Recent Papers

Volume 1 - 2010 - Issue 4

1. Diversity and structure of fungal endophytes in some climbers and grass species of Malnad region, Western Ghats, Southern India

Authors: Shankar NB and Shashikala J.

Recieved: 01 August 2010, Accepted: 04 October 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

A total of 3,732 fungal isolates were recovered from 6000 leaf segments incubated from ten medicinal climbers and grass species during the monsoon, winter and summer seasons. The fungi comprised Ascomycota (22.8%), Coelomycetes (17.7%), Hyphomycetes (44.7%), Zygomycetes (0.3%) and mycelia sterilia (14.5%). Alternaria alternata, Chaetomium globosum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. hebarum, Curvularia lunata, Gliocladium roseum, Nigrospora shaerica, and Phyllosticta spp. were frequently isolated. Colonization frequency (%) differed significantly between the seasons (F=5.35). The colonization rate was higher during the winter than in the monsoon and summer seasons.

Keywords: Tropics – symbiotic fungi – variation – species richness

2. Freshwater Ascomycetes: Hyalorostratum brunneisporum, a new genus and species in the Diaporthales (Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes) from North America

Authors: Raja HA, Miller AN, Shearer CA

Recieved: 29 August 2010, Accepted: 20 September 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

Hyalorostratum brunneisporum gen. et sp. nov. (ascomycetes) is described from freshwater habitats in Alaska and New Hampshire. The new genus is considered distinct based on morphological studies and phylogenetic analyses of combined nuclear ribosomal (18S and 28S) sequence data. Hyalorostratum brunneisporum is characterized by immersed to erumpent, pale to dark brown perithecia with a hyaline, long, emergent, periphysate neck covered with a tomentum of hyaline, irregularly shaped hyphae; numerous long, septate paraphyses; unitunicate, cylindrical asci with a large apical ring covered at the apex with gelatinous material; and brown, one-septate ascospores with or without a mucilaginous sheath. The new genus is placed basal within the order Diaporthales based on combined 18S and 28S sequence data. It is compared to other morphologically similar aquatic taxa and to taxa reported from freshwater habitats that share affinities to the Diaporthales.

Keywords: aquatic – fungi – phylogenetics –saprophyte –submerged wood – systematics

3. Powdery mildew on Salvia officinalis in Corrientes, Argentina

Authors: Cabrera MG, Vobis G, Álvarez RE

Recieved: 29 August 2010, Accepted: 08 September 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

We studied a powdery mildew species that affects Salvia officinalis plants in Corrientes, Argentina. Based on the features of the fungus we identified it within the genus Oidium, and its anamorph belongs to the species Golovinomyces biocellatus. The chasmothecia were not observed. A description and an illustration of the specimen are given.

Keywords: Erysiphales – Golovinomyces – Salvia officinalis

4. Impact of substrate on protein content and yield of mushrooms and sclerotia of Pleurotus tuberregium in Nigeria

Authors: Olufokunbi JO, Chiejina NV

Recieved: 20 September 2010, Accepted: 01 October 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

Fruitbodies of Pleurotus tuberregium are universally used as food while sclerotia are used in Nigeria as food condiment and in medicine. Seven different substrates supplemented with fermented sawdust were used to produce mushrooms and sclerotia of P. tuberregium. Mean dry weights of fruitbodies varied from 0.22 g for mixture of topsoil and fermented sawdust substrate to 3.34 g for mixture of river sand and fermented sawdust substrate, while percentage protein content ranged from 20.59% for fermented sawdust substrate to 25.19% for river sand substrate. The rate of substrate colonization had a significant effect on sclerotium production. The mean dry weight yields varied from 46.26 g for mixture of rice bran and fermented sawdust substrate to 127.48 g for fermented sawdust substrate alone. The highest sclerotial protein content (8.40%) was from mixture of rice bran and fermented sawdust substrate although it was not significantly different from those of other substrates. A mixture of river sand and fermented sawdust substrate is recommended as the best substrate for the production of P. tuberregium mushrooms while a mixture of corn waste and fermented sawdust substrate is recommended for sclerotial production.

Keywords: mycelium – nutrition – sawdust – sporophore – supplement

5. Fungi on the grasses, Thysanolaena latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum, in northern Thailand

Authors: Bhilabutra W, McKenzie EHC, Hyde KD, Lumyong S

Recieved: 01 October 2010, Accepted: 04 November 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

Fungi associated with dead leaves and stems of Thysanolaena latifolia and Saccharum spontaneum were collected and identified at two sites. T. latifolia yielded 67 taxa, comprising 24 ascomycetes, 33 hyphomycetes, 9 coelomycetes and 1 myxomycete. The most common genera were Lepto-sphaeria, Niptera, Periconia, Septoria, Stachybotrys, Tetraploa, and Verticillium. S. spontaneum yielded 79 taxa comprising 32 ascomycetes, 37 hyphomycetes, and 10 coelomycetes. The most common genera were Cladosporium, Massarina, Periconia and Tetraploa. The highest species diversity index was recorded on S. spontaneum (H = 6.5), while T. latifolia was lower (H = 5.5). The mycota at the two sites differed significantly in species composition. Percentage similarity for T. latifolia between the two sites was 50.5% while for S. spontaneum it was 52.3 %. A comparison of the fungi occurring on these grasses with those on other monocotyledonous host from tropical regions is presented. Drumopama moonseti and Pycnothyriopsis sp. were reported as rare species in this study. Dendrographium thysanolaenae ined. is considered new to science.

Keywords: diversity – graminicolous fungi – saprobes – tropical fungi

6. New species and newly recorded species of Cercospora and allied genera from Indonesia

Authors: Nakashima C, Oetari A, Kanti A, Saraswati R, Widyastuti Y, Ando K

Recieved: 10 November 2010, Accepted: 16 November 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

During a survey of plant parasitic fungi in Indonesia, we collected some species of morphologically unique fungi from leaf spots of herbal and arboreal plants. Eleven species belonging to the genus Cercospora and allied genera are newly added to the Indonesian mycoflora. Of these, two new Pseudocercospora species are described, P. clerodendri-hastati on Clerodendrum hastatum and P. rhododendrigena on Rhododendron sinense. A record of Cercospora kyotensis on Dichroa febrifuga is only the second since the species was observed on Hydrangea in Japan.

Keywords: cercosporoid fungi – Indonesian mycoflora – Pseudocercospora clerodendri-hastati – Pseudocercospora rhododendrigena – rDNA sequences

7. Guignardia morindae frog eye leaf spotting disease of Morinda citrifolia (Rubiaceae)

Authors: Wulandari NF, To-Anun C, Hyde KD

Recieved: 01 November 2010, Accepted: 25 November 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

Frog eye disease of leaves of Morinda citrifolia (Rubiaceae) was studied in Indonesia and Thailand. The causative species, Guignardia morindae, differs from species of Guignardia on other hosts by the distinct shape of its ascospores. The holotype for this taxon is missing, and therefore a neotype from Indonesia is designated. The species is illustrated from the neotype. New collections were also made from Thailand.

Keywords: Disease record – Indonesia – New record – Phyllosticta – Taxonomy – Thailand

8. Dictyostelid cellular slime moulds in agricultural soils

Authors: Stephenson SL, Rajguru SN

Recieved: 01 November 2010, Accepted: 08 November 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

The distribution and occurrence of dictyostelid cellular slime moulds (dictyostelids) in agricultural soils was investigated in two plots (one with tilled soil and the other with untilled soil) on the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Fayetteville in northwestern Arkansas. Both the percentage of samples yielding dictyostelids and the number of colonies per gram of wet soil were higher in the plot with untilled soil. Just two species of dictyostelids (Dictyostelium giganteum and D. sphaerocephalum) were recovered from the two plots. Only D. sphaerocephalum, a species often associated with disturbed soils, was present in the plot with tilled soil. Both species were present in the plot with untilled soil, but D. giganteum was much more abundant and represented 84% of all colonies recovered from this plot.

Keywords: Arkansas – biomonitors – Dictyostelium – ecology – microorganisms

9. Reproductive systems in the myxomycetes: a review

Authors: Clark J, Haskins EF

Recieved: 16 November 2010, Accepted: 22 November 2010, Published: 12 December 2010

A review of reproduction in the myxomycetes reveals that they have a basic one-locus multiple-alleleic heterothallic mating system, which controls syngamy between haploid amoeboflagellates to produce the diploid plasmodium. However, each morphologically defined species contains a number of biological sibling species that can’t interbreed with each other and are centered in different regions of the world. Also, these morphospecies generally contain numerous non-heterothallic strains that can complete the life cycle from a single isolated spore. While there is information that suggests that some of these strains are homothallic, the majority of the evidence supports an apomictic system derived from a blockage of meiosis during spore formation. Thus, these non-heterothallic strains produce diploid amoeboflagellates that can develop directly into plasmodia without the need for crossing.

Keywords: apomixis– heterothallism – homothallism – sibling-species