Recent progress in marine mycological research in different countries, and prospects for future developments worldwide

Early research on marine fungi was mostly descriptive, with an emphasis on their diversity and taxonomy, especially of those collected at rocky shores on seaweeds and driftwood. Subsequently, further substrata (e.g. salt marsh grasses, marine animals, seagrasses, sea foam, seawater, sediment) and habitats (coral reefs, deep-sea, hydrothermal vents, mangroves, sandy beaches, salt marshes) were explored for marine fungi. In parallel, research areas have broadened from micro-morphology to ultrastructure, ecophysiology, molecular phylogenetics, biogeography, biodeterioration, biodegradation, bioprospecting, genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics. Although marine fungi only constitute a small fraction of the global mycota, new species of marine fungi continue to be described from new hosts/substrata of unexplored locations/habitats, and novel bioactive metabolites have been discovered in the last two decades, warranting a greater collaborative research effort. Marine fungi of Africa, the Americas and Australasia are under-explored, while marine Chytridiomycota and allied taxa, fungi associated with marine animals, the functional roles of fungi in the sea, and the impacts of climate change on marine fungi are some of the topics needing more attention. In this article, currently active marine mycologists from different countries have written on the history and current state of marine fungal research in individual countries highlighting their strength in the subject, and this represents a first step towards a collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary research strategy

Fungal diversity notes 1611-1716: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on fungal genera and species emphasis in south China

243 p.This article is the 15th contribution in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, wherein 115 taxa from three phyla, nine classes, 28 orders, 48 families, and 64 genera are treated. Fungal taxa described and illustrated in the present study include a new family, five new genera, 61 new species, five new combinations, one synonym, one new variety and 31 records on new hosts or new geographical distributions. Ageratinicolaceae fam. nov. is introduced and accommodated in Pleosporales. The new genera introduced in this study are Ageratinicola, Kevinia, Pseudomultiseptospora (Parabambusicolaceae), Marasmiellomycena, and Vizzinia (Porotheleaceae). Newly described species are Abrothallus altoandinus, Ageratinicola kunmingensis, Allocryptovalsa aceris, Allophoma yuccae, Apiospora cannae, A. elliptica, A. pallidesporae, Boeremia wisteriae, Calycina papaeana, Clypeococcum lichenostigmoides, Coniochaeta riskali-shoyakubovii, Cryphonectria kunmingensis, Diaporthe angustiapiculata, D. campylandrae, D. longipapillata, Diatrypella guangdongense, Dothiorella franceschinii, Endocalyx phoenicis, Epicoccum terminosporum, Fulvifomes karaiensis, F. pannaensis, Ganoderma ghatensis, Hysterobrevium baoshanense, Inocybe avellaneorosea, I. lucida, Jahnula oblonga, Kevinia lignicola, Kirschsteiniothelia guangdongensis, Laboulbenia caprina, L. clavulata, L. cobiae, L. cosmodisci, L. nilotica, L. omalii, L. robusta, L. similis, L. stigmatophora, Laccaria rubriporus, Lasiodiplodia morindae, Lyophyllum agnijum, Marasmiellomycena pseudoomphaliiformis, Melomastia beihaiensis, Nemania guangdongensis, Nigrograna thailandica, Nigrospora ficuum, Oxydothis chinensis, O. yunnanensis, Petriella thailandica, Phaeoacremonium chinensis, Phialocephala chinensis, Phytophthora debattistii, Polyplosphaeria nigrospora, Pronectria loweniae, Seriascoma acutispora, Setoseptoria bambusae, Stictis anomianthi, Tarzetta tibetensis, Tarzetta urceolata, Tetraploa obpyriformis, Trichoglossum beninense, and Tricoderma pyrrosiae. We provide an emendation for Urnula ailaoshanensis Agaricus duplocingulatoides var. brevisporus introduced as a new variety based on morphology and phylogeny.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesAgencia Estatal de InvestigaciónFEDE

Fungal diversity of mangrove-associated sponges from New Washington, Aklan, Philippines

Sponge-associated fungi are the least explored marine fungal groups. It is only in recent years that fungal symbionts of marine sponges have received attention mainly due to the isolation of bioactive metabolites while not much attention was given to their specificity, biogeography and exact roles in marine sponges. The diversity of fungi associated with mangrove sponges (Axinella sp., Halichondria cf. panicea, Haliclona sp., Tedania sp.) collected from New Washington, Aklan, Philippines were investigated using morphological observation. A total of 110 species of sponge-associated fungi belonging to 22 genera of ascomycetes with 18 genera of asexual morphs whose sexual stage is unknown, 2 genera of basidiomycetes, 21 morphospecies of Mycelia sterilia, 1 unidentified yeast species and 11 unidentified hyphomycetes were isolated from four species of mangrove sponges. This is the first study that explored the diversity and ecology of sponge-associated fungi in mangrove habitats from the Philippines. The results of the study suggest host-preference by various fungal taxa and the development of fungi on these hosts appeared to be strongly influenced by the characteristics or nature of the immediate environment

<p><strong><em>Triseptata sexualis </em></strong><strong>gen. et sp. nov. in <em>Latoruaceae</em> (Pleosporales)</strong></p>

A survey of lignicolous terrestrial ascomycetes conducted in Thailand yielded a number of novel species. In this paper, we report on a terrestrial collection of a taxon from dead branches of an unidentified plant. Triseptata gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by immersed, uni- to multi-loculate ascomata, filamentous pseudoparaphyses, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical-clavate asci and 3-septate, light brown spores, with asymmetrical ends, in its sexual form. In culture, it produced hyphomycetous, globose to subglobose, multi-septate and darkly pigmented conidia-like structures. Phylogenetic analysis of a combined LSU, ITS and SSU dataset shows Triseptata to be a well-separated lineage from all genera in Latoruaceae. Based on multigene phylogeny, Triseptata gen. nov. is introduced to accommodate a single new species Triseptata sexualis and placed in Latoruaceae. Illustrations, descriptions and notes are provided for the new genus and species.</jats:p

Marine fungi of the Baltic Sea

Vast parts of the Baltic Sea have been mycologically neglected and are still awaiting exploration. Here we summarise earlier records of marine fungi from the Baltic, supplementing them with discoveries from fieldwork in Sweden in 2019. Although marine fungal diversity is clearly attenuated in the brackish water of the Baltic Sea, a substantial number has still been discovered. Here we list 77 species from the Baltic Sea, whereas after a critical assessment a further 18 species have been excluded as records of marine fungi. The species have mainly been identified by their morphological features, supplemented by DNA-based diagnostics. Most of the species have their main distributions in temperate areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the Baltic species discovered here represent far disjunctions to tropical waters while only a very few are until now only recorded for the Baltic Sea. In this paper two species belong in Basidiomycota, while the most ascomyceteous speciose classes are Sordariomycetes (with 42 species) and Dothideomycetes (24). Halosphaeriaceae is the most speciose family in marine habitats, as also in the Baltic Sea, represented here by 29 species. Three species are new to Europe, and in addition 13 to the Baltic Sea and 13 to Sweden

Fungal Biodiversity in Salt Marsh Ecosystems

This review brings together the research efforts on salt marsh fungi, including their geographical distribution and host association. A total of 486 taxa associated with different hosts in salt marsh ecosystems are listed in this review. The taxa belong to three phyla wherein Ascomycota dominates the taxa from salt marsh ecosystems accounting for 95.27% (463 taxa). The Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota constitute 19 taxa and four taxa, respectively. Dothideomycetes has the highest number of taxa, which comprises 47.12% (229 taxa), followed by Sordariomycetes with 167 taxa (34.36%). Pleosporales is the largest order with 178 taxa recorded. Twenty-seven genera under 11 families of halophytes were reviewed for its fungal associates. Juncus roemerianus has been extensively studied for its associates with 162 documented taxa followed by Phragmites australis (137 taxa) and Spartina alterniflora (79 taxa). The highest number of salt marsh fungi have been recorded from Atlantic Ocean countries wherein the USA had the highest number of species recorded (232 taxa) followed by the UK (101 taxa), the Netherlands (74 taxa), and Argentina (51 taxa). China had the highest number of salt marsh fungi in the Pacific Ocean with 165 taxa reported, while in the Indian Ocean, India reported the highest taxa (16 taxa). Many salt marsh areas remain unexplored, especially those habitats in the Indian and Pacific Oceans areas that are hotspots of biodiversity and novel fungal taxa based on the exploration of various habitats.</jats:p

Fungal Biodiversity in Salt Marsh Ecosystems

This review brings together the research efforts on salt marsh fungi, including their geographical distribution and host association. A total of 486 taxa associated with different hosts in salt marsh ecosystems are listed in this review. The taxa belong to three phyla wherein Ascomycota dominates the taxa from salt marsh ecosystems accounting for 95.27% (463 taxa). The Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota constitute 19 taxa and four taxa, respectively. Dothideomycetes has the highest number of taxa, which comprises 47.12% (229 taxa), followed by Sordariomycetes with 167 taxa (34.36%). Pleosporales is the largest order with 178 taxa recorded. Twenty-seven genera under 11 families of halophytes were reviewed for its fungal associates. Juncus roemerianus has been extensively studied for its associates with 162 documented taxa followed by Phragmites australis (137 taxa) and Spartina alterniflora (79 taxa). The highest number of salt marsh fungi have been recorded from Atlantic Ocean countries wherein the USA had the highest number of species recorded (232 taxa) followed by the UK (101 taxa), the Netherlands (74 taxa), and Argentina (51 taxa). China had the highest number of salt marsh fungi in the Pacific Ocean with 165 taxa reported, while in the Indian Ocean, India reported the highest taxa (16 taxa). Many salt marsh areas remain unexplored, especially those habitats in the Indian and Pacific Oceans areas that are hotspots of biodiversity and novel fungal taxa based on the exploration of various habitats

Morpho-phylogenetic evidence for the first freshwater record of Trichoderma protrudens Samuels & P. Chaverri (Hypocreales, Sordariomycetes)

Trichoderma protrudens Samuels & P. Chaverri was originally described from the trunk of Theobroma cacao L. in Kerala, India, in 2008. Morphologically, it is defined by trichoderma‑like conidiophores bearing subulate or lageniform phialides, green subglobose to obovoidal conidia, and the presence of chlamydospores in culture. Multilocus phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, rpb2, and tef1-α sequence data confirmed the iden‑ tity of the isolates from the Philippines as T. protrudens, with robust support values (100% ML, 1.00 BPP) clustering them with the holotype CBS 121320. This study represents the first global record of T. protrudens in a freshwater ecosystem, expanding this species’ known ecological range into aquatic environments. These findings emphasize the ecological versatility of T. protrudens and underscore the importance of further investigations into the fungal diversity of freshwater habitats