Two new species of Erysiphe section Uncinula are described and illustrated based on the molecular and morphological analyses: (1) Erysiphe fernandoae sp. nov. on Fernandoa adenophylla is distinct from other Erysiphe species on the plant family Bignoniaceae by having smaller asci, ca 12 appendages per chasmothecium and being found only in Asia; (2) Erysiphe michikoae sp. nov. on Celtis jessoensis differs from Erysiphe kusanoi on other Celtis species in having smaller chasmothecial, ascal and ascospore dimensions, and fewer number of chasmothecium appendages. The phylogenetic relationships of the two new species with other closely related species are discussed based on 28S and ITS rDNA sequences.

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (AMT) was successfully applied to mycelia of the 3 economically important mushrooms Hypsizigus marmoreus, Flammulina velutipes, and Grifola frondosa. We used the hygromycin B resistance gene (hph) under the control of the Cryptococcus neoformans actin promoter. Eighty-six resistant strains of H. marmoreus, 4 of F. velutipes, and 2 of G. frondosa were obtained. All transformants were highly resistant to hygromycin B, suggesting that the C. neoformans actin promoter has a potential universal promoter activity in basidiomycetes. Southern analysis revealed random but single integration of the hph gene.

Genetic variation among 45 Rhizopogon roseolus isolates from 21 different regions of Japan were inferred using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. Using three primer pair combinations, AFLP analysis reproducibly produced a total of 223 DNA fragments, 74.4% of which were polymorphic. Pairwise dissimilarity of AFLP patterns between isolates ranged from 0.043 to 0.228. Cluster analysis and principal coordinate analysis of AFLP data generally showed four major clusters from geographically distinct areas. The findings suggested that the Japanese populations of R. roseolus from different geographical regions can be distinguished based on AFLP characters.

Phakopsora meliosmae, a macrocyclic autoecious rust fungus, is reported to occur on several Meliosma species widely distributed in Asia. Despite the apparent broad host range, a recent molecular phylogenetic study indicated that two rust populations on Meliosma myriantha and Meliosma tenuis respectively in Japan were biologically distinct. To clarify the biological and taxonomic relationships of these populations, cross inoculations and comparative morphological examinations were carried out. Cross inoculations using basidiospores and aeciospores confirmed the macrocyclic, autoecious nature of the life cycle in both rust populations and showed that the two populations were distinct in their host specificity. Furthermore, they were found to be distinct in the structure of the aecial peridium surface, the size and wall thickness of uredinial paraphyses, and the urediniospore size and shape. Consequently, the fungal population on M. tenuis is taxonomically separated from P. meliosmae originally proposed for the fungus on M. myriantha. A new name, Phakopsora orientalis, is proposed for the fungus on M. tenuis.

Twenty-six strains representing three species of Colletotrichum were isolated from leaf and fruit lesions of vitaceous plants in Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, China. The strains were characterized by morphology and phylogenetic analyses of actin, β-tubulin, calmodulin, glutamine synthetase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and rDNA internal transcribed spacer gene sequences. The combined dataset showed that 20 of 26 strains represented a novel species, the rest being Colletotrichum fructicola (four strains) and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (two strains). The new species is described herein as Colletotrichum viniferum. Its conidia, compared with similar Colletotrichum species are cylindrical and 12-16 μm long. Based on pathogenicity tests, C. viniferum caused leaf spots and anthracnose of table grape but was not host-specific.

Eighteen Simplicillium isolates were discovered from soil samples collected on the Honshu, Bonin, and Izu islands in areas under the jurisdiction of Tokyo, Japan. Using a combination of micro-morphological characteristics and sequences of the ribosomal RNA gene ITS region, the isolates were classified as six Simplicillium species, and five of them were previously undescribed. The five species (Simplicillium aogashimaense, Simplicillium cylindrosporum, Simplicillium obclavatum, Simplicillium subtropicum and Simplicillium sympodiophorum) were discovered from the Chichi-jima, Hachijo, and Aogashima islands, and Simplicillium minatense was discovered from Honshu. The five new species and three known species are distinguished by conidial morphology.

To test the hypothesis that xylariaceous endophytes were ubiquitous on live and dead leaves of various tree species in the field, xylariaceous fungi were isolated from live leaves and bleached and nonbleached portions of dead leaves of a total of 94 tree species in a cool temperate forest in Japan. The biodiversity of xylariaceous endophytes was evaluated as the richness of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) determined by phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequence of the D1/D2 region of the LSU rDNA of fungal isolates. A total of 326 isolates of xylariaceous fungi were isolated from live and dead leaves and classified into 15 OTUs. The three major OTUs, Xylaria sp.1, Nemania sp., and Biscogniauxia sp., accounted for 94% (308 isolates) of the total number of isolates, and were isolated from various live and dead leaves. Xylaria sp.1 was frequently encountered on bleached portions (which were produced due to the selective decomposition of lignin) of dead leaves of broad-leaved deciduous tree species. The results suggest that xylariaceous endophytes did not show host specificity and had a saprobic phase on dead leaves in their life cycles and that Xylaria sp.1 was capable of decomposing lignin in the field conditions.

Two new Daedalea species were described from South China based on morphological and molecular evidences. Daedalea circularis sp. nov. was discovered from Guangdong and Yunnan provinces, it is characterized by its bluish gray to peach, glabrous, concentrically sulcate and zonate pileal surface with irregular, white to cream outgrowth and fuscous to black patches spreading from the base, round hymenophore, colorless, thin-walled cystidioles present in the hymenium which sometimes with branched apiculus and occasionally collapsed and septate. Daedalea radiata sp. nov. was discovered from Yunnan Province, it is easily recognizable by its effused-reflexed, grayish-brown to fuscous, hispid pileal surface with angular to daedaleoid pores, tissue darkening and skeletal hyphae slightly swollen in KOH, and a typical catahymenium formed by apices of skeletal hyphae in the hymenium.

Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 28S, ITS and IGS rDNA sequences indicate that Erysiphe japonica (≡ Typhulochaeta japonica) consists of two different genetic groups, one group on Quercus aliena, Q. robur and Q. serrata, and another group on Q. crispula var. crispula and Q. crispula var. horikawae. As morphological difference between the two groups are not yet marked distinctly, we suppose that the process of speciation has not yet been finished and propose a new variety, E. japonica var. crispulae, for the latter group based on the difference in host range and the distinct genetic segregation. Quercus robur (pedunculate oak) is a new host of E. japonica.

Molecular phylogeny suggests a close relationship of Asteraceae to the early evolution of Golovinomyces. The family Asteraceae, with a geographic origin in South America, expanded into the Northern Hemisphere, where it may have been infected by an ancestor of Golovinomyces, thus starting a close host-parasite relationship. Using this event as a calibration point, we designed molecular clocks for powdery mildews using the 28S rDNA D1/D2 and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. According to these clocks, the powdery mildews originated in the Late Cretaceous and the first radiation of the major lineages occurred at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. Ancestral powdery mildews may have first radiated on broad-leaved deciduous trees in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, and continued further speciation whilst migrating to southward during the world cooling in the Paleogene and Neogene periods. The cradle of four herb infecting genera, viz. Blumeria, Golovinomyces, Leveillula, and Neoërysiphe may be within the area extending from Central/West Asia to the Mediterranean.

Lenzitopsis (Thelephorales, Basidiomycota), typified by Lenzitopsis oxycedri, was monotypic before we described the second species of this genus, Lenzitopsis daii in this study. L. daii resembles L. oxycedri in producing lenzitoid hymenophore as well as brown hyphae and echinulate spores, but it differs from the type species by its annual basidiocarps, amyloid spores and growth exclusively on Juniperus chinensis (Cupressaceae). In the phylogenetic perspective inferred with nuclear large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences, the two species were separated from each other and formed a strongly supported clade in the Thelephorales. The two Lenzitopsis species showed a more than 5% difference in internal transcribed spacer sequences. Lenzitopsis species are wood-decaying fungi, and this is the second genus of the order where mycorrhizal life style is unknown, besides of Amaurodon.