Understanding the systematics and evolution of clavicipitoid fungi has been greatly aided by the application of molecular phylogenetics. They are now classified in three families, largely driven by reevaluation of the morphologically and ecologically diverse genus Cordyceps. Although reevaluation of morphological features of both sexual and asexual states were often found to reflect the structu...

Gardens of fungus-growing ants (Formicidae: Attini) traditionally have been thought to be free of microbial parasites, with the fungal mutualist maintained in nearly pure "monocultures." We conducted extensive isolations of "alien" (nonmutualistic) fungi from ant gardens of a phylogenetically representative collection of attine ants. Contrary to the long-standing assumption that gardens are mai...

We discuss two key concepts that are useful for extending the depth of field of an optical system. The first concept associates anamorphic processors with the methods that reduce the impact of focus errors, on the optical transfer function. The second concept links Alvarez–Lohmann lenses with tunable masks for controlling the depth of field, without modifying the size of the pupil aperture.

The incidence of clavicipitaceous anamorphic endophytes in a Hordeum spp. germplasm collection is reported. The potential application of endophytes as biocontrol agents against pests of cereal crops is recognized. Suggestions are proposed to modify existing germplasm maintenance procedures to ensure that both seed viability and endophyte viability and diversity are maintained in grass ,germplas...

Fungal strains naturally occurring on the wood and leaves of the salt-excreting desert tree Tamarix were isolated and characterized for their ability to produce cellulose- and starch-degrading enzymes. Of the 100 isolates, six fungal species were identified by ITS1 sequence analysis. No significant differences were observed among taxa isolated from wood samples of different Tamarix species, whi...

Most small genera containing yeast species in the Pucciniomycotina (Basidiomycota, Fungi) are monophyletic, whereas larger genera including Bensingtonia, Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, Sporidiobolus and Sporobolomyces are polyphyletic. With the implementation of the "One Fungus = One Name" nomenclatural principle these polyphyletic genera were revised. Nine genera, namely Bannoa, Cystobasidiopsis...

An organism commonly referred to as 'megabacterium' colonizes the gastric isthmus of many species of birds. It is weakly gram-positive and periodic acid-Schiff-positive and stains with silver stains. Previous studies have shown that it has a nucleus and a cell wall similar to those seen in fungi. Calcofluor white M2R staining suggests that the cell wall contains chitin, a eukaryote-specific sub...

A comprehensive phylogenetic reassessment of the ascomycete genus Cosmospora (Hypocreales, Nectriaceae) is undertaken using fresh isolates and historical strains, sequences of two protein encoding genes, the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2), and a new phylogenetic marker, the larger subunit of ATP citrate lyase (acl1). The result is an extensive revision of taxonomic concepts,...