Additions to Diatrypaceae (Xylariales): Novel Taxa and New Host Associations.

Diatrypaceae members have a broad distribution and are commonly found on decaying wood. Despite taxonomic and morphological challenges within this group, there has been a growing interest in Diatrypaceae in recent years. The dead branches of several plant hosts with fungal fruiting bodies were collected from Doi Tung National Park, Chiang Rai, and the Narathiwat Provinces in Thailand. Their morphological characteristics, coupled with a molecular phylogeny of combined ITS and tub2 sequence data, were used to introduce two novel Allodiatrype species (A. dalbergiae and A. eleiodoxae) and one new Melanostictus species (M. chiangraiensis). Moreover, four new host records, Diatrypella heveae, D. major, Melanostictus thailandicus, and Paraeutypella citricola on Microcos paniculata, Nayariophyton zizyphifolium, Dalbergia cultrata, and M. paniculata, respectively, as well as a new geographical record of D. major are reported. This research provides detailed descriptions of macro- and microcharacteristics, coupled with a phylogenetic tree for the newly introduced species and host records. The morphological features of Allodiatrype and Melanostictus are listed in the synoptic table.

Taxonomy and evolution history of two new litter-decomposing Ciliochorella (Amphisphaeriales, Sporocadaceae).

The genus Ciliochorella is a group of pestalotioid fungi, which typically occurs in subtropical and tropical areas. Species from the Ciliochorella genus play important roles in the decomposition of litter. In this study, we introduce two new species (Ciliochorellachinensissp. nov. and C.savannicasp. nov.) that were found on leaf litter collected from savanna-like vegetation in hot dry valleys of southwestern China. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, ITS and tub2 sequence datasets indicated that C.chinensis and C.savannica respectively form a distinct clade within the Ciliochorella genus. The comparison of the morphological characteristics indicated that the two new species are well differentiated within this genus species. Analysis of the evolutionary history suggests that Ciliochorella originated from the Eurasian continent during the Paleogene (38 Mya). Further, we find that both new species can produce cellulase and laccase, playing a decomposer role.

First report of cobweb disease in Auricularia cornea caused by Hypomyces mycophilus in Guizhou, China.

Auricularia cornea is a widely cultivated mushroom in China, which has high medicinal values such as hemostaticity, analgesia, antioxidation and anti-tumor (Wu et al., 2019). In 2022, an investigation on edible mushroom diseases in Guizhou Province observed a suspected cobweb disease in an A. cornea growing factory, with up to 30% incidence. The pathogen first produced flocculent hyphae on the surface of the fruiting body of A. cornea, and then developed spider web-like aerial hyphae, covering the entire fruiting bodies. It hinders the normal growth of A. cornea, resulting in deformity and rot of the fruiting bodies. These symptoms seriously affect the quantity and quality of mushroom yields and cause huge economic losses. Three fungal isolates (GUCCX001, GUCCX002 and GUCCX003) were recovered from the diseased mushroom fruiting bodies and purified through single spore isolation. The colonies of three isolates spread rapidly on PDA, reaching 79-82 mm in seven days. The flocculent mycelium was whitish, and its reverse turned from yellowish to amber after 14 days. The branched conidiophores arising from aerial mycelia were septate and each cell contained several denticulate conidiogenous loci. Each denticle contained a single conidium. Conidia were observed at the tip of conidiophore branches and were 0-1-septate, oval or spherical, transparent, 5.2-11.3 × 11.7-18.7 µm (n = 35). Chlamydospores were visible as 3-4 thick-walled cells at the tip of lateral hyphal branches. Three isolates were tentatively identified as H. mycophilus based on their morphological characteristics similar to those described by Rogerson and Samuels (1993). The sequence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (primers ITS5/ITS4) (Rehner and Samuels, 1994) and nuclear ribosomal large subunit (LSU) region (primers LR0R/LR5) (Vilgalys and Heste, 1990) of GUCCX001 (ITS: OP777905; LSU: OQ152071), GUCCX002 (ITS: OP862872; LSU: OQ152072) and GUCCX003 (ITS: OP862873; LSU: OP862873) were 99%-100% similar to H. mycophilus CBS 175.56 (ITS: MH857567; LSU: MH869110). Fifteen healthy fruiting bodies of A. cornea were inoculated by spraying spore suspension (106 conidia/mL) of the three isolates and five healthy fruiting bodies were sprayed with sterile water as control. All inoculated fruiting bodies were kept at 25 ℃. After three days, fruiting bodies of A. cornea treated with the spore suspension exhibited the same symptoms of cobweb as in the factory, while no symptom appeared in the control. Pathogens re-isolated from diseased fruiting bodies were confirmed to be H. mycophilus based on morphological characteristics, which fulfills the Koch's postulate. Zeng et al. (2017) reported H. mycophilus on the fruiting bodies of Auricularia sp. as a new record in Guangdong, China. H. mycophilus caused cobweb disease on A. auricula (Liu et al., 2020), A. cornea var. Li. (Cao et al., 2023) and A. heimuer (Zhang et al., 2023). To our knowledge, this is the first report of cobweb disease in A. cornea caused by H. mycophilus in Guizhou, China. Our findings will provide a basis for correct diagnosis and management of cobweb diseases on A. cornea.

Taxonomy and control of Trichoderma hymenopellicola sp. nov. responsible for the first green mold disease on Hymenopellis raphanipes.

Trichoderma spp. are a group of widespread fungi with important applications in many aspects of human life, but they are also pathogens that cause green mold disease on mushrooms. During a survey of mushroom cultivation in Guizhou, China, five strains of Trichoderma from three different localities were isolated from soil in mushroom bags of Hymenopellis raphanipes. The typical morphology of having gregarious, reddish stromata and gregarious phialides and the results of phylogenetic analyses based on a combined dataset of RPB2, TEF, and ITS gene sequences demonstrated that these green-spored Trichoderma belong to a new taxon, Trichoderma hymenopellicola. Pathogenicity tests by covering fungal mycelial blocks or soil mixed with spore suspension in mushroom bags showed similar symptoms to those in the field, and the same fungal pathogen had been observed and re-isolated from these symptoms, which fulfill Koch's postulates. A primary screening test of nine common fungicides indicated that prochloraz-manganese chloride complex and propiconazole are the top two effective fungicides inhibiting the pathogen, whereas the former was further indicated as a suitable fungicide to control Trichoderma hymenopellicola, with a high inhibition ratio to the pathogen and low toxicity to the mushroom.

Arbitrary superposition of plasmonic orbital angular momentum states with nanostructures.

A kind of plasmonic nanostructure is proposed that can generate the arbitrary superposition of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states in surface plasmons (SPs), which is achieved by combining the segmented spirals with nanoslit pairs. The structures can independently modulate both the phase and amplitude of SP waves, and thus enable the superposition of two OAM states with arbitrary topological charges (TCs) as well as free control of their relative amplitudes. Superposed states distributed over the entire Bloch sphere and hybrid superposed states with different TCs were constructed and experimentally demonstrated. This work will offer more opportunities for multifunctional plasmonic devices.

Population Inversion and Dirac Fermion Cooling in 3D Dirac Semimetal Cd3As2.

Revealing the ultrafast dynamics of three-dimensional (3D) Dirac fermions is critical for both fundamental science and device applications. So far, how the cooling of 3D Dirac fermions differs from that of two-dimensional (2D) and whether there is population inversion are fundamental questions to be answered. Here we reveal the ultrafast dynamics of Dirac fermions in a model 3D Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 by time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with a tunable probe photon energy. The energy- and momentum-resolved relaxation rate shows a linear dependence on the energy, suggesting Dirac fermion cooling through intraband relaxation. Moreover, a population inversion is reported based on the observation of accumulated photoexcited carriers in the conduction band with a lifetime of 3.0 ps. Our work provides direct experimental evidence for a long-lived population inversion in a 3D Dirac semimetal, which is in contrast to 2D graphene with a much shorter lifetime.

First report of Diplodia mutila causing leaf blight on Magnolia grandiflora in China.

Magnolia grandiflora is a widely cultivated ornamental tree in China. In June 2020, a leaf blight disease was observed on M. grandiflora in Guizhou University (26° 44' 57'' N, 106° 65' 94'' E) in Guiyang, China. The initial symptoms on leaves were expanding round necrotic lesions with a grey center and dark brown edge, and twigs were withered when the disease was serious. Of the 100 plants surveyed 65% had symptoms. To isolate the potential causal pathogen, diseased leaves were collected from an M. grandiflora tree at Guizhou University. Isolations from made form the junction between healthy and symptomatic tissue and disinfested by immersing in 75% ethanol for 30 seconds, 3% NaOCl for 2 minutes, and then washed 3 times in sterile distilled water. Symptomatic tissue was then plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25ºC with 12-hour light for 3-5 days. Three isolates (GUCC 21235.1, GUCC 21235.2 and GUCC 21235.3) were obtained. Colonies on PDA after 7 d were dark brown, pycnidia embedded in the mydelium were dark brown to black, single and separated. Conidiophores were transparent measuring 7-12.5 × 2.5-4.5 µm (mean = 9.5 × 3.6 µm, n = 30) in length. Conidia were transparent becoming brown when mature with a diaphragm, with round ends measuring, 21-27 × 10-15 µm (mean = 23.6 × 12.6 µm, n = 30). To confirm the pathogen by molecular characterization, four genes or DNA fragments, ITS, LSU, tef1 and ß-tubulin, were amplified using the following primer pairs: ITS4-F/ ITS5-R (White et al., 1990), LR0R/ LR5 (Rehner & Samuels, 1994), EF1-688F/ EF1-986R (Carbone & Kohn, 1999) and Bt2a/ Bt2b (O'Donnell & Cigelnik, 1997). The sequences of four PCR fragments of GUCC 21235.1 were deposited in GenBank, and the accession numbers were MZ519778 (ITS), MZ520367 (LSU), MZ508428 (tef1) and MZ542354 (ß-tubulin). Bayesian inference was performed based on a concatenated dataset of ITS, LSU, tef1 and ß-tubulin gene using MrBayes 3.2.10, and the isolates GUCC 21235.1 formed a single clade with the reference isolates of Diplodia mutila (Diplodia mutila strain CBS 112553). BLASTn analysis indicated that the sequences of ITS, LSU, tef1 and ß-tubulin revealed 100% (546/546 nucleotides), 99.82% (568/569 nucleotides), 100% (302/302 nucleotides), and 100% (437/437 nucleotides) similarity with that of D. mutila in GenBank (AY259093, AY928049, AY573219 and DQ458850), respectively. For confirmation of the pathogenicity of this fungus, a conidial suspension (1×105 conidia mL-1) was prepared from GUCC 21235.1, and healthy leaves of M. grandiflora trees were surface-disinfested by 75% ethanol, rinsed with sterilized distilled water and dried by absorbent paper. Small pieces of filter paper (5 mm ×5 mm), dipped with 20 µL conidial suspension (1×105 conidia mL-1) or sterilized distilled water (as control), were placed on the bottom-left of the leaves for inoculation. Then the leaves were sprayed with sterile distilled water, wrapped with a plastic film and tin foil successively to maintain high humidity in the dark dark. After 36 h, the plastic film and tin foil on the leaves was removed, and the leaves were sprayed with distilled water three times each day at natural condition (average temperature was about 25 °C, 14 h light/10 h dark). After 10 days of inoculation, the same leaf blight began to appear on the leaves inoculated with conidial suspension. No lesion was appeared on the control leaves. The fungus was re-isolated from the symptomatic tissue. Based on the morphological information and molecular characterization, the isolate GUCC 21235.1 is D. mutila. Previous reports indicated that D. mutila infects a broad host range and gives rise to a canker disease of olive, apple and jujube (Úrbez-Torres et al., 2013; Úrbez-Torres et al., 2016; Feng et al., 2019). This is the first report of leaf blight on M. grandiflora caused by D. mutila in China.

Acrocalymmachuxiongense sp. nov., a new species of Acrocalymmaceae (Pleosporales) on leaves of Quercus.

Background: In Huafo Mountain, Mouding, Yunnan Province, China, we found black protrusions on the leaf surface of Quercus plants. The collection which we identified as Acrocalymmachuxiongense sp. nov., a new species of Acrocalymmaceae (Pleosporales) is characterised by dome-shaped ascomata, bitunicate asci with pedicel furcate and an ocular chamber and hyaline, obovoid to ellipsoid, 1-septate ascospores. New information: Morphologically, this species is typical with obovoid to ellipsoid, larger ascospores than other known species in Acrocalymma. Phylogenetic analysis also showed that it represents a distinct clade, distant to any other species of Acrocalymma. Therefore, we introduce it as Acrocalymmachuxiongense, a new species of Acrocalymmaceae. This study is adding to the current situation where there are very few species and lack of teleomorph characteristics.

Additions to Neopestalotiopsis (Amphisphaeriales, Sporocadaceae) fungi: two new species and one new host record from China.

Background: In this study, three Neopestalotiopsis taxa were identified, associated with leaves of Zingiberofficinale, Elaeagnuspungens and Salaccazalacca. New information: Based on morphology and multi-gene analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), beta-tubulin (TUB2) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1), the five strains of Neopestalotiopsis represent two novel and one known species. They are introduced with descriptions, illustrations and notes herein.

Two new species of Neopestalotiopsis from southern China.

BACKGROUND: Pestalotiopsis-like fungi are widely distributed in many plants and include endophytes, pathogens and saprobes. Five strains of Neopestalotiopsis were isolated from diseased leaves of Rhapisexcelsa (Principes, Palmae), Rhododendronsimsii and Rho.championiae (Ericales, Ericaceae) and Erythropalumscandens (Santalales, Olacaceae) in southern China. NEW INFORMATION: Based on morphology and multi-gene (ITS, tub2, tef1) phylogeny, our five strains of Neopestalotiopsis represent two new species and one extant species. Descriptions, illustrations and notes are also provided for the new species.

Molecular and Morphological Assessment of Septoria Species Associated with Ornamental Plants in Yunnan Province, China.

The Karst landform is the main geographic characteristic in South China. Such areas are rich in vegetation and especially suitable for growth of shrubs and herbaceous plants. In this study, 11 Septoria strains were obtained from different plants' leaves collected in the Kunming Botanical Garden, Yunnan Province, China. Based on single-gene and multi-gene analyses of five gene loci (tef1, rpb2, tub2, ITS, and LSU) and four gene regions (without LSU), these strains were found to belong to three independent phylogenetic lineages representing five species, including four novel taxa, and one new record for China. Five single gene trees were also provided to evaluate the effectiveness of each gene for discriminating the species, as a result of which tub2 was found to have the most suitable DNA barcode for rapid identification. Morphological descriptions, illustrations, and comparisons are provided for a more comprehensive assessment. Genealogical Concordance Phylogenetic Species Recognition (GCPSR) with a pairwise homoplasy index (PHI) test was used to evaluate the conclusions of the phylogenetic analyses.

Allophoma species (Pleosporales: Didymellaceae) associated with Thunbergia grandiflora in Guangxi Province, China.

BACKGROUND: Thunbergia grandiflora belongs to the family Acanthaceae and is a widely distributed dicotyledonous plant in tropical and subtropical regions. Three isolates of Allophoma (Dothideomycetes, Pleosporales, Didymellaceae) were collected from leaves of T. grandiflora in Guangxi Province, China. NEW INFORMATION: Phylogenetic analyses of a combined ITS-LSU-rpb2-tub2 dataset indicate that one of our three strains represents an undescribed species with close affinity to A. minor and the other two strains clustered amongst other isolates of A. pterospermicola. Evidence from morphology and sequence analysis indicates that GUCC 2070.7 is a new species that we introduce here as A. thunbergiae. This is the first report about taxa of Allophoma from this host plant.

Generation of vector beams of Bell-like states by manipulating vector vortex modes with plasmonic metasurfaces.

Metasurfaces with orthogonal nano-slit pairs arranged on spirals are proposed to generate vector beams (VBs) of Bell-like states and slanted polarizations. The design of the metasurfaces is based on the theoretically derived parameter condition for manipulation of the two vector vortex modes, which is satisfied by matching the three parameters of rotation order m, the spiral order n, and incident polarization helicity σ. The linear polarization states of the VBs are controlled by the initial orientation angle φ0 of slit pairs. VBs of satisfying quality are experimentally obtained, with the analytical and simulated results validated.

Lasiodiplodia syzygii sp. nov. (Botryosphaeriaceae) causing post-harvest water-soaked brown lesions on Syzygium samarangense in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Syzygium samarangense (Wax apple) is an important tropical fruit tree with high economic and nutrient value and is widely planted in the tropics or subtropics of Asia. Post-harvest water-soaked brown lesions were observed on mature fruits of ornamental wax apples in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. A fungus with morphological characters, similar to Lasiodiplodia, was consistently isolated from symptomatic fruits. Phylogenetic analyses, based on ITS, LSU, TEF1-a and tub2, revealed that our isolates were closely related to, but phylogenetically distinct from, Lasiodiplodia rubropurpurea. NEW INFORMATION: Morphological comparisons indicated that pycnidia and conidiogenous cells of our strains were significantly larger than L. rubropurpurea. Comparisons of base-pair differences in the four loci confirmed that the species from wax apple was distinct from L. rubropurpurea and a new species, L. syzygii sp. nov., is introduced to accommodate it. Pathogenicity tests confirmed the newly-introduced species as the pathogen of this post-harvest water-soaked brown lesion disease on wax apples.

One new species and one new record of Zasmidium in China.

BACKGROUND: Two hyphomycetous species were collected from leaves of Smilax china (Liliales, Smilacaceae) and Cremastra appendiculata (Asparagales, Orchidaceae). ITS barcoding indicated that they belong to the genus Zasmidium. NEW INFORMATION: Morphological data in combination with molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU and rpb2 confirmed that our Chinese strains represented a new species, Zasmidium liboense and a new record of Z. citri-griseum.

Elevated preoperative platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts poor prognosis of patients with primary gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are considered to reflect the systemic inflammatory response and clinical prognosis. However, the independent prognostic values of the NLR and PLR for patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) remain debatable. This study aims to evaluate the prognostic value of preoperative NLR and PLR in GIST patients. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all GIST patients diagnosed and surgically treated at Union Hospital between 2005 and 2018. The preoperative NLR and PLR were calculated to evaluate recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate the independent prognostic values. RESULTS: The median follow-up time was 49 months (interquartile range, 22-74 months). The preoperative PLR was significantly increased in the GIST patients with intermediate and high tumor risks. Increases in the NLR (≥2.34) and PLR (≥185.04) were associated with shorter RFS and OS (P < 0.01). Moreover, the multivariate analysis revealed that elevated PLR was an independent factor for shorter RFS (hazard ratio [HR]: 3.041; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.001-4.622; P < 0.001) and OS (HR: 1.899; 95% CI: 1.136-3.173; P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative PLR is a potential biomarker of GIST and is related to the clinical outcome. An elevated preoperative PLR predicts poor prognosis of patients with primary GIST after complete surgical resection.

Clinicopathological Characteristics and Prognosis of Hepatoid Adenocarcinoma of the Stomach: Evaluation of a Pooled Case Series.

Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach (HAS) is an extremely rare and unique gastric malignancy. The present study aimed to examine the relevance of the clinicopathological characteristics of HAS with patient prognosis. We retrospectively reviewed clinical data of 34 HAS patients treated at our institution between January 2010 and December 2016, as well as 294 cases reported prior to 2017 in research databases. Among these patients, 45.6% (115/252) had lesions in the gastric antrum and 77.0% (235/305) were male. Elevated levels of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) were detected in most patients (75/93, 80.6%). Vascular invasion (199/286, 69.6%), lymph node metastasis (222/283, 78.4%), and preoperative distant metastasis (121/328, 36.9%) were commonly observed. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were 20.7% and 29.2%, respectively. DFS and DSS of patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy were significantly higher than those of patients receiving postoperative adjuvant therapy [DFS: P<0.001, hazard ratio (HR)=-1.831, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.060-0.429; DSS: P<0.001, HR=-2.185, 95% CI: 0.032-0.401]. In conclusion, HAS exhibits distinct clinicopathological characteristics and a strikingly worse prognosis when compared with common gastric cancer. Complete surgery, early pTNM stage, and adjuvant therapy may predict a more favorable prognosis. Neoadjuvant therapy is strongly recommended for patients with lymph node metastasis or/and preoperative distant metastasis.

Generation of a plasmonic radially polarized vector beam with linearly polarized illumination.

Polarization state of a wave field can be manipulated through the plasmonic metasurface consisting of orthogonal nanoslit pairs; the output polarization angle is independent of the incident linearly polarized light and is highly dependent on the orientations of nanoslit pairs. We combine the Archimedes spiral with the nanoslit pairs to compensate for the Pancharatnam-Berry (PB) phase induced by the orientation of nanoslits, as well as achieve the radially polarized vector beam (RPVB) under the illuminations of different linearly polarized lights. Experiments are performed to successfully realize the RPVB, and the results are in excellent agreement with the numerical simulations.