Tree defence and bark beetles in a drying world: carbon partitioning, functioning and modelling.

Drought has promoted large-scale, insect-induced tree mortality in recent years, with severe consequences for ecosystem function, atmospheric processes, sustainable resources and global biogeochemical cycles. However, the physiological linkages among drought, tree defences, and insect outbreaks are still uncertain, hindering our ability to accurately predict tree mortality under on-going climate change. Here we propose an interdisciplinary research agenda for addressing these crucial knowledge gaps. Our framework includes field manipulations, laboratory experiments, and modelling of insect and vegetation dynamics, and focuses on how drought affects interactions between conifer trees and bark beetles. We build upon existing theory and examine several key assumptions: (1) there is a trade-off in tree carbon investment between primary and secondary metabolites (e.g. growth vs defence); (2) secondary metabolites are one of the main component of tree defence against bark beetles and associated microbes; and (3) implementing conifer-bark beetle interactions in current models improves predictions of forest disturbance in a changing climate. Our framework provides guidance for addressing a major shortcoming in current implementations of large-scale vegetation models, the under-representation of insect-induced tree mortality

Genomic Features of Response to Combination Immunotherapy in Patients with Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Combination immune checkpoint blockade has demonstrated promising benefit in lung cancer, but predictors of response to combination therapy are unknown. Using whole-exome sequencing to examine non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with PD-1 plus CTLA-4 blockade, we found that high tumor mutation burden (TMB) predicted improved objective response, durable benefit, and progression-free survival. TMB was independent of PD-L1 expression and the strongest feature associated with efficacy in multivariable analysis. The low response rate in TMB low NSCLCs demonstrates that combination immunotherapy does not overcome the negative predictive impact of low TMB. This study demonstrates the association between TMB and benefit to combination immunotherapy in NSCLC. TMB should be incorporated in future trials examining PD-(L)1 with CTLA-4 blockade in NSCLC

Draft genome sequence of Annulohypoxylon stygium, Aspergillus mulundensis, Berkeleyomyces basicola (syn. Thielaviopsis basicola), Ceratocystis smalleyi, two Cercospora beticola strains, Coleophoma cylindrospora, Fusarium fracticaudum, Phialophora cf. hyalina, and Morchella septimelata

Draft genomes of the species Annulohypoxylon stygium, Aspergillus mulundensis, Berkeleyomyces basicola (syn. Thielaviopsis basicola), Ceratocystis smalleyi, two Cercospora beticola strains, Coleophoma cylindrospora, Fusarium fracticaudum, Phialophora cf. hyalina and Morchella septimelata are presented. Both mating types (MAT1-1 and MAT1-2) of Cercospora beticola are included. Two strains of Coleophoma cylindrospora that produce sulfated homotyrosine echinocandin variants, FR209602, FR220897 and FR220899 are presented. The sequencing of Aspergillus mulundensis, Coleophoma cylindrospora and Phialophora cf. hyalina has enabled mapping of the gene clusters encoding the chemical diversity from the echinocandin pathways, providing data that reveals the complexity of secondary metabolism in these different species. Overall these genomes provide a valuable resource for understanding the molecular processes underlying pathogenicity (in some cases), biology and toxin production of these economically important fungi

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1478-1549

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Aschersonia mackerrasiae on whitefly, Cladosporium corticola on bark of Melaleuca quinquenervia, Penicillium nudgee from soil under Melaleuca quinquenervia, Pseudocercospora blackwoodiae on leaf spot of Persoonia falcata, and Pseudocercospora dalyelliae on leaf spot of Senna alata. Bolivia, Aspicilia lutzoniana on fully submersed siliceous schist in high-mountain streams, and Niesslia parviseta on the lower part and apothecial discs of Erioderma barbellatum onatwig. Brazil, Cyathus bonsai on decaying wood, Geastrum albofibrosum from moist soil with leaf litter, Laetiporus pratigiensis on a trunk of a living unknown hardwood tree species, and Scytalidium synnematicum on dead twigs of unidentified plant. Bulgaria, Amanita abscondita on sandy soil in a plantation of Quercus suber. Canada, Penicillium acericola on dead bark of Acer saccharum, and Penicillium corticola on dead bark of Acer saccharum. China, Colletotrichum qingyuanense on fruit lesion of Capsicum annuum. Denmark, Helminthosphaeria leptospora on corticioid Neohypochnicium cremicolor. Ecuador (Galapagos), Phaeosphaeria scalesiae on Scalesia sp. Finland, Inocybe jacobssonii on calcareouss oils in dry forests and park habitats. France, Cortinarius rufomyrrheus on sandy soil under Pinus pinaster, and Periconia neominutissima on leaves of Poaceae. India, Coprinopsis fragilis on decaying bark of logs, Filoboletus keralensis on unidentified woody substrate, Penicillium sankaranii from soil, Physisporinus tamilnaduensis on the trunk of Azadirachta indica, and Poronia nagaraholensis on elephant dung. Iran, Neosetophoma fic on infected leaves of Ficus elastica. Israel, Cnidariophoma eilatica (incl. Cnidariophoma gen. nov.) from Stylophora pistillata. Italy, Lyophyllum obscurum on acidic soil. Namibia, Aureobasidium faidherbiae on dead leaf of Faidherbia albida, and Aureobasidium welwitschiae on dead leaves of Welwitschia mirabilis. Netherlands, Gaeumannomycella caricigena on dead culms of Carex elongata, Houtenomyces caricicola (incl. Houtenomyces gen. nov.) on culms of Carex disticha, Neodacampia ulmea (incl. Neodacampia gen. nov.) on branch of Ulmus laevis, Niesslia phragmiticola on dead standing culms of Phragmites australis, Pseudopyricularia caricicola on culms of Carex disticha, and Rhodoveronaea nieuwwulvenica on dead bamboo sticks. Norway, Arrhenia similis half-buried and moss-covered pieces of rotting wood in grass-grownpath. Pakistan, Mallocybe ahmadii on soil. Poland, Beskidomyces laricis (incl. Beskidomyces gen. nov.) from resin of Larix decidua ssp. polonica, Lapidomyces epipinicola from sooty mould community on Pinus nigra, and Leptographium granulatum from a gallery of Dendroctonus micans on Picea abies. Portugal, Geoglossum azoricum on mossy areas of laurel forest areas planted with Cryptomeria japonica, and Lunasporangiospora lusitanica from a biofilm covering a bio deteriorated limestone wall. Qatar, Alternaria halotolerans from hypersaline sea water, and Alternaria qatarensis from water sample collected from hypersaline lagoon. South Africa, Alfaria thamnochorti on culm of Thamnochortus fraternus, Knufia aloeicola on Aloe gariepensis, Muriseptatomyces restionacearum (incl.Muriseptatomyces gen. nov.) on culms of Restionaceae, Neocladosporium arctotis on nest of cases of bagworm moths(Lepidoptera, Psychidae) on Arctotis auriculata, Neodevriesia scadoxi on leaves of Scadoxus puniceus, Paraloratospora schoenoplecti on stems of Schoenoplectus lacustris, Tulasnella epidendrea from the roots of Epidendrum × obrienianum, and Xenoidriella cinnamomi (incl. Xenoidriella gen. nov.) on leaf of Cinnamomum camphora. South Korea, Lemonniera fraxinea on decaying leaves of Fraxinus sp. frompond. Spain, Atheniella lauri on the bark of fallen trees of Laurus nobilis, Halocryptovalsa endophytica from surface-sterilised, asymptomatic roots of Salicornia patula, Inocybe amygdaliolens on soil in mixed forest, Inocybe pityusarum on calcareous soil in mixed forest, Inocybe roseobulbipes on acidic soils, Neonectria borealis from roots of Vitis berlandieri × Vitis rupestris, Sympoventuria eucalyptorum on leaves of Eucalyptus sp., and Tuber conchae fromsoil. Sweden, Inocybe bidumensis on calcareous soil. Thailand, Cordyceps sandindaengensis on Lepidoptera pupa, buried in soil, Ophiocordyceps kuchinaraiensis on Coleoptera larva, buried in soil, and Samsoniella winandae on Lepidoptera pupa, buriedinsoil. Taiwan region (China), Neophaeosphaeria livistonae on dead leaf of Livistona rotundifolia. Türkiye, Melanogaster anatolicus on clay loamy soils. UK, Basingstokeomyces allii (incl. Basingstokeomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Allium schoenoprasum. Ukraine, Xenosphaeropsis corni on recently dead stem of Cornus alba. USA, Nothotrichosporon aquaticum (incl. Nothotrichosporon gen. nov.) from water, and Periconia philadelphiana from swab of coil surface. Morphological and culture characteristics for these new taxa are supported by DNA barcodes.The work of P.W. Crous and colleagues benefitted from funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (RISE) under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 101008129, project acronym ‘Mycobiomics’, and the Dutch NWO Roadmap grant agreement No. 2020/ENW/00901156, project ‘Netherlands Infrastructure for Ecosystem and Biodiversity Analysis – Authoritative and Rapid Identification System for Essential biodiversity information’(acronym NIEBAARISE). G. Gulden, B. Rian and I. Saar thank K. Bendiksen at the fungarium and G. Marthinsen at NorBol, both Natural History Museum, University of Oslo for valuable help with the collections, and the sequencing of our finds of A. similis from 2022. Sincere thanks to A. Voitk for assistance with the colour plate and review of the manuscript. I. Saar was supported by the Estonian Research Council (grant PRG1170). P. Rodriguez-Flakus and co-authors are greatly indebted to their colleagues and all staff of the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de SanAndrés, La Paz, for their generous long-term cooperation. Their research was financially supported by the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland (grants numbers 2018/02/X/NZ8/02362 and 2021/43/B/NZ8/02902). Y.P. Tan and colleagues thank M.K. Schutze (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland, Australia) for determining the identity of the insect hosts for Aschersonia mackerrasiae. The Australian Biological Resources Study funded the project that led to the discovery of Aschersonia mackerrasiae. K.G.G. Ganga acknowledges support from the University Grants Commission (UGC), India, in the form of a UGC research fellowship (Ref No. 20/12/2015(ii) EU-V), and the authorities of the University of Calicut for providing facilities to conduct this study. S. Mahadevakumar acknowledges the Director, KSCSTE - Kerala Forest Research Institute and Head of Office, Botanical Survey of India,Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair for the necessary support and M. Madappa, Department of Studies in Botany, University of Mysore for technical assistance. A.R. Podile thanks the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for the JC Bose Fellowship (Grant No. JCB/2017/000053) & MoE and IOE-Directorate-UOH for project (Grant No.UOH-IOE-RC3-21-065). Financial support was provided to R. de L. Oliveira and K.D. Barbosa by the Coordenação deAperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) – Finance code 001, and to I.G. Baseia and M.P. Martín by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) under CNPq-Universal 2016 (409960/2016-0) and CNPq-visiting researcher (407474/2013-7). E. Larsson acknowledges the Swedish Taxonomy Initiative, SLU Artdatabanken, Uppsala, Sweden. H.Y. Mun and J. Goh were supported by a grant from the Nakdonggang National Institute of Biological Resources (NNIBR), funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (NNIBR202301106). J. Trovão and colleagues were financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), and by Portuguese funds through FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-PTDC/EPH-PAT/3345/ 2014. Their research was carried out at the R & D Unit Centre for Functional Ecology – Science for People and the Planet (CFE), with reference UIDB/04004/2020, financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC). João Trovão was supported by POCH - Programa Operacional Capital Humano (co-funding by the European Social Fund and national funding by MCTES), through a ‘FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia’ PhD research grant (SFRH/ BD/132523/2017). O. Kaygusuz and colleagues thank the Research Fund of the Isparta University ofApplied Sciences for their financial support under the project number 2021-ILK1-0155. They also thank N. Sánchez Biezma of the Department of Drawing and Scientific Photography at the Alcalá University for his help in the digital preparation of the photographs. The research of M. Spetik and co-authors was supported by project No. IGAZF/2021-SI1003. V. Darmostuk and colleagues acknowledge our colleagues and all staff of the Herbario Nacional de Bolivia, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, for their generous long-term cooperation. They would also like to thank the SERNAP (http://sernap.gob.bo), and all protected areas staff, for providing permits for scientific studies, as well as their assistance and logistical support during the field works. This research was financially supported by the National Science Centre (NCN) in Poland (grant number DEC-2013/11/D/NZ8/ 03274). M. Kaliyaperumal and co-authors thank the Centre of Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras for the laboratory facilities. M. Kaliyaperumal thanks the Extramural Research-SERB, DST (EMR/2016/003078), Government of India, for financial assistance. M. Kaliyaperumal and K. Kezo thanks RUSA 2.0 (Theme-1, Group-1/2021/49) for providing a grant. M. Shivannegowda and colleagues thank C.R. Santhosh, Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysuru for technical support. They also thank K.R. Sridhar, Mangalore University, Karnataka, India and S.S.N. Maharachchikumbura, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu for their support and helping with technical inputs. The study of G.G. Barreto and co-authors was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES - Finance Code 001), and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq - Proc. 131503/2019-7; Proc. 312984/2018-9); the authors also thank to Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica – PPGBOT. L.F.P. Gusmão thanks to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for a research grant. T. Nkomo and colleagues thank the National Research Foundation of SouthAfrica for funding this study, with additional funding from the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute and the University of Pretoria. G. Delgado is grateful to W. Colbert and S. Ward (Eurofins Built Environment) for continual encouragement and provision of laboratory facilities. J.G. Maciá-Vicente acknowledges support from the Landes-Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich-ökonomischer Exzellenz (LOEWE) of the state of Hesse within the framework of the Cluster for Integrative Fungal Research (IPF) of Goethe University Frankfurt. F. Esteve-Raventós and colleagues acknowledge P. Juste and J.C. Campos for the loan of some collections for study and N. Subervielle and L. Hugot (Conservatoire Botanique National de Corse, Office de l’Environnement de la Corse, Corti) for their assistance. They also acknowledge the Balearic Mycology Group (FCB) for their permanent help in the search for collections in the Balearic Islands, and Y. Turégano for obtaining some of the sequences presented here, and L. Parra for his suggestions and help on nomenclatural issues. S. Mongkolsamrit and colleagues were financially supported by the Platform Technology Management Section, National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Project Grant No. P19-50231. S. De la Peña-Lastra and colleagues thank the Atlantic Islands National Maritime-Terrestrial Park authorities and guards. A. Mateos and co-authors would like to thank Secretaria Regional doAmbiente eAlterações Climáticas Açores for the permission granted for the sampling (Licença nº 16/2021/ DRAAC). To the ECOTOX group for co-funding the trip. J. Mack & D.P. Overy were funded byAgriculture &Agri-Food Canada (Project ID#002272: Fungal and Bacterial Biosystematics-bridging taxonomy and “omics” technology in agricultural research and regulation) and are grateful for molecular sequencing support from the Molecular Technologies Laboratory (MTL) at the Ottawa Research & Development Centre of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada. The study of P. Czachura was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, under the project 2019/35/N/NZ9/04173. The study of M. Piątek and coauthors was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland, under the project 2017/27/B/NZ9/02902. O. Yarden and L. Granit were funded by the Israel Science Foundation (grant number 888/19). H. Taşkın and colleagues received support from the BulgarianAcademy of Sciences and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (Bilateral grant agreement between BAS and TÜBİTAK, project number 118Z640). The authors would also like to thank S. Şahin (İzmir, Türkiye) for conveying one of the localities of A. abscondita. Andrew Miller would like to thank the Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois for Sanger sequencing. E.R. Osieck thanks Staatsbosbeheer for permission to collect fungi in Nieuw Wulven, in the Netherlands. P. van ‘t Hof and co-authors thank the Galapagos Genetic Barcode project supported by UK Research and Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund, Newton Fund, University of Exeter, Galapagos Science Center, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Galapagos Conservation Trust, and Biosecurity Agency of Galapagos (ABG).Peer reviewe

Fungal Planet description sheets : 320–370

Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Malaysia: Castanediella eucalypti from Eucalyptus pellita, Codinaea acacia from Acacia mangium, Emarcea eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana, Myrtapenidiella eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus pellita, Pilidiella eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana and Strelitziana malaysiana from Acacia mangium. Furthermore, Stachybotrys sansevieriicola is described from Sansevieria ehrenbergii (Tanzania), Phacidium grevilleae from Grevillea robusta (Uganda), Graphium jumulu from Adansonia gregorii and Ophiostoma eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus marginata (Australia), Pleurophoma ossicola from bone and Plectosphaerella populi from Populus nigra (Germany), Colletotrichum neosansevieriae from Sansevieria trifasciata, Elsinoë othonnae from Othonna quinquedentata and Zeloasperisporium cliviae (Zeloasperisporiaceae fam. nov.) from Clivia sp. (South Africa), Neodevriesia pakbiae, Phaeophleospora hymenocallidis and Phaeophleospora hymenocallidicola on leaves of a fern (Thailand), Melanconium elaeidicola from Elaeis guineensis (Indonesia), Hormonema viticola from Vitis vinifera (Canary Islands), Chlorophyllum pseudoglobossum from a grassland (India), Triadelphia disseminata from an immunocompromised patient (Saudi Arabia), Colletotrichum abscissum from Citrus (Brazil), Polyschema sclerotigenum and Phialemonium limoniforme from human patients (USA), Cadophora vitícola from Vitis vinifera (Spain), Entoloma flavovelutinum and Bolbitius aurantiorugosus from soil (Vietnam), Rhizopogon granuloflavus from soil (Cape Verde Islands), Tulasnella eremophila from Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus (Morocco), Verrucostoma martinicensis from Danaea elliptica (French West Indies), Metschnikowia colchici from Colchicum autumnale (Bulgaria), Thelebolus microcarpus from soil (Argentina) and Ceratocystis adelpha from Theobroma cacao (Ecuador). Myrmecridium iridis (Myrmecridiales ord. nov., Myrmecridiaceae fam. nov.) is also described from Iris sp. (The Netherlands). Novel genera include (Ascomycetes): Budhanggurabania from Cynodon dactylon (Australia), Soloacrosporiella, Xenocamarosporium, Neostrelitziana and Castanediella from Acacia mangium and Sabahriopsis from Eucalyptus brassiana (Malaysia), Readerielliopsis from basidiomata of Fuscoporia wahlbergii (French Guyana), Neoplatysporoides from Aloe ferox (Tanzania), Wojnowiciella, Chrysofolia and Neoeriomycopsis from Eucalyptus (Colombia), Neophaeomoniella from Eucalyptus globulus (USA), Pseudophaeomoniella from Olea europaea (Italy), Paraphaeomoniella from Encephalartos altensteinii, Aequabiliella, Celerioriella and Minutiella from Prunus (South Africa). Tephrocybella (Basidiomycetes) represents a novel genus from wood (Italy). Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.Alina V. Alexandrova was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project N 14-50-00029). Ekaterina F. Malysheva, Olga V. Morozova, Alexander E. Kovalenko and Eugene S. Popov acknowledge financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 13-04-00838a and 15-04-04645a). Margarita Dueñas, María P. Martín and M. Teresa Telleria acknowledge financial support from the Plan Nacional I+D+I projects No. CGL2009-07231 and CGL2012-3559. Cony Decock gratefully acknowledges the financial support received from the FNRS / FRFC (convention FRFC 2.4544.10), the CNRS-French Guiana and the Nouragues staff, which enabled fieldwork in French Guiana, and the Belgian State – Belgian Federal Science Policy through the BCCMTM research programme.http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nhn/pimjam201

Volatile Organic Compounds Emitted by Fungal Associates of Conifer Bark Beetles and their Potential in Bark Beetle Control

Conifer bark beetles attack and kill mature spruce and pine trees, especially during hot and dry conditions. These beetles are closely associated with ophiostomatoid fungi of the Ascomycetes, including the genera Ophiostoma, Grosmannia, and Endoconidiophora, which enhance beetle success by improving nutrition and modifying their substrate, but also have negative impacts on beetles by attracting predators and parasites. A survey of the literature and our own data revealed that ophiostomatoid fungi emit a variety of volatile organic compounds under laboratory conditions including fusel alcohols, terpenoids, aromatic compounds, and aliphatic alcohols. Many of these compounds already have been shown to elicit behavioral responses from bark beetles, functioning as attractants or repellents, often as synergists to compounds currently used in bark beetle control. Thus, these compounds could serve as valuable new agents for bark beetle management. However, bark beetle associations with fungi are very complex. Beetle behavior varies with the species of fungus, the stage of the beetle life cycle, the host tree quality, and probably with changes in the emission rate of fungal volatiles. Additional research on bark beetles and their symbiotic associates is necessary before the basic significance of ophiostomatoid fungal volatiles can be understood and their applied potential realized

Leaf rust infection reduces herbivore-induced volatile emission in black poplar and attracts a generalist herbivore

Plants release complex volatile blends after separate attack by herbivores and pathogens, which play many roles in interactions with other organisms. Large perennials are often attacked by multiple enemies, but the effect of combined attacks on volatile emission is rarely studied, particularly in trees. We infested Populus nigra trees with a pathogen, the rust fungus Melampsora laricipopulina, and Lymantria dispar caterpillars alone and in combination. We investigated poplar volatile emission and its regulation, as well as the behavior of the caterpillars towards volatiles from rust-infected and uninfected trees. Both the rust fungus and the caterpillars alone induced volatile emission from poplar trees. However, the herbivore-induced volatile emission was significantly reduced when trees were under combined attack by the herbivore and the fungus. Herbivory induced terpene synthase transcripts as well as jasmonate concentrations, but these increases were suppressed when the tree was additionally infected with rust. Caterpillars preferred volatiles from rust-infected over uninfected trees. Our results suggest a defense hormone crosstalk upon combined herbivore–pathogen attack in poplar trees which results in lowered emission of herbivore-induced volatiles. This influences the preference of herbivores, and might have other far-reaching consequences for the insect and pathogen communities in natural poplar forests

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Populus nigra shoot resin

The chemical composition of Populus nigra shoot resin has been investigated by chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. The analyses resulted in identification of 19 known compounds. The resin exhibited low activity against selected microorganisms.http://www.naturalproduct.ushb2016Microbiology and Plant Patholog