Haelewaters, D., et al., 2020.
Mortality of native and invasive ladybirds co-infected by ectoparasitic and entomopathogenic fungi. PeerJ , 8 (e10110).
Publisher's VersionAbstractHarmonia axyridis is an invasive alien ladybird in North America and Europe. Studies show that multiple natural enemies are using Ha. axyridis as a new host. However, thus far, no research has been undertaken to study the effects of simultaneous infection by multiple natural enemies on Ha. axyridis. We hypothesized that high thallus densities of the ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces virescens on a ladybird weaken the host’s defenses, thereby making it more susceptible to infection by other natural enemies. We examined mortality of the North American-native Olla v-nigrum and Ha. axyridis co-infected with He. virescens and an entomopathogenic fungus—either Beauveria bassiana or Metarhizium brunneum. Laboratory assays revealed that He. virescens-infected O. v-nigrum individuals are more susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi, but Ha. axyridis does not suffer the same effects. This is in line with the enemy release hypothesis, which predicts that invasive alien species in new geographic areas experience reduced regulatory effects from natural enemies compared to native species. Considering our results, we can ask how He. virescens affects survival when confronted by other pathogens that previously had little impact on Ha. axyridis.
Baral, H.O., et al., 2020.
Cryptic speciation in Orbilia xanthostigma and O. leucostigma (Orbiliomycetes): an aggregate with worldwide distribution.
Mycological Progress , 20 , pp. 1503–1537.
Publisher's VersionAbstractOrbilia xanthostigma, with golden yellow to yellow-orange apothecia and O. leucostigma, with white to very pale rose-lilaceous apothecia, were described by E.M. Fries over 200 years ago. Each of the two taxa, which are not easy to interpret because type material is lacking, was proposed in the past as lectotype of the genus Orbilia. In the here presented circumscription, which follows the current usage, O. xanthostigma is among the most frequently recorded species of the genus, whereas O. leucostigma appears to be much less common. Both grow gregariously on decorticated hygric gymno- and angiosperm wood or rarely bark and show a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by minute, strongly curved, warted ascospores and a dicranidion-like anamorph. Except for apothecial colour, there are no other notable morphological differences between them, either in the teleomorph (asci, ascospores, paraphyses) or anamorph (conidiophores, conidia). Because of their strong similarities, the two taxa have often been treated as infraspecific variants (subspecies, varieties) of a single species or even as synonyms. In order to overcome the ambiguities associated with the two names, O. delicatula, a name proposed by P.A. Karsten for a collection with golden yellow apothecia, was suggested by B. Spooner as a replacement name for them. The present study reveals unexpectedly high ITS and LSU variation within a morphologically extremely homogeneous group, representing over 16 more or less invariable genotypes whenever more than one sample with a sequence was available. ITS and LSU rDNA data from European (Luxembourg, Germany, Ukraine) and Macaronesian (Tenerife) collections suggest that the two colour variants represent two distinct species with a 16.5% ITS and 3.5% LSU D1–D2 distance, but very low infraspecific variation (0.2% ITS, 0% LSU). A sample with scattered yellow apothecia from Luxembourg on a xeric branch deviates from typical European-Macaronesian O. xanthostigma by 4% (ITS) and 0.7% (LSU). Further available sequences from samples from Asia, New Zealand and North America with mainly yellow apothecia clustered in various other clades that represent further distinct genotypes. In the absence of morphological characteristics, none of these genotypes are given names pending further investigation. Only two of these genotypes are sufficiently distinct to be recognised morphologically: O. aureocrenulata from tropical, Middle and South America, with golden yellow apothecia with a crenulate margin and prominent stipe, and O. xanthoflexa from temperate, northeastern North America with yellow sessile apothecia with a smooth margin and larger, less curved, smooth-walled ascospores.
Mitchell, J.K. & L., Q., 2020.
Proposal to conserve the name Cytospora resinae (Zythia resinae) with a conserved type (Ascomycota).
Taxon: The Journal of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy , 69 (5) , pp. 1102-1103.
Publisher's Version Pfister, D.H. & Brown, J., 2020.
Inspired by Plants: The Glass Flowers as a Window into Botanical Education.
Journal of Antiques & Collectibles .
AbstractThe Glass Flowers exhibit is one of the major attractions at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. This remarkable collection is the product of the father and son artists-naturalists, Leopold (1822-1895) and Rudolf Blaschka (1857-1939). These renowned artists and glassworkers created life-like models that allow museum visitors to experience both the familiar and the exotic. Their masterful work, informed by detailed studies of each plant from nature, employed inventive methods to shape and color glass; they developed methods to mimic the surface textures and colors of leaves, branches, and flowers. Why did the Blaschkas produce this collection and who inspired them in this endeavor? To answer this question, we look deeply into the initiation of the project and the era in which the models were made.
Haelewaters, D., et al., 2020.
Mortality of native and invasive ladybirds co-infected by ectoparasitic and entomopathogenic fungi. Zoological Science.
Publisher's VersionAbstractHarmonia axyridis is an invasive alien ladybird in North America and Europe. Studies show that multiple natural enemies are using
Ha. axyridis as a new host. However, thus far, no research has been undertaken to study the effects of simultaneous infection by multiple natural enemies on
Ha. axyridis. We hypothesized that high thallus densities of the ectoparasitic fungus
Hesperomyces virescens on a ladybird weaken the host’s defenses, thereby making it more susceptible to infection by other natural enemies. We examined mortality of the North American-native
Olla v-nigrum and
Ha. axyridis co-infected with
He. virescens and an entomopathogenic fungus—either
Beauveria bassiana or
Metarhizium brunneum. Laboratory assays revealed that
He. virescens-infected
O. v-nigrum individuals are more susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi, but
Ha. axyridis does not suffer the same effects. This is in line with the enemy release hypothesis, which predicts that invasive alien species in new geographic areas experience reduced regulatory effects from natural enemies compared to native species. Considering our results, we can ask how
He. virescens affects survival when confronted by other pathogens that previously had little impact on
Ha. axyridis.
View Infographic here Nokes, L. & Pfister, D.H., 2020.
Exploration of marine lichenized fungi as bioindicators of coastal ocean pollution in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.
Abstract
View Poster Presentation online or as a PDF
Presented at the Mycological Society of America's "MSA 2020: Mycology from the Cloud" virtual conference.
PDF Saba, M., et al., 2020.
New species of Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) from Pakistan revealed by morphology and multi-locus phylogenetic reconstruction.
MycoKeys , (69) , pp. 1-31.
Publisher's VersionAbstractDuring fungal surveys between 2012 and 2014 in pine-dominated forests of the western Himalayas in Pakistan, several collections of
Pseudosperma (Agaricales, Inocybaceae) were made. These were documented, based on morphological and molecular data. During this work, three new species came to light, which are here formally described as
Pseudosperma brunneoumbonatum,
P. pinophilum and
P. triacicularis. These species belong in the genus
Pseudosperma fide Matheny et al (2019) = Pseudosperma clade
fide Matheny (2005) =
Inocybe sect. Rimosae s.s. fide Larsson et al. (2009). Macro- and micro-morphological descriptions, illustrations and molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of the studied taxa are provided. The new species are differentiated from their close relatives by basidiospore size and colouration of basidiomata. Molecular phylogenetic relationships are inferred using
ITS (ITS1–5.8S–ITS2),
nrLSU and
mtSSU sequence data. All three newly-described taxa likely share an ectomycorrhizal association with trees in the genus
Pinus. In addition, five names are recombined in
Inosperma,
Mallocybe and
Pseudosperma. These are
Inosperma vinaceobrunneum,
Mallocybe erratum,
Pseudosperma alboflavellum,
Pseudosperma friabile and
Pseudosperma neglectum.