Rajesh Jeewon

University of Mauritius | UoM · Faculty of Science

Plant pathogenic fungi and fungus-like taxa (oomycetes) form part of the ecological makeup of healthy natural forest ecosystems. Some help to eliminate unhealthy trees, while others are essential for the conservation of plant species diversity, particularly soil-borne pathogens. However, many fungal pathogens also have devastating effects on forest...

Mushrooms have long been considered as delicacies as well as used as important dietary supplements and food. However, there are major concerns with poisonous mushrooms as these pose threats to public health and safety. In this paper, we provide a review focusing on poisonous mushrooms, their toxins, symptoms and utilizations. In addition, this pape...

Seven Fusarium species complexes are treated, namely F. aywerte species complex (FASC) (two species), F. buharicum species complex (FBSC) (five species), F. burgessii species complex (FBURSC) (three species), F. camptoceras species complex (FCAMSC) (three species), F. chlamydosporum species complex (FCSC) (eight species), F. citricola species compl...

We have been studying Rhytidhysteron Speg. species on different native trees of economic or landscape importance from different geographical regions in China. In this study, we describe three new species, Rhytidhysteron ligustrum X.-L. Xu & C.-L. Yang, sp. nov., R. sichuanensis X.-L. Xu & C.-L. Yang, sp. nov., R. subrufulum X.-L. Xu & C.-L. Yang, s...

Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) of microbial origin are polymers with great potential for research and industrial applications. In this study, a sulphated EPS from Alcaligenes faecalis, previously isolated from Mauritius seawater, was investigated for its antioxidant potential using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and ferric reducing capac...

Decoctions (leaves and roots) of Bruguiera gymnorhiza (L.) Lam. are traditionally used against diabetes in many countries, including Mauritius. This study endeavoured to evaluate the inhibitory potential of leaves, roots, twigs and fruits extracts (decoction and maceration) of B. gymnorhiza against key enzymes relevant to diabetes. Considering comp...

There is a critical need to develop animal models to alleviate vaccine and drug development difficulties against zoonotic viral infections. The coronavirus family, which includes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, crossed the species barrier and infected humans, causing a global outb...

During our survey into the diversity of woody litter fungi across the Greater Mekong Subregion, three rhytidhysteron-like taxa were collected from dead woody twigs in China and Thailand. These were further investigated based on morphological observations and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses of a combined DNA data matrix containing SSU, LSU, ITS, an...

Over the years, there have been continuous updates in the taxonomy of coelomycetes. In particular, traditional classification has been revised and updated based on extensive collections supplemented with morphological examinations and phylogenetic analyses. Most of the data available are scattered in the literature. In an attempt to ease the work o...

In agricultural lands, long-term chemical inputs for the purpose of disease control result in both chronic and acute negative effects, such as environment pollution, human health complications, and spray-resistant pest populations (Aktar et al., 2009). For sustainable agriculture, biotechnological products are developed using targeted fungal specie...

This article is the 13th contribution in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, wherein 125 taxa from four phyla, ten classes, 31 orders, 69 families, 92 genera and three genera incertae sedis are treated, demonstrating worldwide and geographic distribution. Fungal taxa described and illustrated in the present study include three new genera, 69 new spe...

The modern mycology has move forward with the combination of chemotaxonomy, phylogeny, genetics and molecular biology. The utilization of DNA sequencing for the phylogenetic analysis explains the relationships between fungi and its diversity clearly. However fungal morphological characterization is fundamental and still essential even though molecu...

Sordariomycetes is an earlier-introduced and one of the widely distributed class of Ascomycota. The class was initially classified based on morphology in having inoperculate and unitunicate asci. With the development of DNA based phylogenetic analysis, several undetermined or polyphyletic members of Sordariomycetes were reclassified. However, not a...

The placement of the dothideomycetous family Teichosporaceae has been controversial. Recent phylogenetic investigations have used a taxonomic lumping approach with the Floricolaceae and its genera have been synonymized under the earlier family name, Teichosporaceae. Intergeneric relationships were therefore obscure and proper generic delimitation w...

species are now emergent as potential plant pathogens. The latter can represent a major threat to staple crops such as rice, wheat, maize and potatoes either during cultural practices or during the post-harvest/storage stages (Alshannaq and Yu, 2017). If these pathogens are not detected and accurately identified in a timely matter and targeted dise...

Pleurotheciales is the largest order in Savoryellomycetidae with a large proportion of species known from freshwater habitats. In order to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of taxa within Pleurotheciales and contribute to their diversity, submerged wood was collected from freshwater habitats in China (Yunnan Province) and Thailand. Two dem...

The species is one of the basic units of biological classification. Both species concepts and recognition are essential topics in taxonomic studies and other biological research. In the first part of this review, we briefly discuss the taxonomic history of the class Dothideomycetes. In the second part of the paper, we review four commonly used spec...

Freshwater hyphomycetes are a highly diverse group of fungi with a worldwide distribution and have been mostly reported from tropical and subtropical regions. During investigations of freshwater fungi from the Greater Mekong subregion in China and Thailand, sixteen freshwater hyphomycetes (three of them belong to the class Dothideomycetes while thi...

Recent publications have argued that there are potentially serious consequences for researchers in recognising distinct genera in the terminal fusarioid clade of the family Nectriaceae. Thus, an alternate hypothesis, namely a very broad concept of the genus Fusarium was proposed. In doing so, however, a significant body of data that supports distin...

This study led to the discovery of three entomopathogenic fungi associated with Kuwanaspis howardi, a scale insect on Phyllostachys heteroclada (fishscale bamboo) and Pleioblastus amarus (bitter bamboo) in China. Two of these species belong to Podonectria: P. kuwanaspidis X.L. Xu & C.L. Yang sp. nov. and P. novae-zelandiae Dingley. The new species...

Camarosporidiella specimens collected from woody plants in central Italy, eastern Ukraine, and southeastern Russia were identified based on morphology and multi-gene (LSU, SSU, ITS, and TEF) sequence analyses. Camarosporidiella caraganicola on Amorpha fruticosa , C. celtidis on Ulmus pumila , C. elaeagnicola on Cytisus ruthenicus are described with...

Botryosphaeriaceous fungi cause stem blight, canker and dieback in woody plants. During a survey on the fungal pathogens associated with blueberries in China, 135 blighted, cankered or dead blueberry branches were collected from Fujian and Shandong Provinces. Based on the morphological characterization and phylogenetic analyses of a concatenated IT...

The Mauritian waters harbour micro-organisms that have successfully adapted to their environment; however, the mycobiota associated with algae and sponges have been poorly studied and are awaiting to be identified and exploited. This study focusses on the fungi associated with the sponge Haliclona sp. and two brown algae Turbinaria conoides and Sar...

Sordariomycetes is an earlier and one of the widely distributed class of Ascomycota. The class was initially classified based on morphology in having inoperculate and unitunicate asci. With the development of DNA based phylogenetic analysis, several undetermined or polyphyletic members of Sordariomycetes were reclassified. However, not all species...

Immotthia is a poorly known genus, and currently, no DNA sequence data are available to ascertain its proper phylogenetic placement and evolutionary relationships with other bitunicate fungi. To date, there are only two species accepted in the genus. During our ongoing research study of bambusicolous fungi in southwest China and Thailand, a fungus...

Taxonomic studies of saprobic ascomycetes in Thailand and China revealed two new taxa belonging to the family Bambusicolaceae. Bambusicola fusispora sp. nov. isolated from dead branches of Gigantochloa albociliata in Thailand and Palmiascoma qujingense sp. nov. isolated from dead twigs of Fagaceae sp. in Yunnan, China, are described and illustrated...

Leaf litter decomposition plays a vital role in the nutrient budget of forest ecosystems. Fungal communities colonising leaf litter are "key players" in decomposition and nutrient recycling, because of their ability to produce a wide range of extracellular enzymes that facilitate breakdown of leaf litter. Fungal colonization of decomposing leaf lit...

Collections of fungal samples from two dead leaf specimens from Italy were subjected to morphological examination and phylogenetic analyses. Two coelomycetous taxa belonging to two different genera in Xylariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, namely Discosia and Sporocadus, were identified. The Discosia taxon is revealed as a new species and is herein int...

Purpose of the study: Marine fungi of Mauritius have been poorly studied. There are numerous reports on the bioactive secondary metabolites that are produced by fungi around the world. Yet, research on the molecular characterisation and the pharmaceutical potential of marine fungi in Mauritius is rather scanty. Method: The samples, which consisted...

Species of Absidia Tiegh. (Mucorales) are commonly isolated from soil, dead plant materials and dung. The genus is of interest in industrial and medical fields due to the presence of active compounds and secondary metabolites. Absidia species are typically characterized by an arcuate stolon with rhizoids, zygospores with appendaged suspensors and c...

The identification and proper naming of microfungi, in particular plant, animal and human pathogens, remains challenging. Molecular identification is becoming the default approach for many fungal groups, and environmental metabarcoding is contributing an increasing amount of sequence data documenting fungal diversity on a global scale. This include...

Species of Cordyceps sensu lato (Hypocreales, Sordariomycetes) have always attracted much scientific attention for their abundant species diversity, important medicinal values and biological control applications. The insect superfamilies Elateroidea and Tenebrionoidea are two large groups of Coleoptera and their larvae are generally called wireworm...

Within the field of mycology, macrofungi have been relatively well-studied when compared to microfungi. However, the diversity and distribution of microfungi inhabiting woody material have not received the same degree of research attention, especially in relatively unexplored regions, such as Yunnan Province, China. To help address this knowledge g...

Colletotrichum is one of the most important plant pathogenic genera that is responsible for numerous diseases which can have a profound impact on the agricultural sector. Species delineation is difficult due to a lack of distinctive phenotypic variation. Therefore, in this study three different genomic approaches based on phylogenetic, evolutionary...

A study was undertaken to collect and identify saprobic fungi associated with Musaspp.(banana) from Taiwan, China, and Thailand. Samples were collected during the dry season and their morpho–molecular relationships were investigated. Five brown pleosporalean hyphomycetous taxa in Periconiaceae and Torulaceae viz. Periconia cortaderiae,P. delonicis,...

Rusts constitute a major group of the Kingdom Fungi and they are distributed all over the world on a wide range of wild and cultivated plants. It is the largest natural group of plant pathogens including 95% of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina and about 8% of all described Fungi. This article provides an overview and outline of rust fungi of India wi...

A novel species of Penicillium , proposed as P . linzhiense sp.nov was isolated from soil collected in Linzhi Town, Linzhi County, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. DNA sequence analyses from eight different gene regions indicate that the isolate represents a novel species and most closely related to P . janczewskii . The phylogenetic analysis based...

Rusts constitute a major group of the Kingdom Fungi and they are distributed all over the world on a wide range of wild and cultivated plants. It is the largest natural group of plant pathogens including 95% of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina and about 8% of all described Fungi. This article provides an overview and outline of rust fungi of India wi...

A novel genus, Anastomitrabeculia, is introduced herein for a distinct species, Anastomitrabeculia didymospora, collected as a saprobe on dead bamboo culms from a freshwater stream in Thailand. Anastomitrabeculia is distinct in its trabeculate pseudoparaphyses and ascospores with longitudinally striate wall ornamentation. A new family, Anastomitrab...

Numerous new taxa and classifications of Dothideomycetes have been published following the last monograph of families of Dothideomycetes in 2013. A recent publication by Honsanan et al. in 2020 expanded information of families in Dothideomycetidae and Pleosporomycetidae with modern classifications. In this paper, we provide a refined updated docume...

Traditionally, fungal taxonomy was based on observable phenotypic characters. Recent advances have driven taxonomic conclusions towards DNA-based approaches and these techniques have corresponding pros and cons. Species concepts must therefore rely on incorporated approaches of genotypic, phenotypic and physiological characters and chemotaxonomy. E...

A study of monocotyledon inhabiting fungi in Guangdong Province, China resulted in the collection of several pestaloid taxa. Evidence from multi-locus phylogenies using ITS, BT and tef 1–α, together with morphology revealed Neopestalotiopsis alpapicalis, Pestalotiopsis diploclisiae and P. parva from living leaves of Phoenix roebelenii. Pestalotiops...

To date, the majority of mycological studies are focused on Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Research on basal fungi is rather limited with an obvious scarcity of data. Classification of basal fungi has witnessed ongoing changes in the last few decades. There have been numerous taxonomic revisions, establishment of new phyla and debates on the possibi...

Pleosporales is the largest order in the class Dothideomycetes, comprising a quarter of all species of Dothideomycetes. This paper provides comprehensive illustrations and descriptions of newly collected saprobic pleosporalean taxa from dicotyledons and grasses in China, Italy, Russia and Thailand. These species are accommodated in 8 families in Pl...

This is a continuation of a series focused on providing a stable platform for the taxonomy of phytopathogenic fungi and fungus-like organisms. This paper focuses on one family: Erysiphaceae and 24 phytopathogenic genera: Armillaria, Barriopsis, Cercospora, Cladosporium, Clinoconidium, Colletotrichum, Cylindrocladiella, Dothidotthia,, Fomitopsis, Ga...

The class Dothideomycetes is the largest and most ecologically diverse class of fungi, comprising endophytes, epiphytes, saprobes, human and plant pathogens, lichens, and lichenicolous, nematode trapping and rock-inhabiting taxa. Members of this class are mainly characterized by bitunicate asci with fissitunicate dehiscence, and occur on broad rang...

The website http://outlineoffungi.org, is launched to provide a continuous up-to-date classification of the kingdom Fungi (including fossil fungi) and fungus-like taxa. This is based on 1516 recent publications and on the outline of fungi and fungus-like taxa published recently (Mycosphere 11, 1060-1456, Doi: 10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8). The website...

This chapter features the impetus to study endophytic fungi (EF) in order to invigorate the economic feasibility in agriculture production. EF occupy a dominant place in the habitat adaptation of plants leveraging better yields and protection from biotic as well as abiotic stresses. They secrete several secondary metabolites of organic nature, whic...

The recent realistic estimate of fungal numbers which used various algorithms was between 2.2 and 3.8 million. There are nearly 100,000 accepted species of Fungi and fungus-like taxa, which is between 2.6 and 4.5% of the estimated species. Several forums such as Botanica Marina series, Fungal Diversity notes, Fungal Biodiversity Profiles, Fungal Sy...

This article is the ninth in the series of Fungal Diversity Notes, where 107 taxa distributed in three phyla, nine classes, 31 orders and 57 families are described and illustrated. Taxa described in the present study include 12 new genera, 74 new species, three new combinations, two reference specimens, a re-circumscription of the epitype, and 15 r...

In this paper, Claviformispora gen. nov. in Linocarpaceae is introduced from Phyllostachys heteroclada in Sichuan Province, China. The new genus is characterised by its distinct morphological characters, such as ostiole with periphyses, asci with a thick doughnut-shaped, J- apical ring and clavate ascospore without septum-like band and appendage. M...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

In this paper, Claviformispora gen. nov. in Linocarpaceae is introduced from Phyllostachys heteroclada in Sichuan Province, China. The new genus is characterised by its distinct morphological characters, such as ostiole with periphyses, asci with a thick doughnut-shaped, J- apical ring and clavate ascospore without septum-like band and appendage. M...

According to the World Health Organization, neurological and neurodegenerative diseases are highly debilitating and pose the greatest threats to public health. Diseases of the nervous system are caused by a particular pathological process that negatively affects the central and peripheral nervous systems. These diseases also lead to the loss of neu...

True fungi (Fungi) and fungus-like organisms (e.g. Mycetozoa, Oomycota) constitute the second largest group of organisms based on global richness estimates, with around 3 million predicted species. Compared to plants and animals, fungi have simple body plans with often morphologically and ecologically obscure structures. This poses challenges for a...