We have studied and tried to clarify the application of names of all the lichenicolous fungi described by Carlos Spegazzinii. Several of these names have not previously been treated by mycologists currently specializing in lichenicolous fungi. Verruculina gen. nov. is introduced with V. sigmatospora (Speg.) Etayo (syn. Metanectria sigmatospora) as type, and the new combination Scutula nephromatis (Speg.) Etayo (syn. Patellea nephromatis) is made. Material of several species, Diplosporium caudatum (on Punctelia), Pleurotus lichenicolus (on Usnea), Pyrenopeziza lichenicola (on Flavoparmelia), Selenosporium lichenicola (on Candelaria) and Vermiculariella lichenicolum (on Physcia and Peltigera), could not be located in Spegazzini’s collections in La Plata (LPS), therefore these names remain to be clarified.

The new genus Lambinonia Sérus. & Diederich is introduced for the lichenicolous hyphomycete Melanconium strigulae Elenkin & Woron. This species forms dark sporodochia on the surface or at the margin of the thalli, or extruding out of the perithecia and pycnidia of the foliicolous Strigula buxi, S. nemathora and S. nitidula. It is so far known from the western Caucasus (Georgia and Russia), southern Italy, Tenerife (Canary Islands), St-Lucia (West Indies), and Burundi and Rwanda in Africa. The new combination Lambinonia strigulae (Elenkin & Woron.) Sérus. & Diederich is introduced and a neotype collection is designated.

Phialocephala fortinii is among the few identified hyphomycetes belonging to the Mycelium radicis atrovirens complex. This ‘dark-septate endophyte’ has a global distribution and colonizes a wide variety of host plants. In this study, the spatial distribution of discrete genets of P. fortinii on the forefront of a receding glacier was analysed using the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique to determine plants colonized and patterns of colonization. In two consecutive years of sampling, a total of 74 isolates of P. fortinii were obtained from nine plant species, typically ectomycorrhizal, ericoid mycorrhizal or non-mycorrhizal. The isolates showed substantial variation, sharing on average approx. half the RAPD markers. In the first year, three isolates belonging to a single genet were obtained from two plants separated by a distance of nearly 1.5 m. The continuity of this genet was assessed by a sampling the following year. No isolates similar to that, or any of the genets collected the year before were observed. Consequently, the identical isolates from the previous year were concluded to represent discontinuous ramets. Two additional large genets were observed during the second year of sampling, which inhabited roots of several plants representing three different species. These data suggest that the sharing of P. fortinii genets among plant species might play a fundamental role in adaptation and interaction within the whole plant community in a system undergoing primary succession.

Dark septate root endophytes (DSE) are conidial or sterile fungi (Deuteromycotina, Fungi Imperfecti) likely to be ascomycetous and colonizing plant roots. They have been reported for nearly 600 plant species representing about 320 genera and 100 families. DSE fungi occur from the tropics to arctic and alpine habitats and comprise a heterogeneous group that functionally and ecologically overlaps with soil fungi, saprotrophic rhizoplane-inhabiting fungi, obligately and facultatively pathogenic fungi and mycorrhizal fungi. Numerous species of undescribed sterile and anamorphic taxa may also await discovery. Although DSE are abundant in washed root and soil samples from various habitats, and are easily isolated from surface-sterilized roots of ecto-, ectendo-, endo- and non-mycorrhizal host species, their ecological functions are little understood. Studies of DSE thus far have yielded inconsistent results and only poorly illustrate the role of DSE in their natural habitats. These inconsistencies are largely due to the uncertain taxonomic affinities of the strains of DSE used. In addition, because different strains of a single anamorph taxon seem to vary greatly in function, no clear generalizations on their ecological role have been drawn. This paper reviews the current literature on DSE and the ecology and discusses the need for and direction of future research.