MPa but no growth took place at −7.3 MPa. Active mycelial growth was observed on OMA at pH between 3.2 and 6.1. Optimal growth was observed at pH around 4 and no growth was observed at pH 7.1. No pycnidia or very few formed on the nine media at 20 ° in the dark. Fluorescent light significantly stimulated formation of pycnidia. OMA was the best medium for production of pycnidia and macroconidia. Pycnidia that formed on 8-wk-old OMA cultures incubated at 20 ° under 12 h dark/12 h light produced abundant macroconidia and the technique is recommended for inoculum production of conidia for research.

Genetic variation was found between isolates of Botrytis elliptica from the USA and Taiwan based on 22 polymorphic markers from five RAPD primers. Among these 69 isolates, there were 43 different genotypes. One clonal genotype was found spanning Oregon and Washington, USA, and in a population from Hsinshe, Taiwan, clonal genotypes were frequent, demonstrating the importance of asexual spread of this pathogen. However, when only unique genotypes were considered, gametic disequilibrium among putative RAPD loci of the genotypes from Taiwan (33) or Hsinshe (23) was not detected, suggesting an underlying sexual recombination system for this population of B. elliptica. A weak level of cultivar specialization was detected among B. elliptica isolates from the Hsinshe population based on analysis of genetic distances between isolates.

Chlorinated anisyl metabolites (CAM) were detected in ethyl acetate extracts from the culture medium of species of seven basidiomycete genera including, for the first time, Mycena, Peniophora, Phellinus and Phylloporia. Extension of CAM biosynthesis in Bjerkandera (B. fumosa), Hypholoma (H. elongatum) and Pholiota (P. adiposa) is a new finding. The selective and high-yield production of 3,5-dichloro-p-anisyl alcohol by H. elongatum is remarkable.

A new genus of freshwater ascomycetes, Cataractisopora, with three new species: C. aquatica, C. appendiculata and C. viscosa, are described. These fungi occur on decaying wood and possess similar characteristics including coriaceous globose ascomata, wide septate paraphyses, cylindrical asci with a relatively massive refractive apical ring and ascospores with polar chambers and filamentous appendages. Appendage material accumulates within the polar chambers and, on release from the ascus, the ascospore appendage unfurls to form long threads. The appendage material is fibrillar at the ultrastructural level, and is derived from episporial projections at the ascospore tip. Although these three fungi are similar to species of Annulatascus, they are assigned to a new genus – Cataractispora based on their unique appendage ontogeny. Annulatascus bipolaris is also assigned to Cataractispora on the basis of its ascospore appendage ontogeny.

The phytopathogen Rhynchosporium alismatis, occurring on Alisma, Sagittaria and other genera in the Alismataceae, is under investigation as a mycoherbicide for alismataceous weeds in Australian rice crops. The type species of Rhynchosporium, R. secalis, belongs in the Helotiales while the phylogenetic relationships of R. alismatis were unknown. To identify fungi related to R. alismatis, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA (ITS1, 5.8S rRNA gene, ITS2) of 56 isolates was sequenced and compared to those available in databases. Analysis of ITS sequences revealed close relationships between R. alismatis and the teleomorph genus Plectosphaerella, as well as several anamorphic fungi which were primarily species of Verticillium. Rhynchosporium alismatis and Plectosphaerella cucumerina clustered together with 98% bootstrap support. Morphological comparisons supported this relationship indicating that R. alismatis and the anamorphic genus Plectosporium are congeneric. Rhynchosporium alismatis is transferred to Plectosporium, a name proposed for conservation.

The strain Trametes sp. I-62 (CECT 20197) is a white-rot fungus with great potential for biotechnological applications in the fields of industrial waste water decolorization and clean up. Three laccase genes: lcc1, lcc2 and lcc3 have been cloned and sequenced from this basidiomycete. In this work, the coding regions of the corresponding cDNAs have been synthesized, cloned, and sequenced. They are 1563, 1563 and 1575 bp in length, respectively. Former putative intron/exon structures from genomic DNA are fully confirmed by match analysis with our cDNA sequences. Using Polymerase Chain Reaction – Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis, an additional laccase cDNA was also identified, corresponding to a new gene, lcc1A, which displayed 99.6% identity with lcc1 at protein level. Such high similarity between lcc1 and lcc1A sequences, and the comparison with reports from other basidiomycete laccases, suggest that in this strain these two genes are allelic variants.

The vegetative life-cycle of Cymadothea trifolii (anamorph Polythrincium trifolii), causing sooty blotch of clover, is described using chemically as well as cryofixed and freeze-substituted samples. The pathogen enters the leaf through stomata and proliferates intercellularly. Nutrients are assumedly obtained via an interaction apparatus produced within the pathogen's hyphae, opposite to which the host cell is triggered to invaginate its plasmalemma. Rare attempts of ‘self-parasitism’ were also seen. Entering the conidial stage, stromata are laid down under the lower epidermis. The dying tissue above may explain the necrotic spots observed on infected leaflets. Foot cells in the conidial stromata produce thick-walled conidiophores, which grow sympodially. New conidiophores may grow into empty shells of old ones. Conidia are detached after pores between them and conidiophores have become plugged by organelles resembling Woronin bodies. Conidia are usually two-celled and their walls contain chitin and β-1,3-glucans as indicated by labelling with gold-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin and anti-β-1,3-glucan antibodies. Both conidiophores and conidia contain a structure which we regard as a new organelle with as yet unknown function.

Lu et al. (2002) described a method for identifying Hericium species by PCR, using the primers HT-U1 and HT-L1 which they specifically designed for this purpose. In our hands these primers do not appear to discriminate between tooth fungi and other wood decay species. Therefore PCR primers were designed that discriminated Creolophus cirrhatus from other species (HER2F/HER3R), and which discriminate Hericium alpestre, H. coralloides and H. erinaceus from other wood decay Ascomycota and Basidiomycota but not from each other (HER2F/HER2R). Using the HER2F/HER3R primers together with traditional isolation and direct incubation procedures, the location of C. cirrhatus in Turkey oak logs was mapped. The PCR approach often detected C. cirrhatus in locations where it was suspected to be, based on patterns of staining and decay, but where it was not revealed by isolation onto agar media, emphasising the value of adopting several approaches to unravel fungal community structure in wood.

A fluorometric-based method for the kinetic measurement of conidia growth of Botrytis cinerea in liquid culture is described. The method involves an oxido-reduction dye, Alamar blue, as an indicator of growth. The effect of nystatin, a non-specific antifungal agent, was studied on conidial germination. An excellent correlation was found between the IC50 obtained by the fluorometric method, and by microscopic measurement. The method is rapid and quantitative, and requires only a small amount of chemicals and fungal material. Since the measurements were performed in a 96-well plate, it is possible to test many different parameters in parallel.

A taxonomic and chorologic study of Protophysarum phloiogenum, including light and SEM micrographs is presented. The authors propose the new family Protophysaraceae in the Physarales.

The South African Cape Floral Kingdom is the world’s smallest and most diverse plant Kingdom, but is greatly under threat from urbanisation and agriculture. It covers only 90000 km2 and has a Mediterranean climate. This area has a long history of botanical studies, but little research has been undertaken on the associated fungi. Therefore, a biodiversity study of the fungi has been initiated. The catalyst for this study has been the diversity of unusual fungi encountered whilst studying the fungal pathogens of Proteaceae. These pathogens include species, or entire genera of fungi that are specific to genera of Proteaceae. The diversity and uniqueness of the Proteaceae pathogens may indicate a similar diversity in saprobic fungi in this unusual habitat. Therefore, microfungi associated with genera of Proteaceae in various habitats are being systematically sampled over a two-year period. The initial results of this study are presented.

Nine isolates of a Colletotrichum sp. collected in North America on yellow water-lily (Nuphar luteum subsp. polysepalum) at five locations in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and one isolate from Nymphaea odorata in Rhode Island were compared to three isolates of C. nymphaeae occurring on Nymphaea alba and Nuphar luteum in Europe. The appressoria of all North American isolates were significantly wider than those of C. nymphaeae. Conidia of the nine PNW isolates were significantly wider than those of both the Rhode Island isolate and C. nymphaeae isolates. All isolates were compared using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and restriction fragment length polymorphism of the ITS region (RFLP-ITS). Two distinct clusters were differentiated in the dendrogram based on the RAPD analysis. The ten North American isolates formed one cluster and the European isolates of C. nymphaeae formed a second cluster. The separation of the North American isolates from the European isolates was supported by distinct restriction digest phenotypes of the ITS region. Based on morphological and molecular characterization the North American fungus is proposed as a new species, C. nupharicola.

The geographical distribution and ecological habitats of the Pleurotus eryngii complex in Israel are described from a study of 60 genotypes from 10 populations. Both MEA and PDA media were suitable for growth of all genotypes at all temperatures tested (4–37 °C). There was a high correlation between a coefficient of growth and the mean colony diameter growth rate. All genotypes reached the maximum growth at 27°. Growth rate at 30° was greater than at 19°. We found highly significant (P < 0.0001) variability among growth rates of Israeli genotypes, indicating ecogeographical differences among populations. The growth rate of 12 European genotypes from the Ukraine and Slovakia was higher than most of the Israeli genotypes when grown at 27° (non-stress conditions), but Israeli genotypes tolerated 37° (stress conditions) better, and recovered faster than European populations when returned to 27°. We conclude that Israeli genotypes are better adapted to hot and dry climates than European genotypes. Based on multiple regression analyses, strong correlations were found between relative humidity and rainfall parameters, but not temperature, of the locations from which Israeli isolates were collected, and their growth rates. This indicates that, paradoxically, relative humidity and rainfall have a stronger effect than temperature on the adaptability of this complex to different environments.