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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sanghuang, as a group of medicinal macrofungi recorded in ancient Chinese traditional medicine books, has many functions such as anti-tumor, reduction of blood suger, reduction of blood fat, anti-oxidation, and reduction of uric acid. Modern taxonomic studies have shown that sanghuang has high species diversity and widely distributed in different areas of China and other areas of north Hemisphere, growing in mulberry, poplar, clove, honeysuckle, northeast China ash, jujube, walnut and other broad-leaved trees. Sanghuang have been artificially cultivated in China since 1990s, and the species used for cultivation are mainly Sanghuangporus sanghuang, S. vaninii, S. baumii, and Inonotus hispidus. The scale of the sanghuang industry is progressively expanding, forming a health industry with high economic value and social benefits. In this paper, we summarized the current status of sanghuang industry in China, relating to the historical record, the change of classification status, the functional researches, production development, bottleneck problems and countermeasures. The problems existing in sanghuang industry development, and some recommendations for its future development in China are proposed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fungi, as an important component of the most abundant eukaryotes, widely distribute in nature and play important functions in biodiversity distribution pattern and maintenance, community assembly, and material circulation and energy flow in ecosystems. With recent development of the DNA high through-put sequencing techniques and bioinformatics, researches on diversity distribution patterns and community assembly of fungi have been greatly advanced. This paper reviews community assembly mechanisms of the selection, dispersal, speciation and drift processes based on niche theory and neutral theory and quantitative contribution of determinism and stochasticity of ecological models, and their use in recent studies on fungal community assembly.

Cordyceps militaris is an important edible and medicinal fungus, and the stroma can be artificially cultivated on a large scale. However, the cultivated strains are easily degenerate, hindering industrialized cultivation. Germplasms for cultivation mainly depend on investigation and collection of wild resources. In this study, the resources of C. militaris in partial areas of Northeast China and Shandong Province were investigated, and the ecological distribution and morphology of the fungus were systematically surveyed. A total of 414 wild C. militaris specimens was collected from five locations. Most of the hosts were pupae of Lepidoptera, and a few of them were larvae and cocoons. The wild C. militaris stromata are solitary or 2-25-clustered, 1-17 cm long, rod-, flat-shaped, or irregularly deformed, branched and come out from various parts of the host, mainly from the head. The ground part of stroma is 1-6 cm long and shows deep orange-yellow. The fertile part of stroma is 0.5-4 cm long, 1.2-6 mm wide, and most stromata have a sharp boundary between the fertile and sterile parts. The underground part is 0.5-11 cm, and the length is correlated with the thickness of humus. The rhizomorph was clearly observed for the first time in some fruiting bodies of C. militaris, which connected with the pupa and the stroma, or grown from the pupa and stroma alone. The rhizomorph was morphologically different from the mycelia of prosenchyma and the middle of hyphae of the rhizomorph is enlarged. The macroscopic morphological differences between artificially cultivated and wild stromata were obvious, but no difference was found in the morphology of asci and ascospores. Enormous wild C. militaris germplasm resources have been observed in this survey, being helpful for the development of C. militaris industry in China.

Low phosphorus availability and toxic level of exchangeable aluminum are the main factors impairing plant growth in acidic soil. Several studies have shown that ectomycorrhiza (ECM) can alleviate aluminum toxicity and low phosphorus stress of its host plants. However, the adaptation mechanisms of ECM fungi to these adverse environments are largely unknown. The physiological adaptations of Suillus bovinus, a widely distributed ECM fungus in acidic soil environment in South China, to low phosphorus and acidic-aluminum stresses were investigated under axenic condition. The results showed that S. bovinus was an aluminum-tolerant fungus, and the acidic aluminum stress (1 mmol/L) did not affect its mycelium growth. By contraries, low phosphorus stress significantly limited the mycelial growth (P<0.05). It is astonishing that the inhibitory effects of low phosphorus stress could be alleviated by acid aluminum stress. Low phosphorus stress significantly hampered the phosphorus absorption of S. bovinus (P<0.05), while aluminum stress promoted the absorption of potassium. Low phosphorus and acidic-aluminum stress also significantly changed the mycelial exudate composition of S. bovinus. Compared with the experimental control, a great quantity of phenolic acids, organic acids and lipids decreased under low phosphorus stress; while under acidic aluminum stress, a large number of phenolic acids were up-regulated, and the quantities of organic acids and lipids were also increased. Phenolic acids and organic acids were significantly up-regulated under combining stresses of low phosphate and acidic-aluminum. Besides, the accumulation of IAA were all significantly up-regulated under these stress conditions. These results provided theoretical basis for further interpretation of ECM adaptation mechanisms under these stresses.

Collections made from 20 provinces and autonomous regions of China were studied, and 36 species were identified, including 28 known species and 8 species are new to China. Morphological description, drawings, photos and discussion were provided for the new records species, namely G. badipes, G. calyptrata, G. jaapii, G. pseudomniophila, G. paludosa, G. physospora, G. sahleri, and G. tibiicystis. DNA sequences were extracted from the Chinese materials, 21 newly generated ITS sequences and 73 download sequences were obtained. Phylogenetic tree was constructed by Bayesian inference and Maximum likelihood analysis, and the identification results of new record species were verified by the molecular data.

Five new species and one species new to China of Lactarius are reported from tropical and subtropical regions of China based on morphological comparisons and analyses of ITS-nrDNA sequences. The new species L. cheilocystidiatus and L. polycystis are distinctive in L. subg. Plinthogalus due to the presence of macrocystidia. They are closely related to Thai L. crassiusculus. Lactarius gloeocarpus and L. vulgaris are new members of L. subg. Lactarius, characterized by yellowish sticky pileus, reticulate spores and large macrocystidia. They form a species complex with Chinese L. pallido-ochraceus, L. pallidizonatus and Indian L. thindii. Lactarius hunanensis is a new species with strong temperate affinity. It is distinguished by the ixolattice pileipellis with olivaceous incrustations and spores with zebroid ornamentation. Lactarius austroscrobiculatus, a tropical species originally described from Indonesia, was reported in China for the first time. The specimens studied were collected from Anhui, Hainan, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Yunnan. Species documented in this study are representative fungi in the Sino-Japan Forest subkingdom.

Melanoleuca belongs to Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes, Agaricales. Much attention has been paid to this genus because many species are important edible fungi. Two new species, Melanoleuca grisea and M. subleucopoda, were found from Taihang Mountains in Shanxi Province, China and studied based on morphological characters and molecular phylogenetic analyses using ITS and RPB2 sequences. Their morphological and phylogenetic relationship with other related species in Melanoleuca was also discussed.

Strain degeneration occurs often in Cordyceps militaris during subculture and long-term storage at low temperature, resulting in a decrease in yield and a great loss in income. In this study, normal strains and degenerated strains due to long-term storage at 4 °C PDA slant and continuous subculture of C. militaris were observed to survey the morphological variation of fruiting bodies, colonies and mycelia and sporulation capacity of conidia. The nuclei, mitochondria, reactive oxygen species accumulation in cell, and lipid droplets in blastospore were observed by staining method, and the content of cordycepin, adenosine and ergosterol in mycelia was analyzed. The results showed that most of the phenotypical variation of degenerated strains caused by long-term storage at 4 °C PDA slant and continuous subculture were consistently displayed as: the decrease of fruiting body yield, the presence of adhesive and knotted hyphae, significant decrease of conidia, increased level of reactive oxygen species, reduction of mitochondria in the mycelia, mergence of dispersed and small lipid droplets in the blastospores into large droplets. There is no color change after being exposed to light for the colony of degenerated strains caused by long-term storage at 4 °C, whereas color change is unstable during the continuous subculture. The number of nuclei in the mycelia of degenerate strains undergoing continuous subculture is reduced whereas no change in that undergoing long-term storage at 4 °C. The content of cordycepin, adenosine and ergosterol in the mycelia of degenerated strains of long-term preservation was reduced by 58%, 41% and 70% as compared with that of the normal strains, but the ergosterol content of the degenerated strains of continuous subculture was unchanging. Microscopic observation of adhesive and knotted mycelia, and staining the mycelia by nitrogen blue tetrazolium (NBT) to detect the reactive oxygen species are easy to operate and not time-consuming. This method can be used to detect the degeneration of C. militaris strains on a large scale. Mitochondrial and lipid droplet staining can also be used to identify the degenerated strains. The commonly used method of judging the quality of spawn by color conversion after light irradiation needs to be cautious. Obvious degeneration of the strains usually appears in fourth generation during subculture, so the strains used for cultivation should be selected within three generations.

γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a functional non-protein amino acid and plays critical roles in maintaining human health. To explore the GABA levels in edible fungi and the factors influencing GABA production, the extraction and derivatization conditions for GABA in edible fungi were firstly optimized, and the HPLC with pre-column derivatization by FMOC-Cl was established for determine GABA content. GABA content in 20 kinds of main edible fungi in China were determined using the optimized method, and effects of the content and species of nitrogen in culture substrate and the cultivation time on GABA content in edible fungi were further explored. The optimum solid-to-liquid ratio, time and temperature for extracting GABA from edible fungi were 1:100, 1 h and 65 °C, respectively. GABA content in 20 edible fungi were 0.20-3.02 mg/g DW, showing significantly interspecific difference. The highest GABA content (3.02 mg/g DW) was found in Tremella aurantialba, and GABA content in Lentinula edodes, Tremella fuciformis, Flammulina filiformis, and Agaricus bisporus was also relatively high, being 1-2 mg/g DW, respectively. GABA accumulation was significantly promoted by increasing the nitrogen content in culture substrate, and the promotion effect of adding urea was obviously better than that of adding wheat bran. GABA accumulation was also influenced by cultivation time. GABA content in the second and third fruiting flush was markedly higher than that in the first fruiting flush. Our results indicate that GABA content in edible fungi is not only closely related to the variety but also affected by the content and species of nitrogen in culture substrate and the cultivation time.

Cortinarius is the largest genus of fungi, containing many important ectomycorrhizal fungi. Phlegmacium is a large subgenus in Cortinarius, characterized by viscid to glutinous pileus surface under wet conditions. A taxonomic study was carried out on the Phlegmacium collections from China using the methods of morphological observation combined with phylogenetic analysis. In total, 24 species were found from the checked specimens, of which 12 species were new to China. This paper summarizes the basic information of each species and describes the morphological characteristics of new Chinese records in detail.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi, as an important part of forest ecosystems, are important symbiotic partners of trees. They play a key role in the natural regeneration of forest, the formation of plant stress resistance, helping plants in absorption of restrictive nutrients, and serving as a food source for insects. Fungi and host plants have complex molecular interactions, and there are different molecular mechanisms in different stages of symbiosis and many unknown complex network of interaction. With the development of genome and transcriptome research, it is possible to find some new signaling molecules, effector proteins and related pathways. The effect of the regulation of nutrient transfer between fungi and host plants on symbiosis has attracted people’s attention. Nutrition related transporters provide the material basis for the establishment of long-term symbiosis. In addition, the host selection mechanism of ectomycorrhizal fungi should be focused on. Because of the polyphyletic origin and evolution of ectomycorrhizal fungi, there are many host conversion events, and the fungi evolve various coping mechanisms to distinguish compatible hosts, incompatible hosts and non-hosts. Through the study of different fungi and host plants, the mechanism of host selection has made some advances. This paper summarizes the research reports concerned at home and abroad in the past decade, and future orientation in development of this field is also predicted.

In recent years, guava wilt, with the typical symptoms of withered branch, necrotic trunk and whole plant dead, has been seriously occurred in Nansha district of Guangzhou. To clarify the cause of the disease, infectivity investigation, specimen collection, pathogen isolation, and pathogenicity test were carried out. Comparative morphology observation and phylogenetic analysis based on multiple gene sequences revealed that the pathogen of guava wilt occurred in Nansha district of Guangzhou was Nalanthamala psidii. Pathogenicity tests on different parts of the host showed that the pathogen not only could invade the host from injured branches, but also from the roots, causing slow-growth of the plant, withered branch and eventual whole plant death. The pathogen could also infect the fruits and cause fruit necrosis. This study confirmed that the guava wilt in Nansha district of Guangzhou was same with rapid death syndrome of guava reported in Taiwan Island of China, Malaysia and South Africa, which were caused by Na. psidii. This study provides a basis for further research of infection characteristics and efficient control of guava wilt.

Cellulose is a polymer of glucose monomers linked by β-1,4 glycosidic bonds. It is widely distributed in nature, which is an easy-to-obtain and inexpensive renewable resource. The treatment and utilization of natural cellulose is an urgent problem to be solved. Therefore, screening excellent cellulase-producing strains and enabling effective utilization of cellulose is an important task. Nowadays cellulase is widely used in industrial and agricultural fields like stockbreeding, energy, textile, etc. Therefore, selection of high-efficiency and low-cost cellulase production fungal strains becomes the goal of this research. Trichoderma species are one of the groups of high-level cellulase producing fungi, which have the advantages of rich enzyme production, complete enzyme system, and high enzyme activity. Their extracellular enzymes are easy to separate and purify. In this study, 150 Trichoderma strains belonging to 25 species obtained in our previous research were used as the materials. Among them, 14 strains appeared to possess relatively high cellulase-producing ability as screened by the Congo red plate method, filter paper enzyme activity assay, and natural cellulose degradation tests. Three of them were further explored to optimal conditions for enzyme production, such as inoculation amount of spore suspension, required amount of Tween 80, and pH of fermentation, etc. Our results showed that Trichoderma guizhouense strain 8705 expressed the best enzyme production ability, and its supernatant enzyme activity reached 6.63 IU/mL when fermented in shake flasks in the optimized fermentation medium at 20 °C for 9 days. This indicates that temperature, time and medium significantly influence the fermentation efficacy of the Trichoderma strain.

Fungal taxonomic study in China, originated at the beginning of 20th century, has achieved encouraging progress and gradually reached the forefront of the world after more than a hundred years’ exploration and development. In this study, the research progress of China’s fungal taxonomy is statistically summarized based on the data retrieved from Fungal Names database. The result shows that a total of 15 626 new fungal taxa, including 3 new classes, 27 new orders or suborders, 117 new families or subfamilies, 769 new genera or subgenera, 11 100 new species, 322 new intraspecific taxa and 3 288 new combinations were published by 2 214 Chinese scholars historically. Phytopathogenic fungi, wood-inhabiting fungi and agaricomycetes have received more attentions by Chinese scholars. Among all the known fungal species worldwide, 10 233 species, belonging to 3 kingdoms, 13 phyla, 44 classes, 174 orders, 572 families and 2 379 genera, were firstly discovered from China, ranking the 2^nd worldwide and accounting for 6.84% of global known fungal diversity. Species discovered from southwest (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Tibet) and low-latitude tropical and subtropical regions (Taiwan, China; Guangdong) accounted for highest proportion of China. According to the number of yearly published new taxa and the composition of scholars, the development history of China’s fungal taxonomy can be divided into five stages: foreigners collecting and studying fungi in China (1750s-1929), the start of mycology in China (1930-1949), the early development of fungal taxonomy in new China (1950-1977), national wide collection and study of fungi (1978-2010), being part of world forefront (2011-present). The status of species discovery and important historical events of each stage were also summarized and concluded. Through the above reviews, the development trend and research overview of China’s fungal taxonomy are systematically presented, which can provide reference for the current and future development of the subject.

The antifungal drugs acting on cell wall are a kind of the safest antifungal drugs. Because they have high efficiency and low toxicity as compared with any other antifungal drugs due to that the fungal cells have unique wall structure, which are distinct from human cells. This article reviews the antifungal drugs that act on the cell wall, and introduces preparations inhibiting glucan synthase, inhibiting chitin synthase and inhibiting glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein according to the different functional mechanisms and antifungal targets, and summarizes the antifungal mechanism, treatment spectrum and the research progress of the antifungal drugs as mentioned above, providing an overview references for the development of related drugs and the application in clinic.

The insects of family Cicadidae, stinging pests of trees such as fruit trees, are of important injurious orchard pests but their symbionts of fungi and cicadas become ecomoically valuable. Our surveys of entomopathogenic fungi in China over recent decades have gathered 102 samples of cicada cadavers which are deposited in the Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Control of Anhui Agricultural University. In this study, 81 fungal cultures were successfully isolated from these cadavers of Cicadidae. Observation of morphological characteristics of the isolates on various media and phylogenetic analysis based on partial sequence of ITS, SSU, LSU, TEF, RPB1 and RPB2 were carried out. Experiment results show that these strains parasitizing the Cicadidae belong to 15 species of 6 genera in 3 families. A new Chinese record species, Purpureocillium takamizusanense isolated from adult cicadas, was reported and some Isaria-like strains were referred to Samsoniella hepiali. Chinese known species such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium viridulum, Cordyceps chanhua, M. cylindrosporum, C. cateinannulata, C. fumosorosea, B. australis, B. brongniartii, C. tenuipes, M. brunneum and Ophiocordyceps longissima were also identified. Among them B. bassiana, C. chanhua and M. viridulum were dominant, which account for 58% of the total, and the rest twelve species were found to be rare.

Three known compounds (1-3), 5,8-epi-dioxy-5α,8α-ergosta-6,22E-dien-3β-ol (1), β-D-glucose (2), and adenosine (3), were firstly isolated from the hallucinogenic poisonous mushroom Psilocybe ovoideocystidiata collected from Guizhou Province, China. Structures of these three compounds were determined on the basis of HR-ESI-MS and NMR data, and the results were compared with literatures. The fragmentation pathways of compounds 2 and 3 were deduced on the basis of UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analysis for the first time, in which rearrangement and neutral loss played a leading role. Psilocybin and psilocin were detected in both fresh and dried fruitbodies by using UPLC-MS/MS method, but not discovered from fresh materials stored in -80 °C for 6 months, inferring that the methods of preservation and extraction might influence the detection results of the compounds.

YL1701-2 was obtained by sexual hybridization between domesticated cultivar HZ14080 and wild strain HZ16009 of Phlebopus portentosus. The optimum temperature for mycelium growth was 25-32 °C, and for fruiting body development was 25-32 °C. The variety has the advantages of thick stipe and thick, large-sized and fleshy pelei, strong resistance to adverse circumstances, short growth cycle, early and uniform fruiting, high yield, good appearance quality, and high degree of commercialization. It can be cultivated in bags or in bottles, but mainly in bottles. At present, the strain has been cultivated on a large scale and it is protected by patent.

Amanitin is the most lethal mushroom toxin in mushroom poisoning cases in China. The main mechanism of amanitin poisoning is the interaction between amanitin and eukaryotic RNA polymerase Ⅱ and inhibiting the formation of mRNA. In this paper, the research progress concerning interaction between α-amanitin and eukaryotic polymerase Ⅱ was reviewed. The research history of 110 years (1907-) of interaction between α-amanitin and eukaryotic polymerase Ⅱ is divided into eight stages, including early research on amanitins, advancement of chemical structure analysis, toxicology research, structure-activity relationship research, biochemistry research, molecular biology research, structural biology research, and drug development and evaluation. The corresponding discussion on research processes and important results is given. Hopefully this paper will bring new thinking to the field of clinical toxicology.

In June 2021, a suspected cobweb disease was found in a Ganoderma sinense culture base in Nanning, Guangxi, China. Based on tissue isolation method, multi-gene phylogenetic analysis (ITS, RPB2, TEF1), morphological characters and Koch’s postulates, the pathogen was identified as Cladobotryum protrusum. The best medium for hyphal growth was PDA, and the optimal carbon source and nitrogen source were respectively soluble starch and yeast extract powder; The optimum growth temperature and pH were 25 ℃ and 6, respectively. Darkness is benefical to hyphal growth. This is the first report of C. protrusum causing cobweb on cultivated G. sinense.

Cetraspora huaxica, a new species of Cetraspora (Diversisporales, Glomeromycotina), was isolated from rhizosphere soil of Chimonobambusa utilis in Huaxi District of Guiyang City, China. It forms hyaline spores 187-361×210-378 μm on pale yellow to pale yellow brown sporogenous cells. The germination shields are hyaline to pale yellow brown with multiple (4-8) lobes; the spores have three walls: a triple-layered outer wall (OWL1-3), a bi-layered middle wall (MWL1-2) and a triple-layered inner wall (IWL1-3), of which the OWL2 and IWL3 stain deep pink to bright red-brown when exposed in Melzer’s reagent. Phylogenetic analyses based on the sequences of nuclear rDNA (spanning the partial small subunit, whole internal transcribed spacer, and partial large subunit segment; SSU-ITS-LSU) indicate that this species belongs to the genus Cetraspora and forms an independent clade. Detailed descriptions of the new taxon and a comparison with its phylogenetically related taxa are provided.

Macro-basidiomycetes are widely distributed and diverse. They are not only important food resources, but also a treasure of medicinal resources. Terpenoids are one of the main active ingredients found in the fruiting bodies of macrobasidiomycetes, including sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, etc. These compounds have effects of preventing, relieving or treating cancer, depression, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and other diseases. At present, the basic backbone structure characteristics of diterpenoids isolated from basidiomycetes can be divided into six types: cyathanes, pleuromutilins, guanacastanes, pimaranes, abietanes, and crinipellins. In this review, the structural characteristics, biological activities, and biosynthesis of diterpenoids in basidiomycetes were summarized. Diterpene synthase involved in the biosynthesis of diterpenoids in basidiomycetes is classified, and two important biosynthetic pathways of diterpenoids are systematically summarized and discussed.

Cycads are the only known gymnosperms with coralloid root up to the present, and they are used as ideal materials to explore the interaction between plants and microorganisms. The diversity and composition of endophytic fungi in coralloid roots of cultivated Cycas revoluta collected from thirteen regions of China were analyzed through next-generation sequencing. High diversity of endophytic fungi presented itself in coralloid roots of C. revoluta, but there was no significant difference in composition and diversity among different regions. The results indicated that the symbiosis between C. revoluta and endophytic fungi within coralloid roots was irrelevant to cultivation area.