Life cycle and plasmodial axenic culture of Physarum galbeum.

Myxogastrea is a group of eukaryotic microorganisms included in Amoebozoa. Its life cycle includes two trophic stages: plasmodia and myxamoeflagellates. However, only about 102 species have their complete life cycle known in literature and only about 18 species have their plasmodial axenic culture accomplished in laboratory conditions. The research presented herein involved culturing of Physarum galbeum on the water agar medium. The events that transpired during its life cycle including spore germination, plasmodia formation, and sporocarp development were documented especially the subglobose or discoid sporotheca and the stalk formation. The spores germinated by the V-shape split method to release a single protoplasm. Yellow-green pigmented phaneroplasmodia developed into sporocarps by subhypothallic type. The present article gives details of the sporocarp development of P. galbeum and its plasmodial axenic culture on solid and liquid mediums.

Advancements in the taxonomic study of myxomycetes (Myxogastrea) in China.

Species in the class Myxomycetes (or Myxogastrea) are essential components of biodiversity and play important ecological roles in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in forests. Studies on the taxonomy and diversity of these organisms started late in China. However, significant progress in China has been made in modern taxonomic studies on myxomycetes based on long-term species surveying and specimen collecting. The existing achievements have shown that comprehensive and continuous studies on the taxonomy and diversity of myxomycetes in China have the potential to enhance global biodiversity and improve the geographic distribution pattern of myxomycetes. Therefore, building on the current research foundation and expanding myxomycete research in a wider and more in-depth approach is imperative.

Distribution, assembly, and interactions of soil microorganisms in the bright coniferous forest area of China's cold temperate zone.

The bright coniferous forest area in the cold temperate zone of China is a terrestrial ecosystem primarily dominated by low mountain Larix gmelinii trees. Limited information is available regarding the assembly mechanisms and interactions of microbial communities in the soil in this region. This study employed high-throughput techniques to obtain DNA from myxomycetes, bacteria, and fungi in the soil, evaluated their diversity in conjunction with environmental factors, associated them with the assembly process, and explored the potential interaction relationships between these microorganisms. The findings of our study showed that environmental factors had a more significant influence on the α and ß diversity of bacteria compared to myxomycetes and fungi. Microbial communities were influenced by environmental selection and geographical diffusion, although environmental selection appeared to have a more significant impact than geographical diffusion. Our study suggested that different microorganisms exhibited unique evolutionary patterns and may have different assembly modes within phylogenetic groups. Myxomycetes and fungi exhibited a similar assembly process that was mainly influenced by stochastic dispersal limitation and drift. In contrast, bacteria's assembly process was primarily influenced by stochastic drift and deterministic homogeneous selection. The community of myxomycetes and fungi is greatly influenced by spatial distribution and random events, while bacteria have a relatively stable population composition in specific regions and may also be subject to environmental constraints. Finally, this study revealed that Humicolopsis cephalosporioides, a fungus that exclusively resided in cold environments, may play a critical role as a keystone species in maintaining molecular ecological networks and was considered a core member of the microbiome.

Morphological and Molecular Evidence Reveal Eight New Species of Gymnopus from Northeast China.

Gymnopus is a widely distributed genus consisting of about 300 species thus far, including Gymnopus fusipes as a generic type. A total of nine species from China belong to the sect. Levipedes, including eight new species­Gymnopus longisterigmaticus, Gymnopus longus, Gymnopus macrosporus, Gymnopus striatus, Gymnopus changbaiensis, Gymnopus tomentosus, Gymnopus tiliicola, and Gymnopus globulosus­which were delimited and proposed based on morphological and molecular evidence; and one new record from Jilin Province, China­Gymnopus erythropus. Detailed descriptions and illustrations are presented, as well as comparisons to similar species. Overall, our results broaden the morphological characterization of the genus. The pileipellis of sect. Levipedes typically takes on the "Dryophila structure", while, in our findings, pileipellis terminal hyphae inflated to spherical to prolate were observed, in addition to extremely long basidia sterigma. The phylogenies inferred from the ITS and nLSU dataset supported the Gymnopus, which was defined by Oliveira et al. as a monophyletic genus, and the novel species as separate lineages within. A key to all species described in this study is also provided.

Exploring the Relationships between Four New Species of Boletoid Fungi from Northern China and Their Related Species.

The family Boletaceae primarily represents ectomycorrhizal fungi, which play an essential ecological role in forest ecosystems. Although the Boletaceae family has been subject to a relatively global and comprehensive history of work, novel species and genera are continually described. During this investigation in northern China, many specimens of boletoid fungi were collected. Based on the study of their morphology and phylogeny, four new species, Butyriboletus pseudoroseoflavus, Butyriboletus subregius, Tengioboletus subglutinosus, and Suillellus lacrymibasidiatus, are introduced. Morphological evidence and phylogenetic analyses of the single or combined dataset (ITS or 28S, rpb1, rpb2, and tef1) confirmed these to be four new species. The evidence and analyses indicated the new species' relationships with other species within their genera. Detailed descriptions, color photographs, and line drawings are provided. The species of Butyriboletus in China were compared in detail and the worldwide keys of Tengioboletus and Suillellus were given.

Two new psathyrelloid species of Coprinopsis (Agaricales, Psathyrellaceae) from China.

In this study, Coprinopsisjilinensis and Coprinopsispusilla were introduced, based on their morphological characteristics, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and large subunit ribosomal (LSU) region sequences of nrDNA. These new psathyrelloid species were found in Jilin Province, China. Coprinopsisjilinensis has brown pileus, utriform pleurocystidia, brown, smooth, dextrinoid basidiospores and tiny pore. It mainly grows on humus. Coprinopsispusilla has small basidiomata, greyish-white pileus, thick and distinct veil at edges, subcolourless and verrucose basidiospores. It is poreless and it grows on the decaying wood of broad-leaved trees. Both of them belong to the C.sect.Melanthinae. A supplementary description of C.sect.Melanthinae was given in combination with the newly-discovered taxa and an identification key to the fourteen psathyrelloid species of Coprinopsis is provided. Coprinopsissect.Canocipes and C.sect.Quartoconatae were evaluated and the phylogenetic position of the psathyrelloid species of Coprinopsis was discussed. Psathyrellasubagraria, as a confusing species, was also discussed in this study.

Morphology and molecular study of three new Cordycipitoid fungi and its related species collected from Jilin Province, northeast China.

Cordyceps species are notable medicinal fungi in China, which are pathogenic on insects and exhibit high biodiversity in tropical and subtropical regions. Recently, three new Cordyceps species, Cordycepschangchunensis and Cordycepsjingyuetanensis growing on pupae of Lepidoptera and Cordycepschangbaiensis growing on larvae of Lepidoptera, were found in Jilin Province, China and are described, based on morphological and ecological characteristics. These three new species are similar to the Cordycepsmilitaris group, but are distinctly distinguishable from the known species. Cordycepschangchunensis, characterised by its small and light yellow to orange stromata which is occasionally forked, covered with white mycelium at the base of stipe, globose to ovoid perithecia, is macroscopically similar to Cordycepsmilitaris. Cordycepschangbaiensis is clearly discriminated from other Cordyceps species by its white to orange and branched stromata, clavate to cylindrical fertile apical portion, immersed and globose to ovoid perithecia. Moreover, unbranched, clavate and orange to light red stromata, almond-shaped to ovoid and immersed perithecia separate Cordycepsjingyuetanensis from other Cordyceps species. nrITS, nrLSU and EF-1α sequences were undertaken and phylogenetic trees, based on Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference analysis showed that the three new species clustered with Cordycepsmilitaris, but formed individual clades, as well as confirmed the results of our morphological study.

Inhaled nitric oxide in acute respiratory distress syndrome with and without septic shock requiring norepinephrine administration: a dose-response study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this prospective study was to assess whether the presence of septic shock could influence the dose response to inhaled nitric oxide (NO) in NO-responding patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). RESULTS: Eight patients with ARDS and without septic shock (PaO2 = 95 +/- 16 mmHg, PEEP = 0, FiO2 = 1.0), and eight patients with ARDS and septic shock (PaO2 = 88 +/- 11 mmHg, PEEP = 0, FiO2 = 1.0) receiving exclusively norepinephrine were studied. All responded to 15 ppm inhaled NO with an increase in PaO2 of at least 40 mmHg, at FiO2 1.0 and PEEP 10 cmH2O. Inspiratory intratracheal NO concentrations were recorded continuously using a fast response time chemiluminescence apparatus. Seven inspiratory NO concentrations were randomly administered: 0.15, 0.45, 1.5, 4.5, 15, 45 and 150 ppm. In both groups, NO induced a dose-dependent decrease in mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP), pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI), and venous admixture (QVA/QT), and a dose-dependent increase in PaO2/FiO2 (P