Book of Abstracts (PDF) - International Mycological Association

IMC7 Main Congress Theme I: BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Posters
provide a range of micro-habitats and plant communities.
Since October 2000, lichens were collected from 13
National Parks in Thailand. These sites were from the far
south (Hala Bala at sea level) to the far north (Doi Inthanon
at 2,565 metres above sea level). These collections yielded
1116 samples classified into crustose 80%, foliose 14%,
fruticose 1%, others 2% and unidentified 3%. These have
been identified to 2 orders including 14 families, 32 genera
and over 150 species. Common genera of crustose lichens
were Graphis, Haematomma, Laurera and Lecanora.
Foliose genera included Heterodermia, Parmotrema and
Phyllopsora. Cladonia and Usnea were common examples
of fruticose genera. Canoparmelia and Hypotrachyna were
notable rarities of foliose lichen. Isolations were made from
ascospores by direct streaking of spores and spore
discharge.
592 - Lignin degrading enzymes of Xylariacious fungi in
Thailand
P. Srikitikulchai * & E.B.G. Jones
BIOTEC-Fermentation Laboratory, National Center for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, National Science
and Technology Development Agency, 113 Pahonyothin
RD., Khlong 1, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120,
Thailand. - E-mail: prasert@biotec.or.th
Thailand supports a rich diversity of xylariaceous
ascomycetes, with most occurring on wood, although a
number have been found on leaves, elephant dung, fruits
and seeds, while others have been shown to be endophytes
of forest trees (Thienhirun, 1997; Whalley et al. 1995).
Nineteen genera in the Xylariaceae have been documented
for Thailand with a total of 91 species. However, some 15
Hypoxylon and 30 Xylaria species await description
(Thienhirun, 1997). Members of the Xylariales are active
degraders of timber in nature and have been shown to
cause soft rot and white rot attack of wood. However, little
is known about the enzymes they produce. We have
screened 51 strains of xylariaceous fungi over the past 2
years for their lignin degrading enzymes. For this study we
have used Poly R-478, ABTS and azure-B medium to
screen for general lignin degrading enzymes, laccase and
peroxidase activity, respectively. Ninety four percent of the
isolates gave positive results for laccase, 21% positive for
peroxidases, while 43% decolourized the dye Poly-R 478.
593 - Fungal diversity on woody substrates in
Scandinavia
J.N. Stokland 1* & A. Dahlberg 2
1 Norwegian institute of land inventory, P.O.Box 115, 1430
Ås, Norway. - 2 Swedish Species Information Centre,
P.O.Box 7007, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. - E-mail:
jns@nijos.no
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Book of Abstracts
Species diversity patterns have been derived from speciesspecific
information of more than 1500 species of
Ascomycetes, Heterobasidiomycetes and Basidiomycetes.
Several functional associations to woody debris were
defined, including primary parasite, primary saprotroph,
secondary myco-parasite, secondary myco-saprotroph, and
mycorrhiza species (using wood for sporocarp production).
Most species are probably primary saprotrophs, but all
functional associations are represented. Most species are
associated to either coniferous (40%) or hardwood hosts
(40%), but many are host generalists (20%). Most
taxonomic groups exhibit this pattern, but at least the
Ascomycetes show an elevated species richness on
hardwood hosts. The degree of decomposition of the wood
is important and four patterns were found: early decay
preference (less than 10%), medium decay preference
(50%), late decay preference (15%) and no decay
preference (25%). These proportions varied across
taxonomic groups. The dimension of woody substrates is a
third factor that many fungi respond to. One group prefer
small dimensions (twigs and thin stems) and another is
strongly associated to trunks of large dimensions, but the
majority of the species (60%) show no strong dimension
preference. There are additional factors that woodinhabiting
fungi respond to like sun exposure/shade, part of
the tree and standing/lying. For these factors there are
major knowledge gaps that prevent compilation of diversity
patterns.
594 - Lichenicolous fungi in Estonia
A. Suija
Institute of Botany and Ecology, University of Tartu, 38 Lai
Str., Tartu, 51005, Estonia. - E-mail: avesuija@ut.ee
The history of floristical investigation of lichen-habiting
fungi in Estonia is short. Until the 1990s, only two
lichenicolous fungi (Athelia arachnoidea and Rimularia
insularis) were known from Estonia. During the last five
years, 69 species from 47 genera of these fungi have been
registered from Estonia. Most of the lichenicolous species
are ascomycetes (45 species); fewer are deuteromycetes
(23) and basidiomycetes (7). The most species-rich genera
are Abrothallus (5 species), Licheniconium (4), Muellerella
(3), Stigmidium (4) and Tremella (4). Most species are
categorized as very rare i.e. known from one or two
localities in Estonia. Still, there are some exceptions. The
distribution area of the basidiomycete Athelia arachnoidea,
an aggressive parasite of different protococcoid algae and
lichens, has extended since the 1940s. Since the 1990s, this
species is especially widespread in towns, roadsides etc.
The deuteromycete Vouauxiella lichenicola, a parasite of
Lecanora chlarotera and allied taxa, was reported as very
rare in 1999. However, the species is now found in about
30 places and its distribution partially coincides with the
distribution of Lecanora chlarotera.