Tricholoma sinoacerbum, a putatively ectomycorrhizal fungus in association with broad-leaved trees is described and illustrated as a new species from Xiangtoushan, a national nature reserve in Guangdong Province of China. The new species is characterized by its cream-colored or pale yellow pileus, bitter taste, strong smell when being dried, ovoid to ellipsoid basidiospores and an ixo-trichoderm pileipellis. Phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal RNA clearly showed that three species, namely T. acerbum, T. japonicum and T. roseoacerbum from different geographical regions, are closely related to T. sinoacerbum, but they are easily distinguished from the new species based on the morphological and genetic evidence. Detailed description, color photos and illustrations of the new species are presented.

The genus Agaricus includes cultivated species of nutritional and medicinal interest, such as A. bisporus and A. subrufescens. The latter and A. flocculosipes were the only species of the A. sect. Arvenses that have been reported from Thailand. In this section, we introduce Agaricus subtilipes, a new species from North Thailand. Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) ribosomal RNA gene showed that this new species is sister to A. flocculosipes. A comparison of Agaricus subtilipes with tropical species of A. sect. Arvenses led us to revisit the species A. bambusae. Unexpectedly, A. bambusae var. bambusae which was described from Africa was shown to be a synonym of Agaricus subrufescens based on molecular data. In contrast, A. bambusae var. australis which was described from New Zealand was not closely related to A. subrufescens, but was a sister species to A. subantarcticus, also described from this country; this variety is therefore raised to species rank and renamed as A. horakianus. In experimental cultivation, an isolate of A. subtilipes fructified on compost substrate with conditions used for A. subrufescens cultivation. This first fruiting test showed that A. subtilipes can be domesticated, however further investigations are required to optimize conditions for industrial yields.

Aucuba japonica (Japanese aucuba), native to Japan, is an evergreen shrub distributed in the Japanese Archipelago and cultivated worldwide as an ornamental plant. A powdery mildew with Pseudoidium-type asexual morph commonly occurs on this species. Because of the absence of sexual morph (chasmothecia), the taxonomic identity of this fungus has been unclear for a long time. The new species Erysiphe aucubae is proposed for this fungus based on molecular phylogenetic analyses and a detailed morphological description of the asexual morph.

Clavulina livida sp. nov. is described from southwestern China based on morphological and molecular evidence. This fungus is mainly characterized by light mineral gray to glaucous gray and simple or palmately branched basidiomata, basidia with two cornute sterigmata, presence of post-partal septa, slightly large globose to subglobose spores, abundant clamp connections, and absence of cystidia. Molecular phylogenic analysis of Clavulina livida and related species was carried out based on the sequences of internal transcribed spacer region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (ITS). The combination of morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis confirmed that Clavulina livida as a new species in Clavulina. Morphological description, phylogenetic analysis and a key for Clavulina species from China are provided.

Conoideocrella krungchingensis, a fungal pathogen infecting armored scale insects (Diaspididae) on a dicotyledonous plant, is described and illustrated as a new species from Thailand. The new taxon morphologically resembled C. luteorostrata but could be distinguished from the latter using the sequences of the partial nuclear large subunit rRNA (LSU) and the elongation factor (EF-1α) genes. Apart from it, asci and ascospores of C. krungchingensis were found notably shorter than those of C. luteorostrata and C. tenuis. All three species of Conoideocrella have been reported from Thailand, including C. krungchingensis.

Ganoderma lingzhi is a kind of precious medicinal mushroom. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in the regulation of a broad range of biological processes. In this study, we first report on the miRNAs of the G. lingzhi sporocarp. In total, 132 known miRNAs and 34 putative candidate (PC) miRNAs were identified for the first time in G. lingzhi sporocarp. Through target gene prediction, 111 of 132 known miRNAs had targeted genes, 58 of them had more than one, and most predicted targeted genes might be regulated by more than one miRNA; functional enrichment by KEGG analysis demonstrated that target genes related to cancer and signal transduction occupied the largest proportion. A total of seven miRNAs (four known miRNAs and three PC miRNAs) that had high abundance were selected for expression confirmation by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and northern blotting. This is the first comprehensive study of the miRNA composition in G. lingzhi, which resulted in the addition of a significant number of novel miRNA sequences to miRBase and laid the foundation for further understanding of the function of miRNAs in the regulation of G. lingzhi.

A new pig truffle species, Choiromyces helanshanensis sp. nov., was identified and illustrated in China using a morphological approach and sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2) and the D1–D2 domains of the nuclear ribosomal large subunit (LSU) locus. This new species differs from other species of the genus in globose ascospores with conspicuously spiny ornamentation. Phylogenetic analysis also supports its identification as a distinct species. Several species with similar morphological characters are herein discussed, and a phenotypic key to related species is provided. This study confirms the occurrence of members of Choiromyces in China and provides fundamental information about the species diversity of this genus for further studies.

Rhizopogon (Boletales) is an ectomycorrhizal fungal genus that forms symbiotic associations with Pinaceae trees, especially Pinus and Pseudotsuga, and produce hypogeous sporocarps. The taxonomy of Rhizopogon has been well-studied in Europe and North America, but little work has been conducted in Asia. In Japan, previous studies described several Rhizopogon species, each of which was associated with two-leaved pines (subgenus Pinus) or Pseudotsuga japonica. In the present study, we describe R. alpinus sp. nov. and R. nitidus sp. nov. associated with Pinus pumila (subgenus Strobus) distributed in alpine regions of Japan. These two new species are phylogenetically and morphologically distinct from other Rhizopogon species, especially those associated with the subgenus Pinus.

Podoserpula is described from Australia and mainly collected from the southern hemisphere. It is characterized by the brightly colored multi-storied basidiocarps, non-amyloid and thick-walled ellipsoid to subglobose basidiospores, distributed in subtropical to tropical regions. In this study, P. ailaoshanensis is described and illustrated as a new species based on morphological and molecular evidence. This species is characterized by its multi-storied basidiocarps, zonate and fuzzy pileus, light ivory to yellow orange pileal surface, hollow main axis, and globose to subglobose, thick-walled basidiospores (4.1–5 × 3.9–4.8 μm). Phylogenetically, on the basis of combined dataset of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), nuclear large subunit rDNA (nLSU), translation elongation factor 1-α gene (EF1-α) and small subunit nuclear ribosomal RNA gene (nSSU), P. ailaoshanensis is strongly supported as a new species of Podoserpula.