Species of the anamorph genus Phoma are commonly isolated from a wide range of ecological niches. They are notoriously difficult to identify due to the paucity of morphological features and the plasticity of these when cultivated on agar media. Species linked to Phoma section Peyronellaea are typified by the production of dictyochlamydospores and thus have additional characters to use in taxon delineation. However, the taxonomy of this section is still not fully understood. Furthermore the production of such chlamydospores also is known in some other sections of Phoma. DNA sequences were generated from three loci, namely ITS, actin, and btubulin, to clarify the phylogeny of Phoma taxa that produce dictyochlamydospores. Results were unable to support section Peyronellaea as a taxonomic entity. Dictyochlamydospore formation appears to be a feature that developed, or was lost, many times during the evolution of Phoma. Furthermore, based on the multigene analyses, five new Phoma species could be delineated while a further five required taxonomic revision to be consistent with the genetic variation observed.

Populus deltoides clones are widely planted in Argentina, in a region called “Paraná River Delta”. In this site, Pycnoporus sanguineus and Ganoderma lucidum (Aphyllophorales) cause white-rot decay in both living and felled poplar trees. The purpose of this work was to estimate, through laboratory decay tests, the ability of both fungi to degrade poplar wood and to describe the patterns of decay using light and scanning electron microscopy. Two exposure times were analyzed: 75 and 150 days. The percent weight loss produced by both fungal strains was similar for both exposure periods (c. 50–60% of wood mass) but microscopic observations showed there were different patterns of decay. Samples inoculated with P. sanguineus showed a selective delignification, whereas those inoculated with G. lucidum exhibited a combination of simultaneous decay and selective delignification. Separation among cells was the main diagnostic feature for selective decay. By contrast, the presence of erosion troughs, cell wall thinning, bore holes, rounded pit erosion and erosion channels were diagnostic for the simultaneous type of decay.

Diversidad fúngica en el filoplano de Osmorhiza spp. relacionado con el sistema de regeneración empleado en bosques de Nothofagus pumilio en Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Fungi diversity in Osmorhiza spp. phylloplane related to the regeneration system applied in Nothofagus pumilio forests in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina.

Schinopsis haenkeana is a native tree to the Chaco Serrano Forests in Argentina. The white-rot fungus Phellinus chaquensis degrades its wood, causing a whiterot type of decay. The objective of this study was to investigate the structural alterations caused by P. chaquensis in S. hankeana decayed naturally and in vitro. Sound living branches with decay and basidiocarps of P. chaquensis were sampled from the field and in vitro decay tests were performed according to the ASTM D-2017-81 standard method. Naturally decayed branches exhibited an innermost discolored zone with white-rot decay and an outer yellowish-white portion of sound sapwood. Using LM and SEM, degraded tissue displayed diagnostic characters of selective delignification and simultaneous decay. Findings indicate that P. chaquensis causes a mottled pattern of decay (selective delignification plus simultaneous decay) in S. haenkeana wood. Other features such as accumulation of extractives, profuse deposition of crystals and tyloses, typical ofSchinopsis spp. heartwood, were additionally observed. In laboratory degraded material, signs of selective delignification and incipient stages of simultaneous decay were noticeable only microscopically. Chemical analysis revealed an oxidative alteration of aromatic moieties in naturally decayed samples which might be related to the accumulation of phenols as a response to fungal attack when compared to sound samples. Naturally degraded sapwood exhibits anatomical and chemical modifications that indicate the development of discolored wood derived from the host-pathogen interaction.

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