Coprinoid fungi include the species of Coprinellus, Coprinopsis, Parasola, Tulosesus and Narcissea, belonging to Psathyrellaceae with the exception of Coprinus in Agaricaceae. Based on the specimens and literature records, there are 57 species of coprinoid fungi hitherto known from China, including 9 of Coprinellus, 10 of Tulosesus, 3 of Narcissea, 25 of Coprinopsis, 8 of Parasola, and 2 of Coprinus. Here, 1 new combination, Narcissea ephemeroides, and 11 new Chinese records, Coprinellus ellisii, Coprinellus saccharinus, Coprinopsis acuminata, Coprinopsis afronivea, Coprinopsis bellula, Coprinopsis mitraespora, Coprinopsis narcotica, Coprinopsis pachyderma, Coprinopsis pseudonivea, Parasola schroeteri and Parasola setulosa, were presented. Phylogenetic analysis based on multigene alignment of ITS and LSU sequence datasets was used to investigate the relationships of the fungi. The new combination and newly recorded species were confirmed by the phylogeny result. Illustrations and photographs of these species are provided. Besides, the keys to known species of coprinoid fungi from China were provided.

The ‘reed mushrooms’ are general designation of wild edible fungi grown with Phragmites australis or Tamarix ramosissima in lakeside and mainly distributed in Xinjiang. In this study, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) sequences were used to assess species delimitation of the specimens of ‘reed mushroom’ collected from Xinjiang. Combined with morphological examination, four species of Agaricus, i.e. A. bitorquis, A. padanus, A. sinodeliciosus, and A. subperonatus were recognized. The morphological descriptions, photos, and ITS for each species, as well as the dichotomous key were given. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis of 55 ITS sequences from GenBank and 91 newly generated sequences in this study were performed. The four species from Xinjiang were well supported in the ITS tree. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Mycological Herbarium, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (HMAS). The geographical distribution data and correlating environmental factors of A. sinodeliciosus were used to model potential distribution using the maximum entropy model (MaxEnt). The highly suitable growing regions of A. sinodeliciosus were relatively limited, mainly located in northwestern China and Central Asia. In China, it is mainly distributed in the two sides of Tianshan Mountains, southwestern Tibet, Haixi State of Qinghai, northwestern Gansu, and western Inner Mongolia. The most effective environmental factors, namely the precipitation of wettest month, the precipitation of warmest quarter, the mean temperature of coldest quarter and the maximum temperature of warmest month, had decisive influence upon distribution of the species. Due to limited suitable region of A. sinodeliciosus growth, the protection should be strengthened and sustainable utilization approaches should be developed.

In the survey of Talaromyces species diversity in China, ten isolates were identified as T. amestolkiae, T. atroroseus, T. fuscoviridis, T. kendrickii, T. stollii and T. versatilis, respectively, according to morphological characters and the combined phylogenetic analysis of the β-tubulin gene, calmodulin gene and rDNA ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 sequences. Among the six species, the latter four species belonging to section Talaromyces are new to China. T. fuscoviridis grows moderately, presenting the characteristic dark-green colony reverse on MEA, forming velutinous to compact floccose colonies with sparse grey-coloured sporulation and biverticillate and monoverticillate penicilli with ampuliform phialides; T. kendrickii also grows moderately, forming typical velutinous colonies and abundant dull-green sporulation and compact biverticillate and irregular penicilli with ampuliform phialides; T. stollii grows fast and forms velutinous and floccose colonies with abundant grey-green sporulation, bearing compact biverticillate and terverticillate penicilli with typical acerose phialides; T. versatilis grows fast and forms floccose and funiculous colonies with dirty pinkish mycelium and sparse greyish sporulation, and produces loosely positioned biverticillate and monoverticillate penicilli.

Antioxidant activities and chemical components of ethanol extracts of fruit bodies of wild Sanghuangporus sanghuang and S. vaninii were compared. DPPH scavenging activity, superoxide anion scavenging activity and β-carotene bleaching assay were used to compare the antioxidant activity. The results showed that both S. sanghuang and S. vaninii had strong antioxidant activity, and the antioxidant activity of S. vaninii was significantly stronger than that of S. sanghuang. The content of total flavonoid and total polyphenol in the ethanol extract of S. vaninii were higher than that of S. sanghuang. Ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Triple-TOF-MS) was used to compare the differences of chemical components in the ethanol extracts. Nineteen phenolic compounds were common to S. sanghuang and S. vaninii, and additional three phenolic compounds were identified from S. vaninii.

The influence of gut microbiota on host health depends on factors such as diet, environment, and host. Illumina MiSeq platform was used to sequence the ITS segment of the fecal fungi of Siberian musk deer and forest musk deer in winter and summer in order to explore the structural characteristics of fungal community and determine the influence of seasonal factors on the fungal diversity. The results showed that Ascomycota in the feces of forest musk deer and Siberian musk deer was dominant, and the relative abundance was not significantly differernt in both animal species and nearly unchanging seasonally. However, the both animals showed great differences in fungal α-diversity and β-diversity. It was also showed that the diversity of fungi in the feces of Siberian musk deer and forest musk deer in winter was higher than that in summer, and there were significant differences in the richness of the microbiota. Seasonally, the relative abundances of Mortierellomycota in the gut fungi of Siberian musk deer were significantly different. This is the first report on the composition of the fungal community in the feces of Siberian musk deer, providing reference for searching the nutritional level of musk deer.

Armillaria species have high edible and medicinal values, however, and they have not fully been commercially cultivated for their complex growth and development process. The supply of wild resources is affected by seasons and regions. In this study, three strains of Armillaria from Northeast China, A. ostoyae JG19016, A. gallica JG19017, and Chinese Biological Species C (CBS C) JG19018 were selected as experimental samples to research the biological characteristic of Armilaria cultivated strains. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth of A. ostoyae JG19016 was 25 °C, of A. gallica JG19017 22 °C, and of Chinese Biological Species C (CBS C) JG19018 22-25 °C. The optimum pH for mycelial growth of the three strains was 5-6. Glucose and sucrose were the optimal carbon sources for A. ostoyae JG19016, glucose was for A. gallica JG19017 and glucose and starch were for Chinese Biological Species C (CBS C) JG19018. The optimum nitrogen source for the three strains was peptone. Trace of VB₁ significantly promoted the mycelial growth rate of the three strains. The optimal medium formula for mycelial growth of A. ostoyae JG19016 was glucose 20 g, peptone 3 g, potassium dihydrogen phosphate 2 g, magnesium sulfate 1.5 g, VB₁ 10 mg, agar 20 g, and water 1 L. For the formula of sawdust medium, the optimum carbon-nitrogen ratio was 38:1, the optimum ratio of coarse sawdust to fine sawdust is 3:1. It will take 50-60 days for bagful cultivation of mycelium and rhizomorph in the bag of 17 mm×33 mm×5 mm in size. Primordium can be observed in about 10 days under 18 °C, 60% humidity and illumination of scattered light for 12 h. After 2-3 d the young fruiting bodies of 1-3 cm can be observed by increasing the humidity of the cultivation room to 90%-95%. The time of full differentiation for the stem and cap of the fruiting body is about 7 d, and in about 10 d the fruiting bodies mature.

Macrofungi, as an important component in forest ecosystems, consist of most members of Basidiomycota and some members of Ascomycota, having important economical value and ecological functions. Extensive field investigations have been carried out in almost whole types of the Chinese forests during the past 30 years, and 112 000 specimens were collected. Based on morphological examination and phylogenetic analyses in combination with ecology and biogeography, 4 250 species belonging to 21 orders in Baidiomycota and Ascomycota were identified, including two new families, four new subfamilies, 69 new genera and 885 new species. Yunnan Province is the richest in macrofungal diversity among provinces or regions in China, and 314 new species were described from this province, accounting for 35% of all the new species described from China by the authors. Our studies have made contributions to deepening the understanding of global diversity of macrofungi. The names of some important Chinese medicinal fungi were revised, the diversity characteristics of Chinese poisonous mushrooms were revealed, and the pathogenetic wood-decaying species were ascertained. These data improved our knowledge on utilization of natural resources and protection of forest health. Based on molecular evidences, the origin of some forest representative fungal genera or species complex were deduced, and their dispersal and speciation were discussed, for the purposes of providing some data for evolutionary study at level of family, order or class of macrofungi henceforth.

Two specimens of wild macrofungi collected from northwestern Yunnan were identified as Flammulina rossica and F. filiformis based on molecular phylogenetic (internal transcriptional spacer) analysis and morphological characters. The isolated strains Mdr-02 and Mdr-09 were used to study their biological characteristics and domestication. The effects of carbon source, nitrogen source, temperature, pH value and inorganic salt on growth of the mycelium were investigated by single factor test and three optimal levels were selected for orthogonal test to investigate effects of different culture conditions on the growth of mycelia. The results indicated that the optimal carbon source for the growth of F. rossica was malt powder, and the best nitrogen source was bean cake powder, and the best calcium carbonate was inorganic salt. Incubation under pH 6.0 and 24 °C showed optimal growth of the mycelia. The most suitable carbon source for F. filiformis was malt powder, the best nitrogen source was yeast powder, and the best inorganic salt was magnesium sulfate. Incubation under pH 6.0 and 24 °C showed optimal growth of the mycelia. F. rossica was successfully domesticated for the first time and a new domesticable F. filiformis strain was obtained. These results will advantage the development of germplasm resources and the breeding of new cultivated varieties of Flammulina species.

Substrate carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) significantly affects the mycelial growth and fruiting body development of edible fungi. Sparassis latifolia is a precious edible and medicinal mushroom. Previous studies found that S. latifolia needed more carbon sources during the growth and development process. In this study, pine sawdust and complex nitrogen sources were used as cultivation substrate, and the effect of substrate C/N on the growth and development of S. latifolia was investigated. The results showed that the tested six substrates had no significant difference in the mycelial growth rate, but as the C/N increases, the fruiting body formation period gradually prolonged, and the fruiting rate trended to increase first and decrease later. At substrate C/N of 48.8-55.9, the harvest rate is much more higher. In 80-90 days, 83.7% and 81.4% of the cultivation bags come up to the harvest standards. At substrate C/N of 43.4, the yield of fresh mushrooms was the highest, but the appearance quality was insufficiently standardized. In consideration of the production cost and efficiency, pine sawdust and complex nitrogen source was regarded as suitable substrate and carbon to nitrogen ratio was 48.8. Under such a condition, the fruiting body formation period was 64d and fruiting rate was 95%. The average yield was 231g/bag (200-260g/bag occupied 76%), and the whole cultivation period was 84d. The facts indicate that S. latifolia has nutritional and physiological characteristics of “high carbon and low nitrogen”.

Species in the genus Talaromyces are widely distributed in air and soil, some species are important producers of industrial enzymes and pigment, and certain species, e.g. Talaromyces marneffei, were reported to cause superficial or disseminated infections to humanity. Talaromyces traditionally is a teleomorphic genus, but according to polyphasic taxonomy and “one fungus, one name” rules, nowaday concept of this genus has changed greatly. This genus now contains about 177 species. In this paper, the taxonomic status, species concepts and morphological differences of Talaromyces species are reviewed. In addition, three new Chinese records, Talaromyces amazonensis, T. chloroloma and T. minnesotensis are described based on multigene phylogenetic analysis and morphological observations, and their differences with ex-type cultures were compared in detail.

Oudemansiella raphanipes is a precious edible and medicinal fungus. In this study, pomace, vinasse and mushroom bran were used as partial substitute materials for culture media; the first spawn medium, second spawn medium and cultivation substrate formula of wild O. raphanipes were optimized by orthogonal test; the content of water, protein, total carbohydrate, vitamin C, polyphenol and the scavenging ability of alcohol extract on DPPH, ABTs⁺ and hydroxyl radical were determined. The results showed that the optimal first spawn medium consisted of wheat bran 35 g/L, glucose 20 g/L, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate 3.5 g/L, magnesium sulfate 2 g/L and agar 20 g/L. Glucose and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate were determined to be the important factors affecting the growth of mycelia. The optimal second spawn medium consisted of pomace 45%, bean straw 20%, wheat bran 15%, lime 3%, gypsum 1% and cultivated mushroom bran of Pleurotus eryngii 16%. The addition of pomace could significantly promote the mycelium growth of O. raphanipes. Vinasse (distillerʼs grain) 35%, cottonseed shell 30%, wheat bran 20%, lime 1%, gypsum 1% and corn cob 13% were the optimal cultivation formula of O. raphanipes. The effect of vinasse on the yield of fruiting body was significant. The nutritional composition determination of O. raphanipes showed that the fruiting body was rich in protein, carbohydrate, vitamin C and polyphenols, with the highest content of 42.78 g/100 g, 23.54 g/100 g, 4.02 mg/100 g and 4.19 mg/g, respectively, under cultivation on the media of nine kinds of formula. It was found that different formula of the substrate brought about significant difference in nutrient content of the fruiting bodies. The alcohol extract of O. raphanipes had strong antioxidant capacity, and the antioxidant activity increased with the increase of dosage. When the dosage of alcohol extract was 150 μL and 40 μL, the scavenging ability to DPPH and ABTs⁺ was 88.64% and 99.81% respectively for the fruiting bodies produced on the culture medium of Z1; when the dosage was 250 μL the scavenging ability to hydroxyl radical was 93.48% for the fruiting bodies produced on the culture medium Z2. The physiological activity, pharmacology research and further development and utilization of O. raphanipes need further study.

Fungal diseases occurred on cultivated Cordyceps militaris often caused severe damage. In this study, the pathogenic fungi of C. militaris were isolated, purified and identified and their pathogenicity was tested. The occurrence characteristics of the diseases were also analyzed. The results indicated that the pathogenic fungi of C. militaris were mainly Calcarisporium cordycipiticola, Trichothecium crotocinigenum, Fusarium sp., Schizophyllum commune, Trichoderma harzianum, Purpureocillium lilacinum, Ustilaginoidea virens, Clonostachys rosea, T. ovalisporum, Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus oryzae and A. niger. Calcarisporium cordycipiticola was the main pathogen causing infectious diseases of C. militaris. Calcarisporium cordycipiticola, T. crotocinigenum, Fusarium sp., S. commune and T. harzianum mainly infected fruiting bodies, while P. lilacinum, U. virens, C. rosea, T. ovalisporum, P. expansum, A. oryzae and A. niger mainly infected mycelia on culture media. Fusarium sp., S. commune, T. harzianum, P. lilacinum, U. virens and C. rosea were firstly reported as the pathogens of C. militaris. This study provides reference for prevention and control of C. militaris disease in industrialized large-scale cultivation of the fungus.

Edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms (EEM) are a neglected and underexploited group of non-wood forest products. The review of literature and available databases reveals that 532 taxa of edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms have been recorded in China. They belong to 62 genera of 28 families, of which 39 taxa belong to ascomycetes, and 493 basidiomycetes. The highest species richness are found in Russulaceae and Boletaceae, particularly in genera Russula, Lactarius, Ramaria, Hygrophorus, Suillus, Tricholoma, Tuber, Boletus, Amanita, and Cortinarius. In this review the edible ectomycorrhizal mushrooms hitherto known in China are listed and basic guidelines on how to further develop the resources are discussed.

Three fungal strains were isolated from fresh stroma of Ophiocordyceps sinensis collected from Yushu, Guoluo of Qinghai and Diqing of Yunnan and they were identified as Samsoniella hepiali (QH 2019), Isaria farinosa (GL 2019) and Isaria fumosorosea (YN 2019) based on phylogenetic evidence. The highest mycelial growth rate of QH 2019 was observed on 1/4 SDAY medium, with quantitative value of (1.94±0.55)mm/d, and the mycelia were dense, with water content of (91.90±1.22)%. The highest content of cordycepin and cordycepic acid reaching (0.47±0.022)mg/g and (3.24±0.021)mg/g respectively was observed in culture on PDA. The mycelial growth rate, mycelial water content, cordycepin and cordycepic acid of GL 2019 were the highest in the culture growing on PDA, reaching (2.37±0.20)mm/d, (88.34±2.00)%, (0.23±0.013)mg/g and (6.92±0.019)mg/g respectively, but the mycelium grew much densely on 1/4 SDAY medium. The mycelial growth rate, cordycepin and cordycepic acid of YN 2019 were the highest in the culture growing on PDA, reaching (2.27±0.27)mm/d, (0.50±0.012)mg/g and (11.32±0.16)mg/g respectively, but the mycelium growing on 1/4 SDAY medium was much dense, with the highest mycelial water content of (95.23±1.65)%. The results suggested that Isaria fumosorosea YN 2019 had potential medicinal values.

In recent years, stipe rot disease caused heavy losses in Morchella sextelata cultivation. In order to clarify the pathogen, 12 samples of diseased Morchella sextelata fruiting bodies from Sichuan, Henan, Gansu, and Guizhou were collected. Thirty-seven fungal strains and three bacterial strains were isolated from these samples. According to the Koch’s rule, GJB-3 was confirmed as the pathogenic strain. Based on ITS, RPB2 and EF1α sequences analyses, colony morphology and microscopic structures, GJB-3 was identified as Fusarium nematophilum. Prevention and control of stipe rot disease on Morchella will be further studied.

Traditional Chinese medicine is widely used for pulmonary inflammation treatment. The S protein on the outer envelope of the new acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the key factor that determines the virulence of the virus and the main antigen. In this study, SARS-CoV-2 virus S protein and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used to induce a pulmonary inflammation model and the effect of Cordyceps militaris powder on the pro-inflammatory factors, monocyte/macrophages and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in mouse model was initially explored. It was found that C. militaris powder could reduce the expressions of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in the blood serum, the numbers of macrophages in the lung tissues, alveolar lavage fluid and periphery blood, and the distribution of MDSCs in the periphery blood and spleen of SARS-CoV-2- and LPS-injured mice. Further studies proved that C. militaris powder could also decrease the expression of hydroxyproline and the distribution of fibroblasts in the lung tissues of the SARS-CoV-2- and LPS-injured mice, thereby alleviating the level of lung fibrosis. Results of qRT-PCR experiments showed that treatment of C. militaris not only reduced the levels of TGF-β R1 in the lung tissues of SARS-CoV-2-injured mice, but also reduced the expression of smad2 in the lung tissues of SARS-CoV-2-injured and LPS-injured mice. Thus we believed that C. militaris powder might alleviate the lung inflammation and fibrosis induced by S protein of SARS-CoV-2 virus and LPS via TGF-β R1/smad2 pathway.

Hygrophoropsis is a small genus in Hygrophoropsidaceae of Boletales. A new and edible species, H. phragmiticola, is described based on morphological characteristics, molecular evidence, ecology and geographic distribution. The new species is characterized by creamy-whitish to pale-ochraceous pileal surface, white to cream gills, oblong or ellipsoid, thick-walled, weakly dextrinoid basidiospores measuring 6-10×4-5.5 μm, and growing on Phragmites species in northern China. Molecular analysis based on ITS and nrLSU sequences demonstrates the phylogenetic position of the new species in Hygrophoropsis. The new species and its closely related species are compared and discussed.

The chemical constituents and their biological activities of the fruiting bodies of Lanmaoa asiatica, a kind of “lurid boletes”, were studied. Seventeen compounds including nine steroids were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of 95% ethanol extract of the fungus by various column chromatography techniques or recrystallization. The structures of the isolated compounds were identified as citreoanthrasteroid (1), 1(10→6)abeo-ergosta-5,7,9,22-tetraen- 11β-methoxy-3α-ol (2), 3β,5α,9α-trihydroxy-6β-methoxyergosta-7,22-dien (3), ergosterol peroxide (4), 9(11)-dehydroergosterol peroxide (5), 3β-hydroxy-(22E,24R)-ergosta-5,8(9),22- trien-7-one (6), (24S)-ergost-7-en-3β-ol (7), (22E,24R)-ergosta-7,22-dien-3β-ol (8), ergosterol (9), adenosine (10), 5’-deoxy-5’-methylamino-adenosine (11), 5’-deoxy-5’-methylamino-9-(α-L- lyxofuranosyl)adenine (12), (R)-4-methylpiperidin-2-one (13), uridine (14), uracil (15), nicotinamide (16) and 1(2)-linolyl-2(1)-palmityl-glycero-O-4’-(N,N,N-trimethyl)homoserine (17). Among them, the exact assignments of the NMR signals of 1-3 were reported for the first time, compound 13 was a new natural product, and compounds 1-17 were reported to be isolated from Lanmaoa asiatica for the first time. The cytotoxic activity of 1-17 was evaluated by MTT assay, and the results showed that 1, 3-6 and 9 displayed relatively strong cytotoxic activity against human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), mouse microglia cells (BV2) and human lung cancer cells (A549). Compound 10 displayed moderate cytotoxic activity against BV2 cells, with an IC₅₀ of 48.34 μmol/L. The chemical constituents of Lanmaoa asiatica were comprehensively investigated, and this study will be meaningful in utilization of Lanmaoa asiatica.

Agaricus sinodeliciosus ‘Shenmei 1’ was bred and domesticated from wild strains. Demonstrative cultivation for years shows that ‘Shenmei 1’ has the characteristics of medium temperature growth (growing well at 23°C, and fruiting at 16-18°C), high yield (with biological efficiency of 50%), and short cultivation period (53d). The fruiting bodies are round-shaped, with compact quality, rich flavor and high genetic stability. It is suitable for bagged cultivation and industrialized facility cultivation.

Edible mushrooms have become the fifth largest cultivation industry in China and played important roles in the battle of targeted poverty alleviation. Although rapid growth has been realized over the past 40 years, China’s edible mushroom industry is still facing many problems that need to be solved urgently. For example, we still rely heavily on cultivated varieties from abroad. With the development of new technologies such as gene sequencing and phenotyping, a series of breakthroughs have been made in "data-driven" biological research. These new technologies also bring opportunities to solve the problems faced by our mushroom industry. Among them, phenotyping using optical equipment and sensors digitizes the data of naked-eye observation and manual measurement. Combination of data of genomics and metabolomics generates big data of “edible-mushroom-omics” which provides new ideas for mushroom classification, germplasm resource evaluation, breeding, gene function research and cultivation. In this article, mushroom phenotyping was described and the development of plant phenotyping technology was reviewed, and the application and challenges for edible mushroom phenome research were discussed. Integrated study of multi-omics data, including genomics, phenomics, metabolomics will hopefully promote the development of “data-driven” genetic breeding and cultivation of edible mushrooms.

Fifty-five samples of leaves, petioles, branches and bark of Liquidambar formosana infected with leaf spot were collected from several places of Fujian Province, China. Totally 12 isolates of Pestalotiopsis-like fungi were obtained. Based on phylogenetic analysis of ITS, β-tubulin and tef1 genes in combination with morphological characters, the isolates were identified as Neopestalotiopsis cocoes, N. chrysea, Pestalotiopsis neglecta and P. neolitseae. These species are first reported on Liquidambar formosana, among which N. cocoes is first reported in China. The results of Koch’s postulates showed that N. cocoes could infect the leaves, petioles and branches, N. chrysea could infect the leaves and branches and P. neglecta could infect the petioles and branches, but P. neolitseae appeared to be nonpathogenic.

From March to June 2021, Pythium sp. was isolated from Lactuca sativa leaf blight samples in Gansu Province and from L. sativa var. angustata stem rot samples in Qinghai Province. Koch’s procedures were used to verify the pathogenicity of obtained isolates. According to morphological and molecular biological characteristics, three tested isolates were identified as Pythium tracheiphilum. In the phylogenetic tree of combined rDNA-ITS (nuclear rDNA, internal transcribed spacer region), cox Ⅰ (mitochondrial DNA, cytochrome oxidase subunit 1) and rDNA-LSU (nuclear rDNA, 28S large subunit) genes, Gansu isolate (LPy-B) and Qinghai isolates (LPy-C and LPy-D) were clustered in different subgroups of P. tracheiphilum, respectively. These tested isolates were differences in optimum growth temperature and sporulation characteristics. Optimum temperature of mycelial growth was 25 °C for isolate LPy-B and LPy-C, but 20-25 °C for isolate LPy-D; 20-25 °C was suitable for isolate LPy-B to produce sporangia, 10-19 °C suitable for isolate LPy-D, and the temperature range for isolate LPy-C was wider (either 20-25 °C or 10-19 °C). Sporangia are terminal, intercalary or lateral, globose, 17.13-53.73 μm, or subglobose to gourd-shaped, 24.58-56.72×18.62-53.73 μm; encysted zoospores are spherical, 6.70-9.68 μm; oogonia are smooth, terminal and intercalary, spherical, 15.64-23.09 μm; antheridia are 1-2 per oogonium, monoclinous or diclinous; oospores are globose, smooth, plerotic or nearly plerotic, 13.41-20.11 μm in diameter, with wall of 0.74-2.23 μm thick. Pathogenicity test showed that P. tracheiphilum has aggressive pathogenicity to the leaves of L. sativa and the stems of L. sativa var. angustata, causing leaf blight and stem rot; it is also pathogenetic to Taraxacum sinicum and Cirsium setosum of Compositae, Brassica rapa var. chinensis of Brassicaceae and Vicia faba of Fabaceae, and no pathogenicity to Plantago asiatica of Plantaginaceae, Portulaca oleracea of Portulacaceae and Amaranthus retroflexus of Amaranthaceae. The pathogenicity of isolate LPy-C and LPy-D to B. rapa var. chinensis leaves was stronger than that of isolate LPy-B, under the experimental conditions. P. tracheiphilum and leaf blight and stem rot caused by P. tracheiphilum on lettuce is the first report in China and Asian region.

In order to explore whether the temperature-regulated aflatoxin biosynthesis affects the morphology of Aspergillus flavus mycelia, comparative observation on the ultrastructure of mycelia in different developmental stages grown in various temperatures was carried out based on scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Scanning electron microscope observation showed that filamentous viscous particles appeared on the mycelium surface in 24 hour (h) and 44h after inoculation at 28°C, and the mycelium gradually appeared to be shrinked, and then collapsed and distorted in 48h and 72h, while the mycelia grown at 37°C remained thick and robust in 24-72h. Transmission electron microscope observation displayed that large vesicles appeared in hyphal cells cultured at 28°C in 24h after incubation, and the internal organelles were indistinct in 44-72h. The organelles at 37°C were clear, and the number of mitochondria and liposome increased obviously in 44-48h, and the septal structure was observed at 72h. The ultrastructure of Aspergillus flavus mycelia cultured at 30°C and 40°C also verified the above findings. Taken together, 28°C and 30°C promoted the aflatoxin biosynthesis, but accelerated senescence of mycelia. On the contrary, 37°C and 40°C were unfavorable to the biosynthesis of aflatoxin, but beneficial to the growth of mycelia, and the senescence process of mycelia was relatively slow. This study showed that the aflatoxin biosynthesis was closely related to the internal morphological changes of Aspergillus flavus mycelia.

Specimens with typical Alternaria leaf spot symptoms on Chenopodium quinoa were collected in the cultivation area of quinoa in Shanxi Province. The representative isolates LGB-b and LGB-h were tested for verifying pathogenicity and the classification status by using molecular characteristics (Alt a 1, endoPG, and OPA10-2) combined with morphological identification. The results indicated that the quinoa Alternaria leaf spot is caused by Alternaria alternata. Pathogenicity test results showed that the leaves showed typical symptoms in 6 days after inoculation, which matched the symptoms in field, manifesting gray-green spot, grey-brown mould, and yellow-green halo. Isolates LGB-b and LGB-h could infect C. quinoa, C. album, and C. formosanum. The influence of culture medium, temperature, water activity (a_w), and pH on the growth of representative isolates was studied. It was found that the most favorable medium for growth of mycelia of isolate LGB-b was V8, and the most suitable temperatures were 25-30 °C. The a_w higher than 0.98 and pH 6-7 were optimal for both mycelia growth and conidial germination of isolate LGB-b. For growth of mycelia of isolate LGB-h, the most favorable medium was PCA, the most suitable temperatures were 20-25 °C, the optimum a_w was higher than 0.98, and the optimum pH was 6-7. The a_w higher than 0.98 and pH 7-8 were optimal for conidial germination of isolate LGB-h.

Species of Lactarius subg. Plinthogalus have latex often changing to reddish. Yellowing latex is relatively rare. Lactarius mirus, a species with white latex instantly changing to bright yellow was found from subtropical fagaceous forests in central-southern China. This is the first report of species with yellowing latex in L. subg. Plinthogalus in China. The unique latex, the brown pileus, distant lamellae and big globose spores with high winged ornamentation distinguish it from all other known species, and therefore, it is described as a new species. DNA barcode nrITS-LSU region and morphological description and illustrations are provided. Morphological differences between L. mirus and the other species with yellowing latex, e.g. Malaysian L. flavorosescens and L. pallidior are discussed. The finding of this species adds new evidence showing biogeographically subtropical and tropical affinity of Lactarius in China.

Candida glabrata is the most frequently isolated pathogen of candidiasis in immunocompromised hosts next to C. albicans. It is survivable under a wide range of environmental conditions, and the ability to adapt to pH changes in the host niches is closely related to pathogenesis. This study found that alkaline pH conditions repressed cell proliferation of C. glabrata, and the key regulators Rim101, Rim8, and Rim21 were involved in this regulation. The TOR signaling pathway plays an important role in the control of pH-regulated cell proliferation. It was further found that alkaline pH also affected the cell wall integrity of C. glabrata. Facts draw the conclusion that the inhibitory effects of pH changes on cell growth and cell wall integrity could provide clues to the development of new strategies of the control of infections caused by C. glabrata.

In August 2013, purple spots seriously occurred on the leaves and spikelets of oat (Avena sativa) in a field located in Tongwei county, Gansu Province. The disease incidence was 100%. Pathogen isolation was carried out from diseased tissues, and fungal isolates of Pyrenophora (synonym: Drechslera) were obtained. Koch’s procedures were used to verify the pathogenicity of isolate ASA-13. At 8-22°C, isolate ASA-13 produced purple leaf spots on inoculated plants, while yellowish brown to pale yellow leaf spots with black center occurred at 20-25°C, and some leaf spots became striped. Inoculation test at 20°C proved that isolate ASA-13 was able to infect the leaf explants of Avena sativa, A. nuda, Sorghum bicolor, Triticum aestivum, Zea mays and Hordeum vulgare var. nudum. Based on morphological and molecular biological methods the pathogen was identified as Pyrenophora chaetomioides (syn.: Drechslera avenae). BLASTn analysis showed that the rDNA-ITS sequences of isolate ASA-13 (GenBank accession No. MN560117) had a 99.36% similarity with those of D. avenae isolate DA16 (GenBank accession No. AF260328.1). Temperature gradient analysis showed that 25-30°C was optimal for mycelial growth of the pathogen on PDA.

Fungi are one of the three main organisms in eukaryote (Fungi, Plantae and Animalia). Fungi with large fruiting bodies visible to the naked eyes and hand-pickable were commonly known as mushrooms and toadstools. Taxonomically, most of the macrofungi are of Basidiomycota and a few Ascomycota. In the past decades, development of molecular analyses and phylogeny promote great progress in fungal taxonomy and the evolutionary relationships of fungal taxa are more perfectly known than before. Thus, the taxonomic systems of macrofungi are changed accordingly, greatly, and updated constantly. However, these changes make difficulties for public users who are interested in macrofungi. To meet the public demands, we revised the taxonomic system of macrofungi based on our recent results of research on molecular phylogeny and taxonomy, and estabilish the Macrofungi Classification System and Information Platform. This platform is supported from State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Herbarium Mycologicum Academiae Sinicae, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mycological Society of China, and Fungarium Union of China. This platform provides a comprehensive taxonomic system and information on macrofungi, and will be updated periodically with domestic and international mycologist’s cooperation, to meet the requirements of related researchers.

Cordyceps tenuipes is an important and rare Cordyceps species. Its anamorph isIsaria tenuipes. Biological characteristics and optimized domestication of C.tenuipeswere studied. It was found that substrates consisted of wheat and rice might be of great significance to improve the yield of the coremia in commercial cultivation. The optimal substrates for mycelial growth of C.tenuipesin both solid culture and liquid culture were basically the same. The optimal media for mycelial growth consisted of sucrose 30g/L, yeast powder 15g/L, KH₂PO₄ 2g/L and MgSO₄·7H₂O 2g/L. Under the temperature of 25°C and pH value of 7, the biological efficiencies of the coremia cultivated with wheat medium ranged from (45.750±6.062)% to (67.820±6.018)%, showing superior than those cultivated with rice medium ranged from (23.410±5.242)% to (36.880±8.812)%. The highest biological efficiency of the coremia cultivated in wheat medium with superaddition of silkworm chrysalis powder was 67.820%, being higher than that previously recorded. These findings may provide useful reference for the commercial cultivation in future.

Based on archaeological evidences, there is a history of over 5 000 years for mankind’s knowledge of cordycipitoid fungi, with culture, art, history, philosophy, religion, convention, medicine, as well as life science involved. The history can be divided into worship, herbal, descriptive, and molecular eras, based on the characters of various periods. (1) Worship era from Hongshan culture to coming-out of Shennong’s Herbal Classics. Archaeological excavation revealed jade silkworm pendants and jade cicada laid in the mouth of the deads, which showed early barbaric knowledge characteristic of worship on reincarnation. Currently, there retain a cicada stele in China and scarab antiques in Egypt, while Maori of New Zealand reserve tattoo tradition by use of Ophiocordyceps robertsii to make tattoo dye. (2) Herbal era (coming-out of Shennong’s Herbal Classics-establishment of the genus Cordyceps in 1818. Cuneiform medical texts of ancient Sumerian revealed that people might use a cordycipitoid fungus against skin diseases. Chinese have been using Beauveria bassiana-infected silkworms since 2 000 years ago, and then Cordyceps chanhua-infected cicadas and Ophiocordyceps sinensis-infected caterpillars for medicine up to the present. In this period, the notion of materialization influenced eastern and western people, resulting in the materializational cognition of cordycipitoid fungi as “animalized plant”, “cicada turned from bamboo root”, “interconversion between insect and grass”. (3) Descriptive era (from 1818 to the end of the 1900’s): In 1818, Fries opened a 300 year chapter of cordycipitoid science development by establishing the genus Cordyceps. The notion of materialization was replaced gradually with modern science, and a vast Cordyceps family was formed gradually. Popular illustration of codycitipoid fungi in Europe and Japan accelarated the popularization of Cordyceps knowledge. Industries of fungal insecticides and foods and medicines by use of Cordyceps in China rose at the mid 1900’s and late 1900’s, respectively. (4) Molecular era (since the beginning of the 2000’s). Driven and supported by contemporary biological science and technology, studies of cordycipitoid fungi developed into a molecular era with uneven advances in different areas. Meanwhile, internal and international exchange became active, promoting the development of the culture of cordycipitoid fungi.

The mating-types of F1 ascocarps, single-ascospore populations and eight single-ascospore strains in an ascus were analyzed based on the crossing of single-ascospore strains YPL6-1 and YPL6-3 of Morchella importuna which harbored MAT1-2 and MAT1-1 idiomorph respectively in their genome-sequencing data. Under the conditions of sowing separately and mix-sowing, strains YPL6-1 and YPL6-3 could fructify normally, and the distribution of mating type in the stipe was related to the parent strain. When the mating type tests were carried out by PCR amplification in 235 single-ascospore strains, something interesting happened: the electrophoretic bands of MAT1-1-1 gene in some strains were bright, but the bands of MAT1-2-1 were weak. In other strains, the MAT1-1-1 band was weak, while the MAT1-2-1 band was bright. Meanwhile, there were strains that two mating gene bands were bright, or strains that one mating gene band was bright while the opposite mating gene band unappeared. Ten asci were separated from three ascocarps and corresponding single ascospores were isolated from each ascus, and the mating types of these single-ascospore strains were analyzed. As a result, the same phenomenon occurred. The single-ascospore strains showing bright MAT1-1-1 band and weak or no MAT1-2-1 band originated from no more than four spores in an ascus, and vice versa. The PCR amplicons of MAT loci in the YPL6-1 and YPL6-3 were sequenced respectively by nanopore approach, and corresponding experiments were repeated twice. The alignment analysis indicated that there were 99.63% and 99.81% MAT1-2 idiomorphs, and 0.37% and 0.19% MAT1-1 idiomorphs in the strain YPL6-1, meanwhile, the strain YPL6-3 contained 99.45% and 99.74% MAT1-1 idiomorphs, and 0.55% and 0.26% MAT1-2 idiomorphs. The result confirmed that these two single-ascospore strains were actually heterokarytic, however, there was a great deviation in proportion of two mating type nuclei. It is speculated that all ascospores in M. importuna are heterokarytic, and the opposite mating type nuclei are asymmetrically distributed in mycelia germinated from single ascospore. Therefore, M. importuna is a pseudohomothallism ascomycete fungus, and the single-ascospore strain could be self-fertile.

From 2000 to 2020, mycological studies in China has achieved encouraging progress in several aspects, such as discovery of new species, construction of new taxonomic schemes for important groups, biodiversity conservation and bio-resource exploitation. In this paper, the research progress of newly published fungal names in China, especially those from Chinese scholars are statistically summarized and presented based on the data retrieved from Index Fungorum, Fungal Names and MycoBank. The result shows that the number of Chinese scholars, and their research outputs have increased greatly in the new century, together with the increasing contribution to the world taxonomy of fungi. At least 9 430 new fungal names, including 7 120 new taxa (i.e. 3 new classes, 24 new orders, 88 new families, 4 new subfamilies, 492 new genera, 3 new subgenera, 23 new sections and subsections, 6 404 new species and 79 new intraspecific taxa), 1 868 new combinations, 61 new revised names and 381 other new names, were published by 1 491 Chinese scholars in 4 029 articles and 36 monographs, accounting for ca. 1/7 of all names published worldwide. These new fungal names belonged to 11 phyla, 43 classes, 173 orders, 525 families and 1 997 genera, among which ascomycetes and basidiomycetes have received more attentions. Most new fungal species were discovered from southern China, while Yunnan is the most important source of new discoveries accounting for ca. 1/4 of total in China.

Chaxingu, formerly named as Agrocybe chaxingu, is an edible and medicinal mushroom widely cultivated in China. Its taxonomic identity is still ambiguous due to morphological similarity to Cyclocybe cylindracea. In this study, morphological characteristics and multiple genes’ phylogenetic evidence were employed to delimit the species. Our data indicated that A. chaxingu and C. cylindracea are two different but closely related species. Morphologically, A. chaxingu differs from C. cylindracea by its light brown to dark brown pileus with strongly oiltea camellia flavor, thin and easily broken annulus, and cylindrical to lageniform or cambiform cheilocystidia. A new combination, Cyclocybe chaxingu was proposed, and a neotype was designated (HFJAU1332, deposited at Herbarium of Jiangxi Agricultural University).

Disease investigation, collection of diseased buds, isolation and purification of pathogens were conducted to clarify the species of Diaporthe causing pear bud witherings in Guizhou. In total, 94 Diaporthe isolates were obtained based on their colony characteristics combined with ITS sequence identification, of which 40 representative isolates were chosen for carrying out multi-gene (ITS, TEF, CAL, HIS and TUB) phylogenetic analysis and morphological observation. Eight species of Diaporthe were identified, including D. biguttulata, D. eres, D. ellipsoidea, D. fusicola, D. hongkongensis, D. sennae, D. sojae and D. unshiuensis. To our knowledge, D. ellipsoidea, D. biguttulata and D. sennae were first reported to infect pears. Inoculating in vitro branch of “Yuluxiang” pear showed that the eight species of Diaporthe could produce symptoms the same as those in the field, indicating that they were the pathogens causing pear bud witherings. D. eres with the highest isolation rate was dominant and had stronger pathogenicity. This is the first report of Diaporthe species causing pear bud witherings, providing useful data for practicable disease control of pear in Guizhou Province.

Pleurotus tuber-regium, generally used as medicine and edibles in China, has considerably high nutritional and medicinal values. A wild Pleurotus isolate collected from Limushan Natural Reserve of Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park was purified and identified as P. tuber-regium by molecular analysis based on ITS sequences and morphological characteristics. The biological characteristics and domestic cultivation of the isolate were studied. The cross-hatch method was used to study the effects of different carbon and nitrogen sources, pH, and temperature on the mycelial growth rate under solid cultivation. The orthogonal tests were conducted on three optimal factors from four single factor experiments. The results showed that the optimal carbon and nitrogen sources for the mycelial growth of P. tuber-regium were sucrose and peptone respectively, under conditions of pH 7.0 at 35 °C. The spawn was the culture on corn grain substrate incubated at 25 °C under dark condition. The culture formula was 52% angiosperm wood chips, 25% corncob, 20% bran, 2% lime, and 1% gypsum. Primordium formed in 50 d of incubation and mature fruiting body in 55 days under the temperature of 28-32 °C, and humidity of 85%-90%. The present study is successful in domestic cultivation of P. tuber-regium, and supplies the primary data for future industrialized production of the fungus.

In recent years, over 500 mushroom poisoning incidents involving more than 2 000 patients and ca. 30 deaths yearly have raised Yunnan as the most severe province of mushroom poisoning in China. Comprehensive investigation on species diversity of poisonous mushrooms causing poisoning incidents is urgently needed for precise prevention and control of mushroom poisoning. Based on species identification of 223 poisoning incidents in Yunnan since 2013, we found that mushroom poisoning occurred throughout the year, especially from June to September, and poisoning incidents and patients peaked in July while deaths peaked in June. Geographically, poisoning occurred in 14 prefectures and Dehong, Yuxi, Baoshan, Chuxiong and Pu’er ranked the top five, which were located in central to southern Yunnan. Forty-seven poisonous mushrooms were identified, causing six different clinical syndromes (acute liver failure, acute renal failure, rhabdomyolysis, gastroenteritis, psycho-neurological disorder and photosensitive dermatitis). Of which, 16 species originally described from China and three Chinese new records were published since 2019. Amanita exitialis and Russula subnigricans were most poisonous and dangerous in Yunnan, resulting in 19 deaths and 9 deaths, respectively. Chlorophyllum molybdites, R. japonica, Scleroderma cepa, Entoloma omiense and Omphalotus olearius were the top five species causing gastroenteritis. Gymnopilus dilepis, Inosperma cf. virosum and Lanmaoa asiatica monopolized the top positions resulting in psycho-neurological disorder and Cordierites frondosus was the only one species so far causing photosensitive dermatitis in Yunnan Province.