Polyporus umbellatus is a medicinal mushroom belonging to the family Polyporaceae which forms characteristic underground sclerotia. These sclerotia have been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for centuries and are used to treat edema and promote diuretic processes. Over the past few decades, researchers have found this taxon to contain many bioactive compounds shown to be responsible for antitumor, anticancer, antioxidant, free radical scavenging, immune system enhancement and antimicrobial activities. Due to its promising medicinal value, P. umbellatus is used as an ingredient in many medicinal products and food supplements. Thus demand for P. umbellatus has increased. To supply the high global demand, P. umbellatus is cultivated under natural or industrial conditions. In this review we discuss optimal conditions for the cultivation and culture of P. umbellatus . We also focus on the medicinal uses of P. umbellatus , the diversity of bioactive metabolites with various pharmacological properties and the medicinal products of great interest for health care or as alternative drugs.

A synopsis of the current knowledge about the poroid Hymenochaetaceae from Southern Brazil (States Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul) is presented. Fortytwo species belonging to nine genera are reported from the areas surveyed. An annotated, partly illustrated, checklist and identification keys are provided. The new combinations Fomitiporia bambusarum and Fulvifomes rhytiphloeus are also proposed.

Atlantic Forest / Hymenochaetales / Neotropics / Taxonomy

In order to make an inventory and learn more about the corticolous lichens diversity on the tree layers of the different environments of the cloud forest (Bosque Mesófilo de Montaña, BMM) in La Cortadura, Veracruz, a transect along the best preserved hill of the forest was delimited, in which 100 m² squared plots were delineated every 25 m and with different orientations on the slope. Lichen coverage was estimated among trees that had a DBH higher than 20 cm, on the orientation with the greatest lichen coverage. A non-quantitative and opportunistic sampling was done as well, among the same phorophytes. The data were analyzed using the principal component analysis. For each orientation on the hill, a Shannon diversity index was obtained. The species indicator analysis was applied, as well as the circular distribution method. The results indicate that within every 100 m² square plot, there were 62 individuals on average of the different phorophyte taxa, which host 108 lichen species: 52 (49.5%) correspond to foliose lichens, 47 (44.8%) to crustose lichens, 4 (3.8%) to fruticose lichens and 2 (1.9%) to dimorphic lichen thalli. In the BMM, in spite of being heterogeneous, the genus Quercus predominates, which benefits the lichen community, even though it is subject to changes in the forest structure, the available substratum, and to its capability to disperse.

Broomella and Hyalotiella are poorly known genera in Amphisphaeriaceae . Both genera are known from morphological descriptions, but lack molecular data, thus their generic placement and relationships with other genera are unclear. Three collections of Amphisphaeriaceae were made from dead twigs of Clematis in Italy, and two from Spartium species and were identified as Broomella and Hyalotiella species. In order to obtain a phylogenetic understanding of Broomella and Hyalotiella within the family Amphisphaeriaceae , we carried out a phylogenetic analysis based on LSU gene data. Results show that these five isolates represent two distinct genera. Based on both morphological and phylogenetic data, the three isolates form Clematis are shown to be conspecific with Broomella vitalbae . In this paper we designated an epitype with a sexual and asexual morph for B. vitalbae to stabilize the understanding of the genus. The two strains from Spartium fit within the generic concepts of Hyalotiella , but sequence data for Hyalotiella species are presently lacking. Hyalotiella spartii sp. nov. is introduced based on its host association and morphological characters.

Bulbothrix bulbillosa is recorded for the first time in Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul State. The species was described recently from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador and known only from the type locality. All specimens found belong to the gyrophoric acid chemotype, whereas material from Galapagos contains either gyrophoric or lecanoric acid.