Inoculum 56(4) - Mycological Society of America

MSA ABSTRACTS
rina, the intracontinental relationships of both Eurasia and North America were
closer than the relationships between eastern Asia and eastern North America.
contributed presentation
Tanaka, Eiji 1 * and Tanaka, Chihiro 2 . 1 Graduate School of Environmental Science,
The University of Shiga Prefecture, 2500 Hassaka-cho, Hikone, Shiga 522-
8533, Japan, 2 Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa
Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi 606-8502, Japan. age-t@mbox.kyotoinet.or.jp.
Phylogenetic study of clavicipitaceous fungi using acetaldehyde dehydrogenase
gene sequences.
Clavicipitaceous fungi are biotrophs and their hosts include plants and insects.
Various molecular phylogenetic studies have been performed, especially
among the Cordyceps species (parasites of insects and other organisms) or among
the grass biotrophic species. However, the relationship among the subfamilies in
Clavicipitaceae has not been cleared. We have searched reasonable regions to examine
the phylogeny among the subfamilies. We demonstrated that sequences of
one of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) gene families were useful. The DNA sequences
of the third exon of this gene were 889 bp long and no insertions/deletions
were observed in any fungi used in this study. The phylogenetic tree indicated
that the clavicipitaceous fungi were divided into two large groups with
extremely high bootstrap support. One group included species of Cordyceps and
Ustilaginoidea. This suggests the necessity for reexamination of the teleomorph
of Ustilaginoidea virens, because its teleomorph has been classified as Claviceps
oryzae-sativae. Another group included only grass biotrophic species. This group
was further divided into three reasonable groups: species with neotyphodial
anamorph (e.g. Epichloe), species with ephelidial anamorph (e.g. Heteroepichloe)
and Aciculosporium–Claviceps species. This phylogenetic tree using ALDH gene
clearly indicated the putative subfamily in Clavicipitaceae. poster
Tanaka, Isshin 1 * and Kurogi, Shuichi 2 . 1 Sankyo Co., Ltd., Lead Discovery Research
Laboratories, 33 Miyukigaoka, Tsukuba city, Ibaraki 305-0847, Japan,
2 Miyazaki Prefectural Museum of Nature and History, 2-4-4 Jingu, Miyazaki city,
Miyazaki 880-0053, Japan. itanak@sankyo.co.jp. A revision of Physalacria orientalis
(Agaricales, Basidiomycota).
Physalacria orientalis is an unusual basidiomycete in Japan, known only
from its original description in 1951. A study of P. orientalis has shown the presence
of several unreported or unconfirmed characters in this fungus. In this study,
it has wider basidiospores than those in the original description, small openings at
the lower portion of the capitulum and clamp connections. Based on the original
description, plus the above-mentioned additional characters, P. orientalis is considered
to be conspecific to P. tropica. Physalacria tropica has been reported only
in tropical regions (Malaysia, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea). This is the first
record of P. tropica in a temperate region. Phylogenetic analysis using partial sequences
of the nuclear large subunit ribosomal rDNA shows that this fungus
should be placed in the physalacria clade and close to P. decaryi collected in
Japan. poster
Tanaka, Kazuaki*, Hatakeyama, Satoshi and Harada, Yukio. Faculty of Agriculture
and Life Science, Hirosaki University, 3 Bunkyo-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-
8561, Japan. kt881122@yahoo.co.jp. Massarina-like species on bamboos and
their hyphomycetous anamorphs having chiroid conidia.
Several pleosporalean fungi belonging to Massarina sensu lato were collected
from bamboos. They produced hyphomycetes with chiroid conidia, such as
Tetraploa and Piricaudiopsis. To date, the congeneric relation between Massarina
and Tetraploa has been known only from one example (M. tetraploa = T. aristata),
while the teleomorph of Piricaudiopsis has not been reported. Based on
morphological features, the bamboo fungi can be separated into following four
groups; 1) “Tetraplosphaeria”: characterized by the small subglobose ascomata
and the Tetraploa anamorph (sensu strict); 2) “Triplosphaeria”: characterized by
the depressed ascomata and the Tetraploa-like anamorph having three appendages;
3) “Multiplosphaeria”: characterized by the large ascomata composed
of thick ascomal wall and the Tetraploa (or Piricauda)-like anamorph having several
appendages; 4) “Piricaudiosphaeria”: characterized by the large depressed ascomata
with well developed rim-like ascomal wall and the Piricaudiopsis
anamorph. The taxonomy of Massarina is currently quite controversial and many
species including M. tetraploa have been transferred to the genus Lophiostoma.
We consider, however, the Massarina-like fungi on bamboos do not belong neither
to Massarina nor Lophiostoma owing to the defferences found in ascomata
and anamorphs, and the above four groups are regarded as different at generic
level. poster
Tang, Alvin M.C., Jeewon, Rajesh and Hyde, Kevin D. Centre for Research in
Fungal Diversity, Department of Ecology & Biodiversity, The University of
Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
alvtangmc@yahoo.com.hk. Molecular Evolution of Genes for Phylogenetic
Analysis of the Class Sordariomycetes.
It is increasingly common in molecular phylogenetics to use combination of
several gene regions to determine evolutionary relationships among fungi. This
not only resolves deep phylogenetic relationships, but also increases support values
for branches. However, very little is known about the processes of molecular
58 Inoculum 56(4), August 2005
evolution in fungal genes and how these factors affect their classification. This
study aims to address these problems by elucidating the modes and rates of molecular
evolution for 6 genes (actin, atp6, cox3, EF-1 alpha, RPBII, beta-tubulin)
in taxa of the Sordariomycetes. The utility of these genes for determining evolutionary
relationships will be tested at various taxonomic levels using single and
combined data sets. The study will provide valuable information for the selection
of alternative genes to nuclear ribosomal DNA and lead to a more thorough understanding
of evolutionary processes in the Ascomycota and fungi in general.
poster
Taylor, D. Lee 1 *, Herriott, Ian 1 , Geml, Jozsef 1 , Marr, Tom 1 , Long, James 1 , Ruess,
Roger 1 , Laursen, Gary 1 and Nusbaum, Harris 2 . 1 Institute of Arctic Biology, University
of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA, 2 Broad Institute - MIT, Cambridge,
MA 02141, USA. lee.taylor@iab.alaska.edu. Fungal basidiome and soil
diversity under the Aurora Borealis.
Fungi are critical but poorly characterized players in nutrient cycling in the
boreal forest, which holds approximately one quarter of the Earth’s labile carbon.
We are characterizing fungal communities in representative boreal ecosystems,
primarily within the Bonanza Creek LTER site. We extracted soil genomic DNAs
from ~1500 cores, and are constructing clone libraries of amplicons spanning the
fungal ITS and LSU. Preliminary LSU analysis of 206 black spruce litter layer
clones revealed the following trends. 1) Mycorrhizal taxa were far more abundant
than any other guild: 64% of the clones fell into mycorrhizal clades, while only
4% of the clones could be identified as saprophytes. 2) ECM fungi comprised
42% of all clones, ericoid 18% and e-strain 4%. 3) The resupinate ECM taxa Piloderma
and Amphinema, which are noted for litter decay tendencies, comprised
more than half the ECM clones. 4) Interesting taxa include members of the novel
Clade 1 of Schadt et al. (2002) and a distinct clade allied with the Clavicipitaceae.
We have developed ITS and LSU databases of GenBank sequences and a powerful
FASTA searching method which are publicly available at http://iabdevel.arsc.edu/metagenomics/.
We are adding sequences from thousands of
Alaskan sporocarps to these databases. Phylogeographic analysis of several genera
suggests that Alaska is a hot-spot of fungal genetic diversity. symposium presentation
Terashima, Yoshie. Haniya 1887-1, Sanbu-machi, Sanbu-gun, Chiba, 289-1223,
Japan. y.trshm2@ma.pref.chiba.jp. The effect of substrate composition on
quantity, quality and nutritional value of Shiitake mushroom, Lentinula edodes,
fruit bodies.
It was found on Lentinula edodes, that adding thiamine (VB1) to substrate
affected the VB1 content of fruit bodies, that varying the supplements affected the
taste of fruit bodies, and that fat in supplements affected fruit body yield. 1) VB1
is a water-soluble trace element that regulates the decomposition of sugars in the
human body. Fruit bodies obtained from substrates with 10 mg per kg VB1 contained
three times more VB1 than those grown on substrate without. The addition
of VB1 did not influence the major nutritional components, mycelial growth, or
yield. 2) In addition to medicinal benefits, the dietary fiber of fruit bodies is important
for human health, and consumer satisfaction is one of the key factors for
promoting consumption. Seven sensors that included appearance, color, smell,
taste and general satisfaction were compared in relation to six substrates containing
various supplements. Fat-free rice and wheat bran (1:1) was considered to be
optimal for the first flush, but there was no difference in the sensors among the
substrates for the second and third flushes. 3) Compared to raw rice bran, the lack
of oil in fat-free rice bran resulted in decreased mycelial biomass and affected
yield negatively. With longer spawn runs, there was no significant difference in
the yield. However, shorter runs using fat-free rice bran as a substrate resulted in
lower yields. symposium presentation
Terashita, Takao. Laboratory of Food Microbiological Science and Biotechnology,
Faculty of Agriculture, Kin-ki University, 3327-204, Nakamachi, Nara 631-
8505, Japan. terasita@nara.kindai.ac.jp. Characterization of beta-glucosidase
from Tricholoma matsutake and its enzyme production.
Tricholoma matsutake (S. Ito & Imai) Sing. are difficult to cultivate artificially
without the host plant. This fungus grows so slowly on the artificial media
(about 20mm/month) and has low capability to decompose polysaccarides. From
the artificial cultivation of T. matsutake, starch hydrolyzing ability is very important
because the fungus has not been known to use other polysaccharides except
starch. We studied the amylase productions in this fungus. As a result, we
showed that T. matsutake has alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase and beta-glucosidase
in the still culture filtrate. These finding suggests some saprotrophic abilities
of T. matsutake. The purified beta-glucosidase was most active at pH 5.0 and stable
within the pH range of 5.0-8.0. The molecular mass was 168kDa by SDS-
PAGE and readily hydrolyzed the beta-1,4 glucosidic bond of oligosaccharides
such as cellobiose and cellotriose. Moreover, we investigated the relationship between
the vegetative mycelial growth and beta-glucosidase productions using cellobiose,
maltose, trehalose as the growth substrate. The mycelial growth was
about half of glucose medium when the cellobiose was used as a growth substrate
in case of Z-1 strain, but 2/3 ~ 4/5 in other two strains. On the other hand, beta-
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