Ecosystems of sandy coasts play an important role to the intersection between ocean and land, and sandy coasts fulfill valuable, different ecosystem functions. Sandy coasts have several protective elements as buffers of land against storm, salt spray, wave attack and erosion of the hinterland, and they provide a unique habitat for flora and fauna. Mycobiota of basidiomycete fungi in sandy coasts also seems to be unique though it is not comprehensively investigated in the world with a few exceptions in Europe and South America. Recently, rapid decreasing of naturally vegetated sandy coasts arises in the world, and conservation of sandy coasts ecosystems is highly required. Investigations of mycobiota in sandy coasts are important to attempt conservation of their ecosystems and biodiversity. In this review, taxonomy and phylogeny of Geastrales, Phallales and Agaricales fungi such as Geastrum, Phallus, Gastrosporium and Typhula species inhabiting in Japanese sandy coasts were presented, and their diversity and biogeographic implications were discussed.

The term “hypogeous fungi” is often broadly applied to fungi that form subterranean sporocarps with morphologically and ecologically adapted to specific habitats. Hypogeous fungi include truffles, truffle-like or secotioid fungi and some gasteroid sporocarp-forming fungi in Mucoromycotina and Glomeromycotina. Systematic studies in Japanese hypogeous fungi have drastically been increased in the last decade. It is currently recognized that species diversity of hypogeous fungi in the Japanese Archipelago is remarkably high. In this review, I focus on recent progress in the systematics of Japanese hypogeous fungi that are phylogenetically related to the bolete genera Leccinum and Leccinellum in Leccinoideae (Boletaceae, Boletales). These fungi belong to four genera with truffle-like basidiomata (i.e., Chamonixia, Octaviania, Rossbeevera and Turmalinea). I give brief descriptions of all infrageneric taxa currently known from Japan as well as the Japanese taxa recently excluded from Leccinoideae.

Seasonal occurrence of macrofungi was investigated on denuded areas formed by thick volcanic deposition of the 2000 eruption on Mt. Usu, Hokkaido, Japan, from 2004 to 2006. Fungal species richness increased from 9 in 2004 to 23 in 2006. Ectomycorrhizal fungal species were found at the first time in autumn in 2005 in the study site; 4 and 8 species were found in 2005 and 2006, respectively. The members of saprotrophic fungal species such as Psathyrellaceae and Strophariaceae found in 2004 were continuously found and their species richness were moderately increasing with the passage of the years. The numbers of macrofungal species disappeared were 2 and 1 during 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, respectively, whereas those of newly appeared were high: 9 and 8 during 2004-2005 and 2005-2006, respectively. The results indicate that macrofungi which utilize resources from plant residue buried underground and/or from regenerated seedlings through symbiotic associations propagated on the denuded areas, and the pattern of succession in macrofungal flora can be characterized as aggregation by the newly recruited species.

In the course of a mycological survey of spoilage of pasteurized and packaged food products, we have frequently encountered Penicillium-like molds in precooked Japanese noodle and pasta products. Six isolates from the noodles and pasta have morphological similarities to two heat-resistant fungi, i.e. P. oblatum and P. sabulosum, which have been isolated from pasteurized products in Australia and described as the indistinct Penicillia. In this paper, with a phylogenetic comparison of the ITS region of rRNA, β-tubulin, and calmodulin genes between the isolates and the type strains of both species, we considered it an opportunity to re-evaluate the taxonomy of P. oblatum and P. sabulosum. As a result, these fungi were regarded to be distinct members of the genus Rasamsonia, Eurotiales. Therefore, we proposed two combinations: Rasamsonia oblata (Pitt & Hocking) Yanai & Udagawa and R. sabulosa (Pitt & Hocking) Yanai & Udagawa.

We investigated dictyostelids in five shrine forests in the areas from south Kanto to south Tohoku regions and found seasonal changes in the frequencies of fruiting bodies and macrocysts formation of Dictyostelium clavatum. This species was suggested to grow in winter and spring, form macrocysts at the same time, and become dormant until autumn.

Harpellales species inhabit the digestive tracts of aquatic insects. Trichozygospora chironomidarum was found in the larval hindgut of Orthocladius sp. (Chironomidae); this is the first record of this fungal genus in Japan. Host larvae were collected from algae-covered rock surfaces in a stream on Mt. Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. This is the 21^st Harpellales species reported from Japan and the eighth recorded on Mt. Tsukuba. As a Harpellales host, larvae of the genus Orthocladius sp. (Chironomidae) are recorded in Japan for the first time.

Two rare chaconiaceous rust fungi were newly found in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Chaconia butleri occurs on a new host plant, Jasminum syringifolia, at Mae Rim. This fungus is unique in producing urediniospores ornamented with longitudinal rows of interconnected rods or ridges. It has been reported on five Jasminum species in India and China. Chrysocelis gynostemmatis occurs on Gynostemma pentaphyllum at Doi Inthanon National Park. This fungus is unique in producing pedicellate aeciospores ornamented with 2-4 rows of acute-ended conical or blunt-ended tuberculate projections. It has been only known in Amami Island and Nakanoshima Island, Kagoshima Pref., Japan.