Global diversity and phylogeny of the Phellinus igniarius complex (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) with the description of five new species.

The Phellinus igniarius complex corresponds to Phellinus s.s., a well supported clade in the polyphyletic Phellinus s.l. studied worldwide. Recently a molecular phylogeny of this complex was performed for the European and North American species. In this study we expand the taxon samplings of the P. igniarius complex to include 59, seven and 12 additional collections originating from China, Czech Republic and USA, respectively. We generated 78 nuc rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) and 42 translation elongation factor 1-α gene (tef1α) sequences. Based on the morphological and phylogenetic (combined ITS and tef1α dataset) analyses, Phellinus monticola, P. orientoasiaticus, P. padicola, P. parmastoi and P. pomaceoides are newly described and illustrated from China and USA. Phellinus pseudoigniarius is treated as a later synonym of P. igniarius, whereas Phellinus betulinus subsp. betulinus is accepted as P. betulinus. A total of 15 species are accepted in the P. igniarius complex worldwide. Of them, 10 species are distributed in eastern Asia, eight in Europe and six in North America. The taxonomy, phylogeny, host associations and geographic distributions of these 15 species are briefly discussed.

Phylogeny and taxonomy of the recently proposed genus Phellinopsis (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota).

Phellinopsis, a recently proposed genus, differs from other genera in Hymenochaetaceae in having setae arising from tramal hyphae and hyaline basidiospores that become pale yellowish with age. The monophyly of 11 taxa, including seven from China, was strongly supported in our phylogeny of ITS sequences. Two species, Phellinopsis junipericola and P. resupinata, are newly described and illustrated from Chinese specimens based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence, bringing the number of known Phellinopsis species worldwide to four. Phylogeny and genetics showed that the North American species, Phellinopsis occidentalis, had an earlier divergence from the other three species. Phellinopsis conchata is distributed in China, Europe and North America, with the Chinese and North American specimens having a closer relationship. An identification key to the four species of Phellinopsis is provided.

[Spatial-temporal Distribution of Aerosol Optical Depth and Its Main Influence Types in China During 1990-2017].

In order to accurately understand the optical characteristics of aerosols in China, based on Mann-Kendall(MK) and Sen's slope trend analysis methods, the spatiotemporal variations of aerosol optical depth(AOD) derived from MERRA-2 reanalysis datasets were estimated in China for the period of 1990-2017. The results showed that ① for the interannual scale, there was a significant increasing trend in the annual mean AOD in China during 1990-2017. Besides, high aerosol loadings were observed in spring and summer, and the seasonal difference between the eastern and western regions was large. This was mainly due to the topographic and meteorological factors. ② At the spatial scale, the annual mean AOD values increased from the northwest to the southeast, with characteristically high AOD values occurring in Sichuan Pendi and the Tarim and Turpan basins and low values in the Qinghai-Xizang plateau region. Similarly, the AOD MK value and Sen's slope value showed significant decreasing trends from the southeast to the northwest, which was closely related to climate change and the human activity intensity. ③ In regard to black carbon aerosol, dust aerosol, organic carbon aerosol, sea salt aerosol, and SO4 aerosol, dust and SO4 aerosols were affected by the air humidity and human activity intensity, which have obvious regional differences in China.

Phylloporia lonicerae (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota), a new species on Lonicera japonica from Japan and an identification key to worldwide species of Phylloporia.

Phylloporia, in the Hymenochaetaceae, is a polypore genus with a worldwide distribution. The new taxon Phylloporia lonicerae is introduced, which is the first Phylloporia species to originate from Japan. This species grows exclusively on living Lonicera japonica and is distinguished by annual, sessile basidiocarps that occur in clusters, pileal surface of narrow, concentrically sulcate zones, 6-8 pores per mm, duplex context separated by a black zone, dimitic hyphal system and broadly ellipsoid basidiospores, 3.2-4 × 2.3-3.1 µm. Phylogenetically, P. lonicerae is nested within the Phylloporia clade as a distinct terminal lineage with full statistical supports and sister to the clade of P. minutispora, P. cf. pulla and P. terrestris with weak supports. Besides Phylloporia bibulosa, P. chrysites and P. spathulata, P. lonicerae is the fourth species of Phylloporia recorded from Japan. An identification key to all accepted 48 species of Phylloporia is provided.

Involvement of NADPH oxidase in hydrogen peroxide accumulation by Aspergillus niger elicitor-induced Taxus chinensis cell cultures.

After determining that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation induced by a fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger was from the superoxide dismutase-catalyzed dismutation of superoxide radical, the site of H2O2 generation in cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis was studied. The results showed that 90% and 10% of the elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation respectively appeared in intracellular and extracellular fractions of cells, and that the elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation in protoplasts and plasma membranes was similar to that in intact cells, indicating that the site of H2O2 accumulation was plasma membranes but not in extracellular fraction of Taxus cells. The H2O2 forming enzyme was also investigated. The elicitor-induced H2O2 accumulation in intact cells was not changed by loss of apoplastic peroxidase (POD) by the washing, and the H2O2 accumulation in plasma membranes was inhibited by the mammalian neutrophil NAD(P)H oxidase inhibitor diphenylene iodonium (DPI), but was slightly affected by exogenous POD and its inhibitor. Furthermore, in plasma membranes, the H2O2 accumulation was more significantly enhanced by NADPH than by NADH, and the former was more obviously decreased by DPI than the latter. The present results show that NADPH oxidase in plasma membranes is involved in H2O2 accumulation in fungal elicitor-induced Taxus chinensis cell cultures.

Hydrogen peroxide from the oxidative burst is not involved in the induction of taxol biosynthesis in Taxus chinensis cells.

In cell suspension cultures of Taxus chinensis, 40 mg/l fungal elicitor from Aspergillus niger and 20 microM HgCl2 elicited 5.7 and 3.6 mg/l taxol, which was a 9-fold and 5-fold increase vs. compared with the control, respectively. The fungal elicitor induced hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) accumulation but HgCl2 did not, indicating that H2O2 was not necessary for enhancement of taxol induced by elicitor. Compared with the treatment with fungal elicitor alone, exogenous catalase, ascorbic acid, diphenylene iodonium and superoxide dismutase induced a 0.45, 0.4, 0.7 and 1.4-fold H2O2, but elicited taxol production, which was 0.98, 1.2, 1.1 and 0.9-fold, respectively, vs. non-treated cells Elicitor-induced taxol production was not accorded with the amount of H2O2 production.