Melissa Mardones

University of Costa Rica | UCR · Escuela de Biología

With the simultaneous growth in interest from the mycological community to discover fungal species and classify them, there is also an important need to assemble all taxonomic information onto common platforms. Fungal classification is facing a rapidly evolving landscape and organizing genera into an appropriate taxonomic hierarchy is central to be...

By this work, the first comprehensive checklist of fungi documented in Costa Rica is presented, developed through collaboration between local and international mycological experts. It is based on 866 publications documenting over 170 years of mycological research in the country, including approximately 9753 records and 5676 species and subspecific...

Al iniciar un proceso de análisis de los registros de hongos en Costa Rica, nos sorprendimos de ver el alto porcentaje de recolectas en dos sitios al sur del país. En esta pequeña nota resumimos esos datos y los colocamos en el contexto de la investigación micológica, temporal y espacial, de las zonas aludidas. Este tipo de prácticas son relevantes...

Rambellia nodosa gen. & sp. nov. and Anabeltraniomyces maximus gen. & sp. nov. are described as replacements of the two invalid species described in Dendryphion and Beltrania. The validation and orthographical corrections of the invalid genus Parabeltrania and species of the genera Gyrothrix, Hansfordiellopsis, Hemibeltrania and Subulispora are pro...

The fundamental value of universal nomenclatural systems in biology is that they enable unambiguous scientific communication. However, the stability of these systems is threatened by recent discussions asking for a fairer nomenclature, raising the possibility of bulk revision processes for "inappropriate" names. It is evident that such proposals co...

The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-ca...

Resumen: La biosorción trata de absorber o remover contaminantes presentes en aire, suelo o agua mediante la utilización de biomasa viva o muerta. En este proyecto se construyeron bloques de heno conglomerados con hifas del hongo Pleurotus ostreatus con el fin de caracterizar el proceso constructivo y de proponer una alternativa biológica para la g...

Ganoderma species are well recognised by their significant role in the recycling of nutrients in ecosystems and by their production of secondary metabolites of medical and biotechnological importance. Ganoderma spp. are characterised by laccate and non-laccate, woody basidiocarps, polypore hymenophores and double-walled basidiospores generally with...

Pathogenicity of fungi associated with strawberry plants (Fragaria ananassa) and ultrastructural description of the pathosystem. Introduction. Strawberries are important in Costa Rica due to their high demand as fresh fruit and for making jams. In 2015, reports of plant death began, presumably associated with soil-dwelling fungal complexes. The sym...

In this investigation, we propose a new species in Telimena, T. bromeliae sp. nov. growing on bromeliads with a detailed description, illustrations, and molecular characterisation based on material collected in Costa Rica and Panama. Additionally, four species of Phyllachora occurring on non-graminicolous hosts are transferred into Telimena based o...

In this investigation, we propose a new species in Telimena, T. bromeliae sp. nov. growing on bromeliads with a detailed description, illustrations, and molecular characterisation based on material collected in Costa Rica and Panama. Additionally, four species of Phyllachora occurring on non-graminicolous hosts are transferred into Telimena based o...

Since the circumscription of the genera Phyllachora and Telimena has been emended, several neotropical nongraminicolous species of Phyllachora have been transferred to Telimena, and several species of Telimena have been newly described. In order to better understand the species diversity and taxonomy of neotropical tar spot fungi, symptomatic leave...

Based on new specimens of Myriogenospora spp. from Costa Rica and Panama, we present morphological analyses, systematic conclusions, additions to host ranges, and geographical distribution data for the two species currently classified in this genus. Myriogenospora atramentosa (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Diehl differs from Myriogenospora linearis (Rehm) J...

Species of tropical tar spot fungi (Phyllachorales, Ascomycota) are obligate biotrophic plant parasitic fungi associated with living leaves of a wide range of families of host plants, mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. In this study, samples of tropical tar spot fungi were collected in forests in Costa Rica and Panamá. To identify taxa, we...

The order Phyllachorales (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota) is a group of biotrophic, obligate plant parasitic fungi with a tropical distribution and high host specificity. Traditionally two families are recognised within this order: Phyllachoraceae and Phaeochoraceae, based mostly on morphological and host characteristics. Currently, the position of the...

Coccodiella is a genus of plant-parasitic species in the family Phyllachoraceae (Phyllachorales, Ascomycota), i.e., tropical tar spot fungi. Members of the genus Coccodiella are tropical in distribution and are host-specific, growing on plant species belonging to nine host plant families. Most of the known species occur on various genera and specie...

Ticosynnema carranzae gen. & sp. nov., a new microfungus collected on the twig of an unidentified plant, is described and illustrated. It is distinguished by synnematous determinate conidiomata, monoblastic integrated determinate conidiogenous cells, and solitary, 3–4-septate, oblong, cylindrical to vermiform, brown conidia that secede rhexolytical...

The fungal diversity of discomycetes was surveyed in a cloud forest at El Avila National Park in Venezuela. A systematic collecting scheme based on transects was used for the sampling methodology. Two sites were visited on two occasions during the rainy season (June to October) with a total of 24 samples collected from each site. For each plot, 24...