Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Malaysia: Castanediella eucalypti from Eucalyptus pellita, Codinaea acacia from Acacia mangium, Emarcea eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana, Myrtapenidiella eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus pellita, Pilidiella eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana and Strelitziana malaysiana from Acacia mangium. Furthermore, Stachybotrys sansevieriicola is described from Sansevieria ehrenbergii (Tanzania), Phacidium grevilleae from Grevillea robusta (Uganda), Graphium jumulu from Adansonia gregorii and Ophiostoma eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus marginata (Australia), Pleurophoma ossicola from bone and Plectosphaerella populi from Populus nigra (Germany), Colletotrichum neosansevieriae from Sansevieria trifasciata, Elsinoë othonnae from Othonna quinquedentata and Zeloasperisporium cliviae (Zeloasperisporiaceae fam. nov.) from Clivia sp. (South Africa), Neodevriesia pakbiae, Phaeophleospora hymenocallidis and Phaeophleospora hymenocallidicola on leaves of a fern (Thailand), Melanconium elaeidicola from Elaeis guineensis (Indonesia), Hormonema viticola from Vitis vinifera (Canary Islands), Chlorophyllum pseudoglobossum from a grassland (India), Triadelphia disseminata from an immunocompromised patient (Saudi Arabia), Colletotrichum abscissum from Citrus (Brazil), Polyschema sclerotigenum and Phialemonium limoniforme from human patients (USA), Cadophora vitícola from Vitis vinifera (Spain), Entoloma flavovelutinum and Bolbitius aurantiorugosus from soil (Vietnam), Rhizopogon granuloflavus from soil (Cape Verde Islands), Tulasnella eremophila from Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus (Morocco), Verrucostoma martinicensis from Danaea elliptica (French West Indies), Metschnikowia colchici from Colchicum autumnale (Bulgaria), Thelebolus microcarpus from soil (Argentina) and Ceratocystis adelpha from Theobroma cacao (Ecuador). Myrmecridium iridis (Myrmecridiales ord. nov., Myrmecridiaceae fam. nov.) is also described from Iris sp. (The Netherlands). Novel genera include (Ascomycetes): Budhanggurabania from Cynodon dactylon (Australia), Soloacrosporiella, Xenocamarosporium, Neostrelitziana and Castanediella from Acacia mangium and Sabahriopsis from Eucalyptus brassiana (Malaysia), Readerielliopsis from basidiomata of Fuscoporia wahlbergii (French Guyana), Neoplatysporoides from Aloe ferox (Tanzania), Wojnowiciella, Chrysofolia and Neoeriomycopsis from Eucalyptus (Colombia), Neophaeomoniella from Eucalyptus globulus (USA), Pseudophaeomoniella from Olea europaea (Italy), Paraphaeomoniella from Encephalartos altensteinii, Aequabiliella, Celerioriella and Minutiella from Prunus (South Africa). Tephrocybella (Basidiomycetes) represents a novel genus from wood (Italy). Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.

Real-time PCR technologies open increasing opportunities to detect and study phytopathogenic and antagonistic fungi. They combine the sensitivity of conventional PCR with the generation of a specific fluorescent signal providing real-time analysis of the reaction kinetics and allowing quantification of specific DNA targets. Four main chemistries are currently used for the application of this technique in plant pathology. These chemistries can be grouped into amplicon sequence non-specific (SYBR Green I) and sequence specific (TaqMan, Molecular beacons, and Scorpion-PCR) methods. Amplicon sequence nonspecific methods are based on the use of a dye that emits fluorescent light when intercalated into doublestranded DNA. Amplicon sequence specific methods are based on the use of oligonucleotide probes labelled with a donor fluorophore and an acceptor dye (quencher). The fluorescent signal eliminates the requirement for post-amplification processing steps, such as gel electrophoresis and ethidium bromide staining. This significantly reduces time and labour required for the analysis and greatly increases the throughput of PCR testing as an automated diagnostic system, making it suitable for large-scale analyses. Furthermore, the use of different fluorescent dyes facilitates the detection of several target microrganisms in a single reaction (multiplex-PCR). Real-time PCR makes possible an accurate, reliable and high throughput quantification of target fungal DNA in various environmental samples, including hosts tissues, soil, water and air, thus opening new research opportunities for the study of diagnosis, inoculum threshold levels, epidemiology and host-pathogen interactions. Moreover, the quantification of specific mRNA transcription by real-time PCR is being increasingly applied to the study of changes in gene expression in response to phytopathogenic and antagonistic fungi.

The effectiveness of pre-and postharvest treatments with chitosan (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0%) to control Botrytis cinerea on table grapes was investigated. In postharvest treatments, small bunches dipped in chitosan solutions and inoculated with the pathogen showed a reduction of incidence, severity, and nesting of grey mold, in comparison with the control. Single berries artificially wounded, treated with the polymer, and inoculated with B. cinerea showed a reduced percentage of infected berries and lesion dia. Higher chitosan concentrations demonstrated greater decay reduction. All preharvest treatments significantly reduced the incidence of grey mold, as compared to the control. Table grapes treated with 1.0% chitosan showed a significant increase of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity. Consequently, besides a direct activity against B. cinerea, chitosan produces other effects contributing to reduce decay.

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