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Abstract Fungi are arguably the most diverse eukaryotic kingdom of organisms in terms of number of estimated species, trophic and life history strategies, and their functions in ecosystems. However, our knowledge of fungi is limited due to a distributional bias; the vast majority of available data on fungi have been compiled from non-tropical regions. Far less is known about fungi from tropical regions, with the bulk of these data being temporally limited surveys for fungal species diversity. Long-term studies (LTS), or repeated sampling from the same region over extended periods, are necessary to fully capture the extent of species diversity in a region, but LTS of fungi from tropical regions are almost non-existent. In this paper, we discuss the contributions of LTS of fungi in tropical regions to alpha diversity, ecological and functional diversity, biogeography, hypothesis testing, and conservation—with an emphasis on an ongoing tropical LTS in the Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana. We show how these contributions refine our understanding of Fungi. We also show that public data repositories such as NCBI, IUCN, and iNaturalist contain less information on tropical fungi compared to non-tropical fungi, and that these discrepancies are more pronounced in fungi than in plants and animals. 

Abstract Rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota) are a species-rich (ca. 8000 species), globally distributed order of obligate plant pathogens. Rust species are host-specific, and as a group they cause disease on many of our most economically and/or ecologically significant plants. As such, the ability to accurately and rapidly identify these fungi is of particular interest to mycologists, botanists, agricultural scientists, farmers, quarantine officials, and associated stakeholders. However, the complexities of the rust life cycle, which may include production of up to five different spore types and alternation between two unrelated host species, have made standard identifications, especially of less-documented spore states or alternate hosts, extremely difficult. The Arthur Fungarium (PUR) at Purdue University is home to one of the most comprehensive collections of rust fungi in the world. Using material vouchered in PUR supplemented with fresh collections we generated DNA barcodes of the 28S ribosomal repeat from > 3700 rust fungal specimens. Barcoded material spans 120 genera and > 1100 species, most represented by several replicate sequences. Barcodes and associated metadata are hosted in a publicly accessible, BLAST searchable database called Rust HUBB (Herbarium-based Universal Barcode Blast) and will be continuously updated. 

Abstract Sphaerellopsisspecies are putative hyperparasites of rust fungi and may be promising biological control agents (BCA) of rust diseases. However, few detailed studies limit potential BCA development inSphaerellopsis. Here, we explored the biogeography, host-specificity, and species diversity ofSphaerellopsisand examined the early infection stage of one species, S. macroconidialis,to infer its trophic status. We randomly screened 5,621 rust specimens spanning 99 genera at the Arthur Fungarium for the presence ofSphaerellopsis. We identified 199 rust specimens infected withSphaerellopsisspecies on which we conducted morphological and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses. FiveSphaerellopsisspecies were recovered, infecting a total of 122 rust species in 18 genera from 34 countries.Sphaerellopsis melampsorinearumsp. nov. is described as a new species based on molecular phylogenetic data and morphological features of the sexual and asexual morphs.Sphaerellopsis paraphysatawas the most commonly encountered species, found on 77 rust specimens, followed bySphaerellopsis macroconidialison 56 andS. melampsorinearumon 55 examined specimens. The type species,Sphaerellopsis filum, was found on 12 rust specimens andSphaerellopsis hakeaeon a single specimen. We also recovered and documented for the first time, the sexual morph ofS. macroconidialis, from a specimen collected in Brazil. Our data indicate thatSphaerellopsisspecies are not host specific and furthermore that most species are cosmopolitan in distribution. However,S. paraphysatais more abundant in the tropics, andS. hakeaemay be restricted to Australia. Finally, we confirm the mycoparasitic strategy ofS. macroconidialisthroughin-vitrointeraction tests with the urediniospores ofPuccinia polysora. Shortly after germination, hyphae ofS. macroconidialisbegan growing along the germ tubes ofP. polysoraand coiling around them. After 12 days of co-cultivation, turgor loss was evident in the germ tubes ofP. polysora, and appressorium-like structures had formed on urediniospores. The interaction studies indicate thatSphaerellopsisspecies may be more effective as a BCA during the initial stages of rust establishment. 

Abstract Laboulbeniales(Ascomycota) are an order of understudied, biotrophic microfungi uniquely associated with arthropods. More than 2300 species are described but only a fraction of those have been sequenced. Molecular studies have shown that cryptic diversity and phenotypic plasticity are present within theLaboulbeniales. Thus far, all of the 146 genera described inLaboulbenialeshave been based on morphological characteristics; features commonly used to delineate genera are the organization of receptacle cells and the number of perithecial outer wall cells. The genusBotryandromyceswas erected to accommodate two species,B. heteroceriandB. ornatus(type), which share similar morphological characteristics and are different from other genera in their number of perithecial outer wall cells. Here, we generated sequences of multiple loci (18S, ITS, and 28S) ofB. heteroceriand severalLaboulbeniaspecies. Our phylogenetic analyses retrievedBotryandromyceswithinLaboulbeniawith high support. The twoBotryandromycesspecies are similar to relatedLaboulbeniaspecies in their upper receptacle (i.e., cells IV and V). We propose to transferBotryandromyces ornatusandB. heteroceritoLaboulbeniaasL. heteroceriandL. maireinom. nov., respectively, due to a complicated taxonomic history. These results advocate the use of molecular data and the necessity of an integrative taxonomy approach in the study ofLaboulbenialesnot only to delineate species, but also to investigate relationships among species, genera, and higher taxa as well as to understand the evolution of morphology in this group of fungi. 

Abstract Most empirical research on biological shortfalls has focused on vertebrate taxa. This is important given many species in poorly studied groups such as invertebrates, plants, and fungi are predicted to possess high conservation risk. Here, we focus on Laboulbeniomycetes: a class of microfungi that are understudied. We examined four shortfalls: Linnean (knowledge gaps in species diversity), Wallacean (knowledge gaps in distributions), Latimerian (knowledge gaps in species persistence), and the newly introduced Scottian (knowledge gaps in species conservation assessments) shortfalls. The Linnean shortfall in Laboulbeniomycetes is hard to predict due to inconsistent species description rates. Analysis of distribution patterns indicates Laboulbeniomycetes are likely to experience an extremely high Wallacean shortfall, with many species having highly disjunct known distributions. Latimerian shortfall analysis shows over half (51%) of Laboulbeniomycetes have not been recorded in >50 years, while the group has a collective Scottian shortfall of 100%, given none of the 2454 described species have received an IUCN threat assessment. We suggest continued study of natural history collections, expanded citizen science programmes, and machine‐learning identification approaches as important tools for reducing knowledge shortfalls in both Laboulbeniomycetes and poorly studied taxa more generally. 

Aureobasidiumcomprises dimorphic yeast-like fungi that usually produce melanised cells at maturity. Species are globally distributed and ubiquitous, colonizing a variety of habitats. At present, ca 40 species are accepted, with the type,A. pullulans, representing a complex of unresolved cryptic species. In this study, we isolated 128Aureobasidiumfrom multiple temperate and tropical regions. We performed multigene analyses using eight loci (ITS, 28S,EF1a,ELO2,RPB2,BTUB, mtLSU and mtSSU) on new isolates and including sequences from type material for all availableAureobasidiumspecies. Data on growth, physiological profiles, micro- and macromorphological attributes were also collected and analysed. Several DNA-based species delimitation methods were evaluated for their ability to delimit species. We found that assimilation of D-quinic acid, L-sorbose, D-mannitol, gluconolactone, erythritol, L-arabinose, and sodium succinate dibasic hexahydrate were important in delineating species ofAureobasidiumand note that production of pigmentation in culture often takes longer than the 14 d standard for carbon assimilations. Genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition criteria (GCPSR) provided the most consistent results for species delimitation. We describe nine new species ofAureobasidium (A. albui,A. cavalettoi,A. diazvalderramae,A. ellingtonae,A. essambei,A. peruvianum,A. rubi,A. toomeae, andA. vanuatuense), make new combinations forA. aubasidani(≡ A. pullulansvar.aubasidani),A. fermentans(≡ Pullularia fermentans), andA. mahoniae(≡ Selenophoma mahoniae), validate and provide descriptions forA. mustiandA. uvarum, and provide lecto- and epitypes forDematium pullulans,the basionym ofA. pullulans. Finally, we resolved the phylogeny forAureobasidium, reduceKabatiella(based onK. microsticta) to synonymy, and provide an updated list of species to facilitate future studies. 

This paper describes and illustrates five new species of Gloeandromyces (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniales) associated with tropical American bat flies (Diptera, Streblidae). These are Gloeandromyces cusucoensis sp. nov. from Trichobius uniformis in Costa Rica and Honduras, G. diversiformis sp. nov. from Strebla wiedemanni in Costa Rica, G. plesiosaurus sp. nov. from Trichobius yunkeri in Panama, G. pseudodickii sp. nov. from Trichobius longipes in Ecuador and Panama, and G. verbekeniae sp. nov. from Strebla galindoi in Ecuador and Panama. The description of these five species doubles the number of known species in the genus. Morphological characteristics, host association, and a three-locus (18S nuc rDNA, 28S nuc rDNA, TEF1) phylogenetic reconstruction support placement of these taxa in the genus Gloeandromyces. Three of the new species are polymorphic; they have multiple morphotypes that grow in specific positions on the host integu ment: G. diversiformis f. diversiformis, f. musiformis, and f. vanillicarpiformis; G. plesiosaurus f. asymmetricus and f. plesiosaurus; and G. verbekeniae f. verbekeniae and f. inflexus. Finally, a dichotomous key to all species and morphotypes is presented. 

Abstract Understanding biodiversity patterns as well as drivers of population declines, and range losses provides crucial baselines for monitoring and conservation. However, the information needed to evaluate such trends remains unstandardised and sparsely available for many taxonomic groups and habitats, including the cave-dwelling bats and cave ecosystems. We developed the DarkCideS 1.0 ( https://darkcides.org/ ), a global database of bat caves and species synthesised from publicly available information and datasets. The DarkCideS 1.0 is by far the largest database for cave-dwelling bats, which contains information for geographical location, ecological status, species traits, and parasites and hyperparasites for 679 bat species are known to occur in caves or use caves in part of their life histories. The database currently contains 6746 georeferenced occurrences for 402 cave-dwelling bat species from 2002 cave sites in 46 countries and 12 terrestrial biomes. The database has been developed to be collaborative and open-access, allowing continuous data-sharing among the community of bat researchers and conservation biologists to advance bat research and comparative monitoring and prioritisation for conservation.