Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) are common vectors of Ophiostoma species. These fungi include primary tree pathogens and important sapstain agents. In Mexico, Ips calligraphus and Dendroctonus mexicanus occur on many species of pine. Pinus maximinoi and P. pseudostrobus are the hosts of both species of insects. Little research has been done on ophiostomatoid fungi associated with pine bark beetles in Mexico. We recently obtained specimens of these bark beetles and their galleries from Mexico. The aim of the study was to isolate and identify Ophiostoma species associated with the two beetle species. In total, six ophiostomatoid species were found to be associated with them. These included Ceratocystiopsis minuta, Ophiostoma pluriannulatum, an O. galeiformis-like species, two unidentified Sporothrix spp., as well as a new species similar to O. adjuncti, O. ips, and O. montium, that we name as O. pulvinisporum sp. nov.

A new sequestrate fungus, Barcheria willisiana gen. et sp. nov., is described and its affinities evaluated using nLSU rDNA sequence data. This unusual fungus has several characters that are reminiscent of species of Agaricus and Lepiota, but with a very reduced basidiome form. The nLSU rDNA of four Australian taxa, Barcheria willisiana, Agaricus xanthodermus, Leucoagaricus naucinus, and Lepiota discolorata, was sequenced for this study. Parsimony analysis of the sequences placed Barcheria within an Agaricus clade.

Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) lumber from Australia, Chile, and New Zealand is imported into Korea where it represents one of the most important sources of timber. Blue stain of this timber is a serious problem for which an integrated control strategy is being developed. One of the fungi that has been isolated from stained radiata pine sapwood in Korea is a Leptographium sp. that has a distinct Sporothrix synanamorph. The aim of this study was to classify this fungus. Morphological comparisons showed that this fungus is distinct from all other species of Leptographium and especially L. elegans and L. francke-grosmanniae that also have Sporothrix synanamorphs. Comparisons of sequence data for the ITS2 and part of the 28S rDNA genes as well as the β-tubulin gene also confirmed that this fungus represents an undescribed taxon, described here as Leptographium bistatum sp. nov.

The new species Umbelopsis dimorpha sp. nov. was isolated from a soil sample in the Red Hills area of Mt Richmond Forest Park, in the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand. It has two kinds of pale pinkish sporangia: (1) single-spored, indistinguishable from those of U. versiformis; and (2) multi-spored, similar to those of U. vinacea. ITS sequences place the species in the immediate vicinity of the former species.

There have been several immediate and sincere appreciations of Stephen Moss following his untimely death from a heart attack. Steve will be remembered both as a truly outstanding General Secretary of the British Mycological Society and for his mycological researches on trichomycetes and ascomycetes. His research was focused on electron microscopy and was characterized by a meticulous attention to detail which enabled him to make significant contributions to our understanding of the morphology and morphogenesis of fungal spores. Steve was principally a ‘team man’ contributing to and enhancing the worth of research and ensuing publications with his particular skills: many of his primary publications (from over 100) were written jointly with others. A chronological list of publications follows this obituary.

Molecular, morphological, and cytological evidence show that the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus scintillans is more closely related to the genera Gigaspora and Scutellospora (Gigasporaceae) than it is to Glomus s. str., and consequently it contributes to the non-monophyly of the genus Glomus. We transfer the species to Gerdemannia gen. nov., with consequent autonymy of an appropriate family, Gerdemanniaceae fam. nov. Small subunit (SSU) rDNA analysis places Gerdemannia in a clade sharing common ancestry with the Gigasporaceae, and therefore within the Diversisporales (Glomeromycota). Glomus dominikii is considered to be conspecific with G. scintillans, and these species are synonymised. Glomus chimonobambusae is also transferred to the new genus as Gerdemannia chimonobambusae comb. nov.