Chance or Necessity-The Fungi Co-Occurring with Ants.

Studies on carton nesting ants and domatia-dwelling ants have shown that ant-fungi interactions may be much more common and widespread than previously thought. Until now, studies focused predominantly on parasitic and mutualistic fungi-ant interactions occurring mostly in the tropics, neglecting less-obvious interactions involving the fungi common in ants' surroundings in temperate climates. In our study, we characterized the mycobiota of the surroundings of ants by identifying nearly 600 fungal colonies that were isolated externally from the bodies of workers.

New Endohyphal Relationships between Mucoromycota and Representatives.

Mucoromycota representatives are known to harbor two types of endohyphal bacteria (EHB)--related endobacteria (BRE) and -related endobacteria (MRE). While both BRE and MRE occur in fungi representing all subphyla of Mucoromycota, their distribution is not well studied. Therefore, it is difficult to resolve the evolutionary history of these associations in favor of one of the following two alternative hypotheses explaining their origin: "early invasion" and "late invasion.

Identification of Entomopathogenic Fungi as Naturally Occurring Enemies of the Invasive Oak Lace Bug, (Say) (Hemiptera: Tingidae).

The oak lace bug (OLB), (Hemiptera: Tingidae), was first identified as an invasive pest in Europe in northern Italy in 2000 and since then it has spread rapidly, attacking large forested areas in European countries. The OLB is a cell sap-sucking insect that is native to North America, with spp. as its main host.

The XVIII Congress of European Mycologists: Conference Report.

The 18th Congress of European Mycologists took place from 16 to 21 September 2019 in Warsaw and Białowieża, Poland (Figure 1) [...

New fossils of ascomycetous anamorphic fungi from Baltic amber.

Three new fossils of saprotrophic fungi are presented and described from Baltic amber, dated to Eocene epoch (Paleogene, upper to mid-Eocene). All belong to Ascomycota and are represented by hyphae as well as asexual reproduction structures allowing to assign them to present genera, respectively Periconia, Penicillium and Scopulariopsis. These material provide both the first and the oldest known fossil record of the mentioned taxa, making these data valuable for the knowledge about the evolutionary history of the Ascomycota.

(Fungi, Boletales) - Occurrence data, environmental layers and habitat suitability models for North America and Europe.

is a bolete species native to eastern North America, which has been introduced to Central Europe. Here we present summarized data about occurrence of the fungus in both disjunctive ranges based on (1) georeferencing of herbarium specimens and occurrence reports; (2) information from peer-reviewed articles, mycological forums and websites; (3) personal observations and (4) from queries sent to Forest Districts and National Parks in Poland. Corresponding background data were acquired from public databases and include range of genus - obligatory mycorrhizal partner of - and WorldClim bioclimatic data.

Psychronectria hyperantarctica, gen. nov., comb. nov., epitypification and phylogenetic position of an Antarctic bryophilous ascomycete.

The holotype of Thyronectria hyperantarctica was re-examined, redescribed, and compared with new collections of an Antarctic bryophilous ascomycete from a similar area. Because the condition of type material was insufficient for molecular studies, the authors designated an epitype from newly collected material with a high degree of morphological similarity to the holotype and paratype material. Phylogenetic analysis of the epitype revealed that its closest phylogenetic affinity was with the family Tilachlidiaceae and it formed a monophyletic group in this lineage within other collections of the species.

Metschnikowia cf. typographi and other pathogens from the bark beetle Ips sexdentatus - Prevalence, histological and ultrastructural evidence, and molecular characterization.

Ips sexdentatus (six-spined engraver beetle) from Austria and Poland were dissected and examined for the presence of pathogens. Specimens collected in Austria were found to contain the ascomycetous fungus Metschnikowia cf. typographi.

Preliminary studies on the evolution of carbon assimilation abilities within Mucorales.

Representatives of Mucorales belong to one of the oldest lineages of terrestrial fungi. Although carbon is of fundamental importance for fungal growth and functioning, relatively little is known about enzymatic capacities of Mucorales. The evolutionary history and the variability of the capacity to metabolize different carbon sources among representatives of the order Mucorales was studied using Phenotypic Microarray Plates.

Bringing Laboulbeniales into the 21st century: enhanced techniques for extraction and PCR amplification of DNA from minute ectoparasitic fungi.

Laboulbeniales is one of the most peculiar orders of Ascomycota. These fungi are characterized by an ectoparasitic life-style on arthropods, determinate growth, lack of an asexual stage, high species richness, and intractability to culture. The order Laboulbeniales, sister to Pyxidiophorales, has only recently been assigned a separate class, the Laboulbeniomycetes, based on very few ribosomal DNA sequences.

New insights on the phylogeny and biology of the fungal ant pathogen Aegeritella.

This paper evaluates the phylogenetic position of the ectoparasitic fungus Aegeritella tuberculata Bałazy & Wiśniewski, and broadly discusses its presence on ants in southern Poland. Field work was conducted in the Silesian Beskid Mountains in 2011-2013. The fungus was found on four species of ants: Lasius niger L.

Biodegradation of nonylphenol by a novel entomopathogenic Metarhizium robertsii strain.

The biodegradation of nonylphenol (NP) by a newly isolated form of the larva fungal strain Metarhizium robertsii IM 6519 was investigated in this study. This isolate was capable of degrading 4-n-NP, and multiple metabolites were detected. The coexistence of parallel degradation pathways with versatile hydroxylation in different positions of the alkyl chain is a unique feature of this strain.

The diversity of endophytic fungi in the above-ground tissue of two species in Poland.

Endophytes are a large and diverse group of fungi that colonize healthy plant tissues without causing any symptoms. The majority of studies have focused on angiosperm and conifer hosts and few have examined the endophytes of lycophytes. In the present study, we characterized culturable endophytic fungi in two closely related species ( and ) from pine, beech, oak and spruce forests across Poland.

Utilization of 4-n-nonylphenol by Metarhizium sp. isolates.

Nonylphenol (4-NP) is a xenobiotic classified as an endocrine disrupting compound with an ability to interfere with hormonal systems of numerous organisms including humans. It is widely distributed not only in aquatic but also in terrestrial systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of cosmopolitan fungus Metarhizium (commonly persistent in soil as a facultative insect pathogen, controlling populations of arthropods in natural environment) to degrade 4-n-nonylphenol.

Diversity of acaropathogenic fungi in Poland and other European countries.

The occurrence, species diversity and some aspects of taxonomical affinity and host selectivity of acaropathogenic fungi associated with phytophagous, saprotrophic and predacious mites in Poland and other European countries were investigated on wild and cultivated plants, in insect feeding sites under the bark and in decayed wood. From among 33 species of fungi affecting mites only five species of Entomophthorales were separated and the most numerous were Neozygites floridana mostly on Tetranychus urticae, N. abacaridis on a few eriophyid species, and Conidiobolus coronatus attacking gamasid mites most frequently of the genus Dendrolaelaps.

Laboratory trials to infect insects and nematodes by some acaropathogenic Hirsutella strains (Mycota: Clavicipitaceous anamorphs).

Laboratory assays have been carried out to artificially infect insect larvae of the birch bark-beetle (Scolytus ratzeburgi Jans.-Coleoptera, Scolytidae) and codling moth Cydia pomonella L. -Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) as well as the potato cyst nematode-Globodera rostochiensis Wollenweber, sugar beet nematode-Heterodera schachtii Schmidt and root-knot nematode-Meloidogyne hapla Chif (Nematoda, Heteroderidae), by the phialoconidia of some fungal species of the genus Hirsutella.