Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Austroboletus asper on soil, Cylindromonium alloxyli on leaves of Alloxylon pinnatum, Davidhawksworthia quintiniae on leaves of Quintinia sieberi, Exophiala prostantherae on leaves of Prostanthera sp., Lactifluus lactiglaucus on soil, Linteromyces quintiniae (incl. Linteromyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Quintinia sieberi, Lophotrichus medusoides from stem tissue of Citrus garrawayi, Mycena pulchra on soil, Neocalonectria tristaniopsidis (incl. Neocalonectria gen. nov.)and Xyladictyochaeta tristaniopsidis on leaves of Tristaniopsis collina, Parasarocladium tasmanniae on leaves of Tasmannia insipida, Phytophthora aquae-cooljarloo from pond water, Serendipita whamiae as endophyte from roots of Eriochilus cucullatus, Veloboletus limbatus (incl. Veloboletus gen. nov.)onsoil. Austria, Cortinarius glaucoelotus onsoil. Bulgaria, Suhomyces rilaensis from the gut of Bolitophagus interruptus found on a Polyporus sp. Canada, Cantharellus betularum among leaf litter of Betula, Penicillium saanichii from house dust. Chile, Circinella lampensis on soil, Exophiala embothrii from rhizosphere of Embothrium coccineum. China, Colletotrichum cycadis on leaves of Cycas revoluta. Croatia, Phialocephala melitaea on fallen branch of Pinus halepensis. Czech Republic, Geoglossum jirinae on soil, Pyrenochaetopsis rajhradensis from dead wood of Buxus sempervirens. Dominican Republic, Amanita domingensis on litter of deciduous wood, Melanoleuca dominicana on forest litter. France, Crinipellis nigrolamellata (Martinique) on leaves of Pisonia fragrans, Talaromyces pulveris from bore dust of Xestobium rufovillosum infesting floorboards. French Guiana, Hypoxylon hepaticolor on dead corticated branch. Great Britain, Inocybe ionolepis on soil. India, Cortinarius indopurpurascens among leaf litter of Quercus leucotrichophora. Iran, Pseudopyricularia javanii on infected leaves of Cyperus sp., Xenomonodictys iranica (incl. Xenomonodictys gen. nov.) on wood of Fagus orientalis. Italy, Penicillium vallebormidaense from compost. Namibia, Alternaria mirabibensis on plant litter, Curvularia moringae and Moringomyces phantasmae (incl. Moringomyces gen. nov.) on leaves and flowers of Moringa ovalifolia, Gobabebomyces vachelliae (incl. Gobabebomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Vachellia erioloba, Preussia procaviae on dung of Procavia capensis. Pakistan, Russula shawarensis from soil on forest floor. Russia, Cyberlindnera dauci from Daucus carota. South Africa, Acremonium behniae on leaves of Behnia reticulata, Dothiora aloidendri and Hantamomyces aloidendri (incl. Hantamomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Aloidendron dichotomum, Endoconidioma euphorbiae on leaves of Euphorbia mauritanica , Eucasphaeria proteae on leaves of Protea neriifolia , Exophiala mali from inner fruit tissue of Malus sp., Graminopassalora geissorhizae on leaves of Geissorhiza splendidissima, Neocamarosporium leipoldtiae on leaves of Leipoldtia schultzii, Neocladosporium osteospermi on leaf spots of Osteospermum moniliferum, Neometulocladosporiella seifertii on leaves of Combretum caffrum, Paramyrothecium pituitipietianum on stems of Grielum humifusum, Phytopythium paucipapillatum from roots of Vitis sp., Stemphylium carpobroti and Verrucocladosporium carpobroti on leaves of Carpobrotus quadrifolius, Suttonomyces cephalophylli on leaves of Cephalophyllum pilansii. Sweden, Coprinopsis rubra on cow dung, Elaphomyces nemoreus fromdeciduouswoodlands. Spain, Polyscytalum pini-canariensis on needles of Pinus canariensis, Pseudosubramaniomyces septatus from stream sediment, Tuber lusitanicum on soil under Quercus suber. Thailand, Tolypocladium flavonigrum on Elaphomyces sp. USA, Chaetothyrina spondiadis on fruits of Spondias mombin, Gymnascella minnisii from bat guano, Juncomyces patwiniorum on culms of Juncus effusus, Moelleriella puertoricoensis on scale insect, Neodothiora populina (incl. Neodothiora gen. nov.) on stem cankers of Populus tremuloides, Pseudogymnoascus palmeri fromcavesediment. Vietnam, Cyphellophora vietnamensis on leaf litter, Tylopilus subotsuensis on soil in montane evergreen broadleaf forest. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes.

Blast disease is a notorious fungal disease leading to dramatic yield losses on major food crops such as rice and wheat. The causal agent, Pyricularia oryzae, encompasses different lineages, each having a different host range. Host shifts are suspected to have occurred in this species from Setaria spp. to rice and from Lolium spp. to wheat. The emergence of blast disease on maize in Iran was observed for the first time in the north of the country in 2012. We later identified blast disease in two additional regions of Iran: Gilan in 2013 and Golestan in 2016. Epidemics on the weed barnyard grass (Echinochloa spp.) were also observed in the same maize fields. Here, we showed that P. oryzae is the causal agent of this disease on both hosts. Pathogenicity assays in the greenhouse revealed that strains from maize can infect barnyard grass and conversely. However, genotyping with simple sequence repeat markers and comparative genomics showed that strains causing field epidemics on maize and on barnyard grass are different, although they belong to the same previously undescribed clade of P. oryzae. Phylogenetic analyses including these strains and a maize strain collected in Gabon in 1985 revealed two independent host-range expansion events from barnyard grass to maize. Comparative genomics between maize and barnyard grass strains revealed the presence or absence of five candidate genes associated with host specificity on maize, with the deletion of a small genomic region possibly responsible for adaptation to maize. This recent emergence of P. oryzae on maize provides a case study to understand host range expansion. Epidemics on maize raise concerns about potential yield losses on this crop in Iran and potential geographic expansion of the disease.

The fungus Pyricularia oryzae causes blast diseases of rice, wheat, and other cereals (e.g. millets). In addition, P. oryzae is also responsible for the gray leaf spot disease of ryegrass, a major problem for golf courses in the USA (Farman 2002). A host jump from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) onto wheat was recently reported (Farman et al. 2017) and is suspected to be at the origin of strains causing severe epidemics on wheat in South America (Gladieux et al. 2017; Inoue et al. 2017). In 2016, disease on lawns of several football stadiums in France and Switzerland was reported in the non-scientific press. In 2017, P. oryzae was said to be the causal agent of this disease in the stadium of Geneva, Switzerland (Visentini 2017). In September 2017, perennial ryegrass plants presenting symptoms of disease were collected in a stadium (stade de la Mosson) in Montpellier, France. After 24 to 48 h incubation on moist filter paper (27°C; 12 h light:dark), diseased symptomatic samples produced spores morpholo...

In a survey of tropical plant diseases in southern and southeastern Iran, samples of diseased Mangifera indica and Psidium guava leaves with necrotic symptoms were collected between 2021 and 2022. Six representative isolates of Neopestalotiopsis and Robillarda (three isolates for each) were studied using morphological characteristics as well as multi-locus phylogenetic analysis based on (i) the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the nuclear rDNA, (ii) part of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1), and (iii) the β-tubulin (tub2). After morphological investigation, our phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Neopestalotiopsis and Robillarda isolates under study differed from all previously described species within these genera. Based on our polyphasic approach, two new species, including Neopestalotiopsis guavasp. nov. from necrotic Mangifera indica and Robillarda khodaparastiisp. nov. from Psidium guava are described and illustrated from Iran.