Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Australia, Chaetomella pseudocircinoseta and Coniella pseudodiospyri on Eucalyptus microcorys leaves, Cladophialophora eucalypti, Teratosphaeria dunnii and Vermiculariopsiella dunnii on Eucalyptus dunnii leaves, Cylindrium grande and Hypsotheca eucalyptorum on Eucalyptus grandis leaves, Elsinoe salignae on Eucalyptus saligna leaves, Marasmius lebeliae on litter of regenerating subtropical rainforest, Phialoseptomonium eucalypti (incl. Phialoseptomonium gen. nov.) on Eucalyptus grandis × camaldulensis leaves, Phlogicylindrium pawpawense on Eucalyptus tereticornis leaves, Phyllosticta longicauda as an endophyte from healthy Eustrephus latifolius leaves, Pseudosydowia eucalyptorum on Eucalyptus sp. leaves, Saitozyma wallum on Banksia aemula leaves, Teratosphaeria henryi on Corymbia henryi leaves. Brazil, Aspergillus bezerrae, Backusella azygospora, Mariannaea terricola and Talaromyces pernambucoensis from soil, Calonectria matogrossensis on Eucalyptus urophylla leaves, Calvatia brasiliensis on soil, Carcinomyces nordestinensis on Bromelia antiacantha leaves, Dendryphiella stromaticola on small branches of an unidentified plant, Nigrospora brasiliensis on Nopalea cochenillifera leaves, Penicillium alagoense as a leaf endophyte on a Miconia sp., Podosordaria nigrobrunnea on dung, Spegazzinia bromeliacearum as a leaf endophyte on Tilandsia catimbauensis, Xylobolus brasiliensis on decaying wood. Bulgaria, Kazachstania molopis from the gut of the beetle Molops piceus. Croatia, Mollisia endocrystallina from a fallen decorticated Picea abies tree trunk. Ecuador, Hygrocybe rodomaculata on soil. Hungary, Alfoldia vorosii (incl.Alfoldia gen. nov.) from Juniperus communis roots, Kiskunsagia ubrizsyi (incl. Kiskunsagia gen. nov.) from Fumana procumbens roots. India, Aureobasidium tremulum as laboratory contaminant, Leucosporidium himalayensis and Naganishia indica from windblown dust on glaciers. Italy, Neodevriesia cycadicola on Cycas sp. leaves, Pseudocercospora pseudomyrticola on Myrtus communis leaves, Ramularia pistaciae on Pistacia lentiscus leaves, Neognomoniopsis quercina (incl. Neognomoniopsis gen. nov.) on Quercus ilex leaves. Japan, Diaporthe fructicola on Passiflora edulis × P. edulis f. flavicarpa fruit, Entoloma nipponicum on leaf litter in a mixed Cryptomeria japonica and Acer spp. forest. Macedonia, Astraeus macedonicus on soil. Malaysia, Fusicladium eucalyptigenum on Eucalyptus sp. twigs, Neoacrodontiella eucalypti (incl. Neoacrodontiella gen. nov.) on Eucalyptus urophylla leaves. Mozambique, Meliola gorongosensis on dead Philenoptera violacea leaflets. Nepal, Coniochaeta dendrobiicola from Dendriobium lognicornu roots. New Zealand, Neodevriesia sexualis and Thozetella neonivea on Archontophoenix cunninghamiana leaves. Norway, Calophoma sandfjordenica from a piece of board on a rocky shoreline, Clavaria parvispora on soil, Didymella finnmarkica from a piece of Pinus sylvestris driftwood. Poland, Sugiyamaella trypani from soil. Portugal, Colletotrichum feijoicola from Acca sellowiana. Russia, Crepidotus tobolensis on Populus tremula debris, Entoloma ekaterinae, Entoloma erhardii and Suillus gastroflavus on soil, Nakazawaea ambrosiae from the galleries of Ips typographus under the bark of Picea abies. Slovenia, Pluteus ludwigii on twigs of broadleaved trees. South Africa, Anungitiomyces stellenboschiensis (incl. Anungitiomyces gen. nov.) and Niesslia stellenboschiana on Eucalyptus sp. leaves, Beltraniella pseudoportoricensis on Podocarpus falcatus leaf litter, Corynespora encephalarti on Encephalartos sp. leaves, Cytospora pavettae on Pavetta revoluta leaves, Helminthosporium erythrinicola on Erythrina humeana leaves, Helminthosporium syzygii on a Syzygium sp. barkcanker, Libertasomyces aloeticus on Aloe sp. leaves, Penicillium lunae from Musa sp. fruit, Phyllosticta lauridiae on Lauridia tetragona leaves, Pseudotruncatella bolusanthi (incl. Pseudotruncatellaceae fam. nov.) and Dactylella bolusanthi on Bolusanthus speciosus leaves. Spain, Apenidiella foetida on submerged plant debris, Inocybe grammatoides on Quercus ilex subsp. ilex forest humus, Ossicaulis salomii on soil, Phialemonium guarroi from soil. Thailand, Pantospora chromolaenae on Chromolaena odorata leaves. Ukraine, Cadophora helianthi from Helianthus annuus stems. USA, Boletus pseudopinophilus on soil under slash pine, Botryotrichum foricae, Penicillium americanum and Penicillium minnesotense from air. Vietnam, Lycoperdon vietnamense on soil. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes.

Human skin microbiota is thought to be unique according to the individual's lifestyle and genetic predisposition. This is true for the epidermal microbiota, while our findings demonstrate that the dermal microbiota is universal between healthy individuals. The preserved dermal microbial community is compositionally unique and functionally distinct to the specific environment in the depth of human skin. It is expected to have direct contact with the immune response of the human host, and research in the communication between host and microbiota should be targeted to this cutaneous compartment. This novel insight into specific microbial adaptation can be used advantageously in the research of chronic disorders and infections of the skin. It can enlighten the alteration between health and disease to the benefit of patients suffering from long-lasting socioeconomic illnesses.

Summary: Global warming is resulting in increased frequency of weather extremes. Root‐associated fungi play important roles in terrestrial biogeochemical cycling processes, but the way in which they are affected by extreme weather is unclear. Here, we performed long‐term field monitoring of the root‐associated fungus community of a short rotation coppice willow plantation, and compared community dynamics before and after a once in 100 yr rainfall event that occurred in the UK in 2012. Monitoring of the root‐associated fungi was performed over a 3‐yr period by metabarcoding the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Repeated soil testing and continuous climatic monitoring supplemented community data, and the relative effects of environmental and temporal variation were determined on the root‐associated fungal community. Soil saturation and surface water were recorded throughout the early growing season of 2012, following extreme rainfall. This was associated with a crash in the richness and relative abundance of ectomycorrhizal fungi, with each declining by over 50%. Richness and relative abundance of saprophytes and pathogens increased. We conclude that extreme rainfall events may be important yet overlooked determinants of root‐associated fungal community assembly. Given the integral role of ectomycorrhizal fungi in biogeochemical cycles, these events may have considerable impacts upon the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems.

Amazonia is an environmentally heterogeneous and biologically megadiverse region, and its biodiversity varies considerably over space. However, existing knowledge on Amazonian biodiversity and its environmental determinants stems almost exclusively from studies of macroscopic above‐ground organisms, notably vertebrates and trees. In contrast, diversity patterns of most other organisms remain elusive, although some of them, for instance microorganisms, constitute the overwhelming majority of taxa in any given location, both in terms of diversity and abundance. Here, we use DNA metabarcoding to estimate prokaryote and eukaryote diversity in environmental soil and litter samples from 39 survey plots in a longitudinal transect across Brazilian Amazonia using 16S and 18S gene sequences, respectively. We characterize richness and community composition based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and test their correlation with longitude and habitat. We find that prokaryote and eukaryote OTU richness and community composition differ significantly among localities and habitats, and that prokaryotes are more strongly structured by locality and habitat type than eukaryotes. Our results 1) provide a first large‐scale mapping of Amazonian soil biodiversity, suggesting that OTU richness patterns might follow substantially different patterns from those observed for macro‐organisms; and 2) indicate that locality and habitat factors interact in determining OTU richness patterns and community composition. This study shows the potential of DNA metabarcoding in unveiling Amazonia's outstanding diversity, despite the lack of complete reference sequence databases for the organisms sequenced.

Microbes are ubiquitously found across plant surfaces and even within their cells, forming the plant microbiome. Many of these microbes contribute to the functioning of the host and consequently affect its fitness. Therefore, in many contexts, including microbiome effects enables a better understanding of the phenotype of the plant rather than considering the genome alone. Changes in the microbiome composition are also associated with changes in the functioning of the host, and there has been considerable focus on how environmental variables regulate plant microbiomes. More recently, studies suggest that the host genome also preconditions the microbiome to the environment of the plant, and the microbiome is therefore subject to evolutionary forces. Here, we outline how plant microbiomes are governed by both environmental variables and evolutionary processes and how they can regulate plant health together.

Considerable inter- and intraspecific variation with respect to the quantity and composition of plant natural products exists. The processes that drive this variation remain largely unknown. Understanding which factors determine chemical diversity has the potential to shed light on plant defenses against herbivores and diseases and accelerate drug discovery. For centuries, Cinchona alkaloids were the primary treatment of malaria. Using Cinchona calisaya as a model, we generated genetic profiles of leaf samples from four plastid (trnL-F, matK, rps16 and ndhF) and one nuclear (ITS) DNA regions from twenty-two Cinchona calisaya stands sampled in the Yungas region of La Paz (Bolivia). Climatic and soil parameters were characterized and bark samples were analyzed for content of the four major alkaloids using HPLC-UV to explore the utility of evolutionary history (phylogeny) in determining variation within species of these compounds under natural conditions. A significant phylogenetic signal was found for the content of two out of four major Cinchona alkaloids (quinine and cinchonidine) and their total content. Climatic parameters, primarily driven by changing altitude, predicted 20.2% of the overall alkaloid variation, and geographical separation accounted for a further 9.7%. A clade of high alkaloid producing trees was identified that spanned a narrow range of altitudes, from 1,100 to 1,350 m. However, climate expressed by altitude was not a significant driver when accounting for phylogeny, suggesting that the chemical diversity is primarily driven by phylogeny. Comparisons of the relative effects of both environmental and genetic variability in determining plant chemical diversity have scarcely been performed at the genotypic level. In this study we demonstrate there is an essential need to do so if the extensive genotypic variation in plant biochemistry is to be fully understood.