Vol 58, No 6 (2024)

Grain production serves as an important strategic resource of the Russian Federation, it is a fundamental branch of agricultural production. In order to get a high and stable yield, it is necessary to carry out protective measures for crops against various diseases. In recent years, leaf-stem diseases of grain crops stand out as the most harmful ones in agrocoenoses. They significantly decrease crop yield. Not only do they rapidly spread around multiple regions of the Russian Federation, but they encompass other grain-producing countries as well. Zymoseptoria tritici is a dangerous fungal phytopathogen that causes Septoria blotches among wheat, triticale, barley and rye. Within several decades, some significant progress has been made in the process of genetic control of wheat resistance to Z. tritici. However, due to the presence of favorable weather conditions contributing to the development of fungal infections, in order to prevent crop loss together with decrease in the quality of agricultural produce, from one to several fungicide treatments have to be implemented. Russian and foreign scientists have noted a tendency of Z. tritici to increase rersistance to some fungicides, which poses a problem with the successful implementation of efficient plant protection measures. Such classes as triazoles and strobilurins are no exception, and according to the FRAC rating, the risk of developing resistance to them is assessed as medium in the former and high in the latter, accordingly. Increasing problems caused by fungicide resistance in Z. tritici populations pose a threat to further wheat production. The purpose of the present research is to analyze modern literature data on the emergence of resistance to fungicides from the chemical classes of triazoles and strobilurins in Z. tritici. The given review examines the genetic mechanisms of resistance that appear in the phytopathogen; examples of monitoring studies of fungal resistance in various countries are provided alongside with practical recommendations on the implementation of anti-resistance strategies. The success of creating such strategies is impossible without knowledge of the pathogen population structure, cultivar resistance, regional agro-ecological peculiarities of the pathogen development and crop cultivation or the biological commercial and economic efficiency of protection means and methods.

Using the example of the preparation of the third edition of the Red data book of the Rostov Region (section Fungi), the experience of applying criteria developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature is presented. Until recently, the assessment of rarity and threats was carried out using traditionally accepted methods in Russia and often allowed for a significant degree of subjectivity. The IUCN criteria are based on quantitative assessments, which permit a more of accurate evaluation of species status and associated threats. The introduction of new assessment criteria frequently results in a notable revision of the lists of species proposed for protection, with the exclusion of a considerable number of species. The application of most criteria in relation to fungi is exceedingly challenging. Criterion B (geographical distribution: extent of occurrence and area of occupancy) is the most adequate, which allows to indirectly assess the degree of threat of extinction of the species in the territory under consideration. Since the IUCN criteria have been developed for assessment at the global level, it is necessary to develop clearer recommendations for work at the regional level regarding the assessment of the area of areal and habitat.

Totally, 26 species of macrofungi of two phyla, Basidiomycota (23 species, 88%) and Ascomycota (three species, 12%) – were recorded in the greenhouses of the Donetsk Botanical Garden over a 12-year period (2007–2008 and 2015–2024). Seven species – Cyathus striatus, Gymnopilus liquiritiae, Mycena epipterygia, M. leptocephala, Panaeolus fimicola, Peziza varia, and P. vesiculosa – were reported for the first time for the territory of the Donetsk Botanical Garden. The species diversity of macrofungi in greenhouses is relatively low – 10–18% of the species recorded in the anthropogenically transformed regional ecosystems of Donbass. Multiregional cosmopolitans (20 species, 77%) and saprotrophs (17 species, 65%) dominated among fungal species by species composition and trophic spectrum respectively. Two peaks of fruiting body formation were observed: the winter peak – in January and February, and the autumn peak – in October. Macrofungi communities of greenhouses are composed mostly of accidentally introduced species. The incoming of fungi into the greenhouses occurred with organic substrates of local and foreign origin. This may facilitate the introduction and subsequent naturalization of alien fungi in the regional phytocoenoses.

Microfungi of deep-sea sediments, and especially those several meters below the water–sediment interface, are poorly studied. In this work, for the first time, microfungal communities isolated by cultivation from deep-sea sediments of the eastern part of the Equatorial Atlantic (the Romanche and Chain Fracture Zones) were investigated. Fungi were isolated from sediments sampled at each of 12 stations from horizons 1.0–4.7 m below the sediment–water interface. To study microscopic fungi, one sediment horizon was isolated from each core. The fungal abundances were within the range of 0.0–3300.0 CFU g^-1 sediment dry weight. A total of 19 fungal taxa from the phyla Ascomycota (18) and Basidiomycota (1) were identified, and Mycelia sterilia 1 strain was also isolated. Seven fungal species were encountered only once. In this case, the maximum similarity of species composition, in terms of the Bray – Curtis coefficient, was 57.14% (horizons 1.0 and 3.6 m, four common species). A comparison of the taxonomic structures of fungal communities from the study area was made with those from sediments of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and other areas of the Atlantic. The fungal communities from sediments in the study area were compared with those from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and other areas of the Atlantic. From the literature data and present study results, a list of fungal species with 180 names was compiled. The fungi belonged to 97 genera, 57 families, 32 orders and 13 classes of the phyla Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mucoromycota. The diversity of fungal communities was assessed using indicators of taxonomic richness (number of taxa from different ranks), proportions (genera/families, species/families, species/genera), Average Taxonomic Distinctness index (AvTD, Δ⁺) and Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness index (VarTD, Λ⁺). Four and twelve fungal classes were identified in sediments in the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, respectively. The species/genera proportions in the communities varied from 1.33 (Indian Ocean) to 3.8 (other areas of the Atlantic Ocean). For the fungal communities of the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic, the AvTD index value was minimal (Δ⁺ = 50.19), the VarTD index was maximal (Λ⁺ = 945.38), and they were beyond the 95% confidence interval. This was due to the small number of the fungal classes and vertical and horizontal unevenness of species distribution along taxonomic branches, which was manifested in the dominance of species of the family Aspergillaceae (78.9% of the species in the class Saccharomycetes and Eurotiomycetes), only two species belonging to the classes Sordariomycetes and one species belonging to the class Microbotryomycetes (phylum Basidiomycota). Consequently, statistically significant differences were found between the taxonomic structures of the fungal communities of the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic and the other regions of the World Ocean, which are due to the insufficient amount of data obtained on the species composition of fungi in the sediments of this area. The study did not reveal any pattern in the change in the number of fungal species and their abundance in relation to the water characteristics (temperature, pH, and salinity), horizon depth in the sediment core, sediment type, or sampling station location in the Romanche and Chain Fracture Zones.

DNA barcoding is one of the most effective and modern approaches to obtaining new information on biodiversity of fungi and lichens in poorly studied and/or unique regions. As a result of this research, a total of 16 DNA barcodes were obtained for new regional finds of xylobiont aphyllophoroid fungi and lichens inhabiting the territory of the Samursky National Park (Republic of Dagestan, Russia). Among them, not only nucleotide sequences of ITS nrDNA for specimens identified based on classical micromorphological methods are presented, but also new information on cryptic species differentiated using molecular genetic approach. The taxonomic spectrum of the studied objects includes representatives of the genera Coniophora, Dendrographa, Diploicia, Dirina, Evernia, Hyphoderma, Lyomyces, Mycoacia, Opegrapha, Peniophorella, Phanerochaete, and Xylodon. Mycoacia aurea is registered for the first time for the Republic of Dagestan and the Eastern Caucasus.