The genus Codinaea is a phialidic, dematiaceous hyphomycete known for its intriguing morphology and turbulent taxonomic history. This polyphasic study represents a new, comprehensive view on the taxonomy, systematics, and biogeography of Codinaea and its relatives. Phylogenetic analyses of three nuclear loci confirmed that Codinaea is polyphyletic. The generic concept was emended; it includes four morphotypes that contribute to its morphological complexity. Ancestral inference showed that the evolution of some traits is correlated and that these traits previously used to delimit taxa at the generic level occur in species that were shown to be congeneric. Five lineages of Codinaea-like fungi were recognized and introduced as new genera: Codinaeella, Nimesporella, Stilbochaeta, Tainosphaeriella, and Xyladelphia. Dual DNA barcoding facilitated identification at the species level. Codinaea and its segregates thrive on decaying plants, rarely occurring as endophytes or plant pathogens. Environmental ITS sequences indicate that they are common in bulk soil. The geographic distribution found using GlobalFungi database was consistent with known data. Most species are distributed in either the Holarctic realm or tropical geographic regions. The ancestral climatic zone was temperate, followed by transitions to the tropics; these fungi evolved primarily in Eurasia and Americas, with subsequent transitions to Africa and Australasia.

• Klíčová slova
• 37 new taxa, GlobalFungi, ancestral inference, appendages, barcodes, molecular systematics, morphology, phialidic conidiogenesis,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The diverse chemical, biological, and microbial properties of litter and organic matter (OM) in forest soil along an altitudinal gradient are potentially important for nutrient cycling. In the present study, we sought to evaluate soil chemical, biological, microbial, and enzymatic characteristics at four altitude levels (0, 500, 1,000, and 1,500 m) in northern Iran to characterize nutrient cycling in forest soils. The results showed that carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) turnover changed with altitude along with microbial properties and enzyme activity. At the lowest altitude with mixed forest and no beech trees, the higher content of N in litter and soil, higher pH and microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and the greater activities of aminopeptidases affected soil N cycling. At elevations above 1,000 m, where beech is the dominant tree species, the higher activities of cellobiohydrolase, arylsulfatase, β-xylosidase, β-galactosidase, endoglucanase, endoxylanase, and manganese peroxidase (MnP) coincided with higher basal respiration (BR), substrate-induced respiration (SIR), and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and thus favored conditions for microbial entropy and C turnover. The low N content and high C/N ratio at 500-m altitude were associated with the lowest microbial and enzyme activities. Our results support the view that the plain forest with mixed trees (without beech) had higher litter quality and soil fertility, while forest dominated by beech trees had the potential to store higher C and can potentially better mitigate global warming.

• Klíčová slova
• N stock, enzyme activity, forest soils, litter quality, microbial entropy,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH