Neogrisphenol A, a Potential Ovarian Cancer Inhibitor from a New Record Fungus Neohelicosporium griseum.

From the rice fermentation product of a new record fungus, Neohelicosporium griseum, two new polyketides, neogrisphenol A (1) and neogrisphenol B (2), one new isochroman-1-one, (S)-6-hydroxy-7-methoxy-3,5-dimethylisochroman-1-one (3), and four known compounds (4-7) were isolated. Their structures were determined using 1D- and 2D-NMR, mass spectrometry, and chemical calculations. The C-3~C-2' polymerization mode between the two α-naphthalenone derivative moieties is uncommon in compounds 1 and 2. Meanwhile, compounds 1-2 and 5 exhibited antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC values ranging between 16 and 31 µg/mL. In addition, compound 5 showed antifungal activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Phytophthora nicotianae var. nicotianae, with respective IC50 values of 88.14 ± 2.21 µg/mL and 52.36 ± 1.38 µg/mL. Compound 1 showed significant cytotoxicity against A2780, PC-3, and MBA-MD-231 cell lines with respective IC50 values of 3.20, 10.68, and 16.30 µM, and the cytotoxicity against A2780 cells was even higher than that of cisplatin (CDDP). With an IC50 value of 10.13 µM, compound 2 also exhibited cytotoxicity against A2780. The in vitro results showed that compound 1 inhibited A2780 cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, and arrested the cell cycle at the S-phase in a concentration-dependent manner.

Additions to Rhytidhysteron (Hysteriales, Dothideomycetes) in China.

In this study, twelve terrestrial hysteriaceous saprobic fungi growing on different pieces of dead wood were collected from Yunnan Province, China. All hysteriaceous strains isolated in this study tallied with the general characteristics associated with Rhytidhysteron. Detailed morphological characteristics and combined multigene phylogeny of LSU, ITS, SSU, and TEF showed that the twelve hysteriaceous fungi strains represent four distinct new species, and seven new host or geographical records of Rhytidhysteron. Based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence, the four new species (Rhytidhysteron bannaense sp. nov., R. coffeae sp. nov., R. mengziense sp. nov., and R. yunnanense sp. nov.) expand the number of species of Rhytidhysteron from thirty-three to thirty-seven, while seven new geographical records expand the records of Rhytidhysteron in China from six to thirteen. In addition, 10 new Rhytidhysteron host records are reported for the first time, thus expanding the known hosts for Rhytidhysteron from 52 to 62. Full descriptions, images of the morphology, and phylogenetic analyses to show the position of the Rhytidhysteron taxa are provided. In addition, the present study summarizes the main morphological characteristics, host associations, and locations of this genus.

Endophytic Fungi Associated with Aquilaria sinensis (Agarwood) from China Show Antagonism against Bacterial and Fungal Pathogens.

Agarwood is the most expensive non-construction wood product in the world. As a therapeutic agent, agarwood can cure some diseases, but few studies have been carried out on the antagonistic abilities of endophytic fungi associated with agarwood. Agarwood is mainly found in the genus Aquiaria. The objectives of this study are to understand the antimicrobial activities and their potential as biocontrol agents of the endophytic fungi of Aquilaria sinensis. First, fresh samples of A. sinensis were collected from Yunnan and Guangdong Provinces in 2020-2021, and the endophytic fungi were isolated and identified to genus level based on the phylogenetic analyses of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. In this bioassay, 47 endophytic strains were selected to check their bioactivities against three bacterial pathogens viz. Erwinia amylovora, Pseudomonas syringae, and Salmonella enterica; and three fungal pathogens viz. Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, and Penicillium digitatum. The antibiosis test was carried out by the dual culture assay (10 days), and among the 47 strains selected, 40 strains belong to 18 genera viz. Alternaria, Annulohypoxylon, Aspergillus, Botryosphaeria, Colletotrichum, Corynespora, Curvularia, Daldinia, Diaporthe, Fusarium, Lasiodiplodia, Neofusicoccum, Neopestalotiopsis, Nigrospora, Paracamarosporium, Pseudopithomyces, Trichoderma, Trichosporon and one strain belongs to Xylariaceae had antimicrobial activities. In particular, Lasiodiplodia sp. (YNA-D3) showed the inhibition of all the bacterial and fungal pathogens with a significant inhibition rate. In addition, the strains viz; Curvularia sp. (GDA-3A9), Diaporthe sp. (GDA-2A1), Lasiodiplodia sp. (YNA-D3), Neofusicoccum sp. (YNA-1C3), Nigrospora sp. (GDA-4C1), and Trichoderma sp. (YNA-1C1) showed significant antimicrobial activities and are considered worthy of further studies to identify individual fungal species and their bioactive compounds. This study enriches the diversity of endophytic fungi associated with agarwood, and their potential antagonistic effects against bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Ten decadal advances in fungal biology leading towards human well-being.

Fungi are an understudied resource possessing huge potential for developing products that can greatly improve human well-being. In the current paper, we highlight some important discoveries and developments in applied mycology and interdisciplinary Life Science research. These examples concern recently introduced drugs for the treatment of infections and neurological diseases; application of -OMICS techniques and genetic tools in medical mycology and the regulation of mycotoxin production; as well as some highlights of mushroom cultivaton in Asia. Examples for new diagnostic tools in medical mycology and the exploitation of new candidates for therapeutic drugs, are also given. In addition, two entries illustrating the latest developments in the use of fungi for biodegradation and fungal biomaterial production are provided. Some other areas where there have been and/or will be significant developments are also included. It is our hope that this paper will help realise the importance of fungi as a potential industrial resource and see the next two decades bring forward many new fungal and fungus-derived products.

Fungal Species from Rhododendron sp.: Discosia rhododendricola sp.nov, Neopestalotiopsis rhododendricola sp.nov and Diaporthe nobilis as a New Host Record.

In the present study, we report two new asexual fungal species (i.e., Discosia rhododendricola, Neopestalotiopsis rhododendricola (Sporocadaceae) and a new host for a previously described species (i.e., Diaporthe nobilis; Diaporthaceae). All species were isolated from Rhododendron spp. in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. All taxa are described based on morphology, and phylogenetic relationships were inferred using a multigenic approach (LSU, ITS, RPB2, TEF1 and TUB2). The phylogenetic analyses indicated that D. rhododendronicola sp. nov. is phylogenetically related to D. muscicola, and N. rhododendricola sp. nov is related to N. sonnaratae. Diaporthe nobilis is reported herein as a new host record from Rhododendron sp. for China, and its phylogeny is depicted based on ITS, TEF1 and TUB2 sequence data.

Three New Species, Two New Records and Four New Collections of Tubeufiaceae from Thailand and China.

Tubeufiaceae, a cosmopolitan family with a worldwide distribution, is mostly reported as saprobic on decaying woody materials from both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The family is commonly found as helicosporous hyphomycetes, while some are chlamydosporous and phragmosporous. In this study, thirteen helicosporous hyphomycetes were collected from Thailand and China. The phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU, TEF1-α, and RPB2 sequence data placed them in Dematiohelicomyces, Helicoma, Helicotruncatum, Neohelicosporium, Parahelicomyces, and Tubeufia within Tubeufiaceae. Three new species, Tubeufia cocois, Parahelicomyces chiangmaiensis, and Neohelicosporium bambusicola, one new host record, Tubeufia laxispora, and one new geographic record, T. longihelicospora, are introduced based on both morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses. In addition, Dematiohelicomyces helicosporus, Helicoma guttulatum, Helicotruncatum palmigenum, and Tubeufia cylindrothecia are described with detailed descriptions and color photo plates.

One New Species and Two New Host Records of Apiospora from Bamboo and Maize in Northern Thailand with Thirteen New Combinations.

The genus Apiospora is known as a cosmopolitan genus, found across various substrates. In this study, four Apiospora taxa were obtained from the decaying stems of bamboo and maize in northern Thailand. Apiospora collections were compared with known species based on the morphological characteristics and the DNA sequence data of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), the partial large subunit nuclear rDNA (LSU), the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (TEF1-α) and beta-tubulins (TUB2). Apiospora chiangraiense sp. nov. and two new host records (Ap. intestini and Ap. rasikravindra) are introduced here based on the morphological characteristics and multi-locus analyses. Additionally, thirteen species previously identified as Arthrinium are introduced as new combinations in Apiospora, viz., Ap. acutiapica, Ap. bambusicola, Ap. biserialis, Ap. cordylines, Ap. cyclobalanopsidis, Ap. euphorbiae, Ap. gelatinosa, Ap. locuta-pollinis, Ap. minutispora, Ap. pseudorasikravindrae, Ap. septate, Ap. setariae and Ap. sorghi.

Monilochaetes pteridophytophila (Australiascaceae, Glomerellales), a new fungus from tree fern.

BACKGROUND: During taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of fungi on pteridophytes in Thailand, Monilochaetes pteridophytophila sp. nov. was collected from the frond stalks of a tree fern (Alsophila costularis, Cyatheaceae). The new species is introduced, based on evidence from morphology and phylogenetic analyses of a concatenated dataset of LSU, ITS, SSU and RPB2 sequences. NEW INFORMATION: Monilochaetes pteridophytophila differs from extant species of Monilochaetes in having darker conidiophores with fewer septae (1-4-septate). Monilochaetes pteridophytophila forms a distinct clade, basal from other species of Monilochaetes in Australiascaceae. A detailed description and illustrations of the new species are provided. We also provided a synopsis of accepted species of Monilochaetes.

Multi-Gene Phylogeny and Morphology Reveal Haplohelminthosporium gen. nov. and Helminthosporiella gen. nov. Associated with Palms in Thailand and A Checklist for Helminthosporium Reported Worldwide.

Palms (Arecaceae) are substrates for a highly diverse range of fungi. Many species are known as saprobes and many are important plant pathogens. Over the course of our studies of micro-fungi from palms in Thailand, two new taxa were discovered. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU, SSU, and tef1-α sequence data revealed their taxonomic positions within Massarinaceae. There are currently ten genera identified and accepted in Massarinaceae, with the addition of the two new genera of Haplohelminthosporium and Helminthosporiella, that are introduced in this paper. Each new genus is provided with a full description and notes, and each new taxon is provided with an illustration for the holotype. A list of identified and accepted species of Helminthosporium with morphology, host information, locality, sequence data, and related references of Helminthosporium reported worldwide is provided based on records in Species Fungorum 2021. This work provides a micro-fungi database of Haplohelminthosporium, Helminthosporiella, and Helminthosporium which can be modified and validated as new data come to light.

Novel species of Pestalotiopsis fungi on Dracaena from Thailand.

A survey of the diversity and distribution of microfungi on Dracaena leaf litter in Songkhla Province (Thailand) yielded two collections of pestalotiopsis-like fungi. Analyses of a combined ITS, TEF1-α and TUB2 sequence data matrix were applied to infer the phylogenetic position of these new isolates in Pestalotiopsis. The phylogenies indicated that these two isolates were monophyletic and constituted a distinct lineage that perceived a taxonomic novelty in Pestalotiopsis. This clade shared a close phylogenetic affinity with P. adusta, P. krabiensis, P. pandanicola and P. papuana. The comparison of morphological features with the phylogenetically closely related taxa are given and the new species is introduced as Pestalotiopsis dracaenicola sp. nov. with comprehensive descriptions and illustrations herein.

Polyketide-Derived Secondary Metabolites from a Dothideomycetes Fungus, Pseudopalawania siamensisgen. et sp. nov., (Muyocopronales) with Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities.

Pseudopalawania siamensisgen. et sp. nov., from northern Thailand, is introduced based on multi-gene analyses and morphological comparison. An isolate was fermented in yeast malt culture broth and explored for its secondary metabolite production. Chromatographic purification of the crude ethyl acetate (broth) extract yielded four tetrahydroxanthones comprised of a new heterodimeric bistetrahydroxanthone, pseudopalawanone (1), two known dimeric derivatives, 4,4'-secalonic acid D (2) and penicillixanthone A (3), the corresponding monomeric tetrahydroxanthone paecilin B (4), and the known benzophenone, cephalanone F (5). Compounds 1-3 showed potent inhibitory activity against Gram-positive bacteria. Compounds 2 and 3 were inhibitory against Bacillus subtilis with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 1.0 and 4.2 µg/mL, respectively. Only compound 2 showed activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis. In addition, the dimeric compounds 1-3 also showed moderate cytotoxic effects on HeLa and mouse fibroblast cell lines, which makes them less attractive as candidates for development of selectively acting antibiotics.

Characterization of the Castanopsis carlesii Deadwood Mycobiome by Pacbio Sequencing of the Full-Length Fungal Nuclear Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS).

Short-read next generation sequencing (NGS) platforms can easily and quickly generate thousands to hundreds of thousands of sequences per sample. However, the limited length of these sequences can cause problems during fungal taxonomic identification. Here we validate the use of Pacbio sequencing, a long-read NGS method, for characterizing the fungal community (mycobiome) of Castanopsis carlesii deadwood. We report the successful use of Pacbio sequencing to generate long-read sequences of the full-length (500-780 bp) fungal ITS regions of the C. carlesii mycobiome. Our results show that the studied deadwood mycobiome is taxonomically and functionally diverse, with an average of 85 fungal OTUs representing five functional groups (animal endosymbionts, endophytes, mycoparasites, plant pathogens, and saprotrophs). Based on relative abundance data, Basidiomycota were the most frequently detected phyla (50% of total sequences), followed by unidentified phyla, and Ascomycota. However, based on presence/absence data, the most OTU-rich phyla were Ascomycota (58% of total OTUs, 72 OTUs) followed by Basidiomycota and unidentified phyla. The majority of fungal OTUs were identified as saprotrophs (70% of successfully function-assigned OTUs) followed by plant pathogens. Finally, we used phylogenetic analysis based on the full-length ITS sequences to confirm the species identification of 14/36 OTUs with high bootstrap support (99-100%). Based on the numbers of sequence reads obtained per sample, which ranged from 3,047 to 13,463, we conclude that Pacbio sequencing can be a powerful tool for characterizing moderate- and possibly high-complexity fungal communities.

Recommended names for pleomorphic genera in Dothideomycetes.

This paper provides recommendations of one name for use among pleomorphic genera in Dothideomycetes by the Working Group on Dothideomycetes established under the auspices of the International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF). A number of these generic names are proposed for protection because they do not have priority and/or the generic name selected for use is asexually typified. These include: Acrogenospora over Farlowiella; Alternaria over Allewia, Lewia, and Crivellia; Botryosphaeria over Fusicoccum; Camarosporula over Anthracostroma; Capnodium over Polychaeton; Cladosporium over Davidiella; Corynespora over Corynesporasca; Curvularia over Pseudocochliobolus; Elsinoë over Sphaceloma; Excipulariopsis over Kentingia; Exosporiella over Anomalemma; Exserohilum over Setosphaeria; Gemmamyces over Megaloseptoria; Kellermania over Planistromella; Kirschsteiniothelia over Dendryphiopsis; Lecanosticta over Eruptio; Paranectriella over Araneomyces; Phaeosphaeria over Phaeoseptoria; Phyllosticta over Guignardia; Podonectria over Tetracrium; Polythrincium over Cymadothea; Prosthemium over Pleomassaria; Ramularia over Mycosphaerella; Sphaerellopsis over Eudarluca; Sphaeropsis over Phaeobotryosphaeria; Stemphylium over Pleospora; Teratosphaeria over Kirramyces and Colletogloeopsis; Tetraploa over Tetraplosphaeria; Venturia over Fusicladium and Pollaccia; and Zeloasperisporium over Neomicrothyrium. Twenty new combinations are made: Acrogenospora carmichaeliana (Berk.) Rossman & Crous, Alternaria scrophulariae (Desm.) Rossman & Crous, Pyrenophora catenaria (Drechsler) Rossman & K.D. Hyde, P. dematioidea (Bubák & Wróbl.) Rossman & K.D. Hyde, P. fugax (Wallr.) Rossman & K.D. Hyde, P. nobleae (McKenzie & D. Matthews) Rossman & K.D. Hyde, P. triseptata (Drechsler) Rossman & K.D. Hyde, Schizothyrium cryptogamum (Batzer & Crous) Crous & Batzer, S. cylindricum (G.Y. Sun et al.) Crous & Batzer, S. emperorae (G.Y. Sun & L. Gao) Crous & Batzer, S. inaequale (G.Y. Sun & L. Gao) Crous & Batzer, S. musae (G.Y. Sun & L. Gao) Crous & Batzer, S. qianense (G.Y. Sun & Y.Q. Ma) Crous & Batzer, S. tardecrescens (Batzer & Crous) Crous & Batzer, S. wisconsinense (Batzer & Crous) Crous & Batzer, Teratosphaeria epicoccoides (Cooke & Massee) Rossman & W.C. Allen, Venturia catenospora (Butin) Rossman & Crous, V. convolvularum (Ondrej) Rossman & Crous, V. oleaginea (Castagne) Rossman & Crous, and V. phillyreae (Nicolas & Aggéry) Rossman & Crous, combs. nov. Three replacement names are also proposed: Pyrenophora grahamii Rossman & K.D. Hyde, Schizothyrium sunii Crous & Batzer, and Venturia barriae Rossman & Crous noms. nov.