Microstoma longipilum sp. nov. collected from two localities in Japan is described. It is characterized by long apothecial hairs and salmon pink discs. Molecular phylogenetic analyses supported the novelty of the fungus. We additionally reported the overlooked morphology of hyphal mats, conidiogenous cells produced directly from ascospores, and conidia. With the addition of M. longipilum, now six species of Microstoma are documented in Japan.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) is a broadly used technique for identification and typing of microorganisms. However, its application to filamentous fungi has been delayed. The objective of this study was to establish a data library for rapid identification of the genus Aspergillus sect. Nigri using MALDI-TOF MS. With respect to sample preparation, we compared the utility of using mature mycelia, including conidial structures, to accumulate a wider range of proteins versus the conventional method relying on young hyphae. Mass spectral datasets obtained for 61 strains of 17 species were subjected to cluster analysis and compared with a phylogenetic tree based on calmodulin gene sequences. Specific and frequent mass spectral peaks corresponding to each phylogenetic group were selected (superspectra for the SARAMIS system). Fifteen superspectra representing nine species were ultimately created. The percentage of correct identification for 217 spectra was improved from 36.41% to 86.64% using the revised library. Additionally, 2.76% of the spectra were assigned to candidates that comprised several related species, including the correct species.

A novel species of Tricholoma section Tricholoma, namely, T. olivaceonigrum, is described and illustrated based on samples found in an oak woods dominated by Quercus myrsinifolia, an evergreen oak, in Tottori Prefecture, western Japan. It is characterized by a conic-umbonate, dark-greenish olivaceous pileus with blackish innate fibrils; a whitish silky-fibrillose stipe, often faintly tinted pale yellow and with a narrowed subpointed base; subglobose to broadly elliptic spores; and fruiting in early winter. Phylogenetic analysis targeting the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA gene revealed that T. olivaceonigrum forms a well-supported clade sister to T. portentosum. Other morphologically and phylogenetically closely related species of the section Tricholoma are discussed.

The obligate biotrophic oomycete genus Pustula is one of the four major linages of white blister rusts (Albuginaceae) identified so far. Species of the genus Pustula cause white blister rust on numerous genera in the asterids, represented by several phylogenetically distinct genus-specific lineages, most of which still await formal description. Thus, the observation of the species of Pustula on the Asteraceae subfamily Gymnorhenoideae pointed out to the existence of a hitherto undescribed species. By the morphological and molecular phylogenetic investigation conducted in this study it is concluded that the pathogen on Gymnarrhena micrantha from Iran indeed represents a hitherto unknown species and is described as P. persica. This species has apparently adapted to desert condition and is, after Albugo arenosa, the second species of white blister rust from Iranian deserts, highlighting the adaptability of white blister rusts to hot and dry habitats.

A new species of Parvixerocomus, P. matheranensis belonging to Boletoideae of Boletaceae is described and illustrated from tropical region of Maharashtra, India. P. matheranensis is morphologically distinguished by small basidiomes having ruby red pileus with concolorous stipe, yellow hymenophore that stains blue to blackish blue on bruising, elongate ellipsoid to cylindrical basidiospores with inconspicuous suprahilar depression, ventricose to clavate cheilocystidia, ventricose to lageniform pleurocystidia. Further, extensive phylogenetic analyses based on five gene markers (nrITS, nrLSU, rpb1, rpb2, tef1-α) confirmed that P. matheranensis is distinct from its closest taxa P. aokii and P. pseudoaokii and also from other members of Boletoideae.

Neofusicoccum is a genus of plant pathogenic fungi associated with various woody plants. Since Neofusicoccum has very similar morphological characteristics to the genus Botryospaheria, molecular phylogenetic analysis is essential to determine its taxonomic position. In Japan, a comprehensive taxonomic study of the genus Neofusicoccum has not been conducted. To elucidate the species diversity in Japan, we reexamined Japanese isolates of Neofusicoccum based on their morphology and molecular phylogenetic relationships, using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions rpb2, tef1-α, and tub2. The Japanese isolates were divided into five clades recognized as the species. These species were N. parvum, other Neofusicoccum spp., and three new species proposed in this study, N. hyperici, N. miyakoense, and N. okinawaense. Furthermore, Physalospora laricina, which causes shoot blight of larch (Larix spp.), was transferred to the genus Neofusicoccum, and we propose its epitype and ex-epitype isolate.

Fungi-algae interactions, such as lichen-forming fungi and parasitic chytrids on phytoplankton, are common in ecosystems. In contrast, interactions between filamentous fungi and soil algae that can be observed with the naked eye have been given little attention and remain unexplored. Here, we report a fungus that was associated with a visible symptom of dead algae on a soil surface in Sugadaira-kogen, Nagano, central Japan. Acremonium-like conidiophores were growing on vesicles and dead bodies of a yellow-green alga, Botrydium granulatum. The fungus was identified as Emericellopsis mirabilis based on its morphology by microscopic observation, phylogenetic analysis, and the similarity of the isolation substrate with the first description of the species. Co-culture experiments showed a filamentous cell differentiation of the alga by the fungus, but no harmful or beneficial effects on algal growth. Therefore, we speculate that E. mirabilis is a facultative parasite of B. granulatum under natural conditions.

The genus Fraxinus (Oleaceae), known as ash trees, currently comprises 43 recognized species that are distributed in temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Two Phyllactinia species, P. fraxini and P. fraxinicola, have been known on Fraxinus spp. so far. In this study, powdery mildews belonging to Phyllactinia were collected on Fraxinus spp. from different areas of the world to make molecular and morphological analyses. These specimens are divided into four distinct molecular phylogenetic groups, which are distinguishable by their morphology and/or host preference. Two new species, viz. P. japonica occurring on F. sieboldina and F. lanuginosa f. serrata, and P. fraxini-longicuspidis on F. longicuspis, are proposed in this study. An epitype is designated for P. fraxini. This study indicates very high host specificity among the four Phyllactinia species on Fraxinus, suggesting that genetic isolation by host specificity played a more important role than geographic segregation in the speciation events of these Phyllactinia species. Evolutionary timing calculated by molecular clock analysis suggests that these powdery mildews diverged in accordance with host phylogeny after divergence of host plants.