Two kinds of mushrooms, Gumji (金芝; Ganoderma) and Soji, were described in old book of Samguksagi (History of the three kingdoms; B.C 57~A.D 668; written by Bu Sik Kim in 1145) in Korea-dynasty. Many kinds of mushrooms were also described in more than 17 kinds of old books during Chosun-dynasty (1392~1910) in Korea. Nowadays, mushroom cultivation has been increased through out the world last decade years. Production of mushrooms has also been increased 10-20% and many varieties have been cultivated. Similar trends were also observed in Korea. Approximately two hundred commercial strains of 37 species in mushrooms were developed and distributed to cultivators. Somatic hybrid variety of oyster mushroom 'Wonhyeong-neutari' were developed by protoplast fusion, and distributed to grower in 1989. The fruiting body yield index of somatic hybrids of Pleurotus ranged between 27 and 155 compared to parental values of 100 and 138. In addition, more diverse mushroom varieties such as Phellinus baumi, Auricularia spp., Pleurotus ferulae, Hericium erinaceus, Hypsizigus marmoreus, Grifola frondosa, Agrocybe aegerita and Pleurotus cornucopiae have been attempted to cultivate in small scale cultivation. Production of mushrooms as food was 190,111 metric tons valued at 800 billion Korean Won (one trillion won if include mushroom factory products; 1dollar = 1,040 Won) in 2011. Major cultivated species are Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus eryngii, Flammulina velutipes, Lentinula edodes, Agaricus bisporus, and Ganoderma lucidum, which cover 90% of total production. Since mushroom export was initiated from 1960 to 1980, the export and import of mushrooms have been increased in Korea. Technology developed for liquid spawn production and automatic cultivation systems lead to the reduction of the production cost resulting in the increasement of mushroom export. However some species were imported because of high production cost for these mushrooms requiring the effective cultivation methods. Developing of effective post-harvest system will be also directly related to mushroom export. In academic area, RDA scientists have been conducting mushroom genome projects. One of the main results is the whole genome sequencing of Flammulina velutipes for molecular breeding. An electrophoretic karyotype of of F. velutipes was obtained using CHEF with 7 chromosomes, with a total genome size of approximately 26.7 Mb. The mususcript of the genome of F. velutipes was published in PLOS ONE this year. For medicinal mushrooms, we have been conducting the genome research on Cordyceps and its related species for developing functional foods using this mushroom. In 2013, Korea Food and Drug Administraion (KFDA) approved Cordyceps mushroom for its value as an immune booster.

Over five thousand higher fungal specimens were collected from 32 forest areas of Chungcheong and Gyeongsang province from 2012 to 2013. We obtained 513 strains and 3,120 ITS sequences. Mushrooms were first identified with macro- and micro-scopic characters, and their identification was confirmed on the basis of ITS sequences. Voucher specimens were designated for each species found in Korea. Construction of DNA barcoding Database is currently underway with sequences of 409 species. During the development of the database, some new species were recognized, along with several Korean new records. When the system has been completed, it will provide essential molecular information for metagenomic and phylogenetic researches for higher fungi.

This study included the analysis of mushroom data collected from Mt. Chiak in Gangwon-do using various methods. Former studies of Korean mushrooms are limited by regional characters and there is less species diversity among the regions. This study tried to find a way for the forecast of mushroom distribution and appearance by indexes of species diversity. The indexes used in this study include the number of fungi (N), the number of species (S), similarity index (C), richness index (R1, R2), variety index (V1, V2), evenness index (E1, E2, E3, E4, E5), and dominance index (D1) to analyze variety of species diversity. Analyses of data of fungi using a multistage cluster sampling indicate that the average value of C for years was higher than the average value of C for areas. The mushrooms consisted of 208 species in 686 individuals in limited fungal collection from 2002 to 2003. One hundred thirty nine species in 393 individuals were collected in 2002, and 122 species 293 individuals were collected in 2003. The individuals collected in 2003 were smaller than 2002's individuals. Similarity, richness, and variety indexes' values of 2003 were reduced than 2002's values but dominance index of 2003 was increased than 2002's value. Generally the species diversity of the environment to evaluate the index of similarity, richness, and variety was a higher index; dominance index was lower than that of the surrounding environment, suggesting a good diversity. As a result, the occurrence of mushrooms in the surrounding environment and the various factors seem fell in 2002 compared to 2003. The majority genus of the limited fungal collection was Mycena genus in 63 individuals; the majority species was Laccaria laccata in 34 individuals. Ninety three species in 106 individuals were collected by the extended collection and the majority genus of the extended collection was Amanita genus in 17 individuals; the majority species was Amanita citrina (Schaeff.) Pers. which was found in 5 individuals. This demonstrates that periodical similarity's value was 0.159 is higher than special similarity's 0.119. This indicates that the probability of the appearance of same mushrooms in the same area in following year is higher than the probability of the appearance of same mushrooms in the surrounding area in same year. The value of coefficient of variation (CV), in which the amount of change is much or less by N is higher than the CV value by S. CV value of dominance index(D) was the highest r point among other indexes, and evenness index (E) was the lowest point among other indexes. The correlation matrix with 66 combinations between the indexes, the combinations with correlations was 46 combinations. These results revealed that indexes of R1, V2, and E1 were proper to represent species diversity of fungi based on the correlation matrix and the theory of statistical independence which means there is no or less mutual association. This research would contribute to the study about variable living creature by measuring method and in the future this would be used to figure out regulation about fungi with their correlation, values in ecosystem, develop improving new models about agricultural fungi species and numbers by investigating agricultural variable species.

A edible mushroom, Hypsizygus marmoreus is commercially cultivated in Northeast Asia. Japan's annual production is 110,000ton or more. Since 2002, cultivation is expanded in Korea. To investigate the morphological, cultural and microscopic characteristics of Hypsizygus marmoreus, 109 isolates were collected from Korea and other countries. Clamp connection, chlamydospore and arthrospore were present in all tested isolates of H. marmoreus except HYM-002 and HYM-004. Also pilealtrama, gilltrama, basidia, basidiospore and cystidia of fruiting body were no difference among the isolates in the present investigation. Morphological characteristics of fruiting body was that color of pileus was brown and white, irregular as marble, the average size 12~22mm and stipes was $46{\sim}91{\times}6{\sim}10mm$. Isolates HYM-031, HYM-047 and HYM-109 formed grayish-brown pileus with a faint pattern. Molecular analysis with RAPD and ITS rDNA sequence analysis were also performed to check the genetic relationships among H. marmoreus isolates. Based on the RAPD analysis using the URP-PCR, all isolates of H. marmoreus were clustered into large 3 groups but more than 90% showed high similarity. In addition, morphological and geographical differences have been classified as an independent cluster. The brown and white strains enclosed in same cluster. So genetically no significance difference was observed between these two strains. ITS gene sequences of 16 selected isolates which were 640 bp long, were aligned and compared. The similarity in ITS sequence was 94.8 to 99.1% among tested isolates and the H. marmoreus isolates in GeneBank. In conclusion the tested isolates were H. marmoreus. Morphological and molecular observations proved that all tested isolates were belonging to H. marmoreus. For the stable artificial cultivation, composition of optimum media, mature period and light condition were established. Optimal formula of artificial cultivation medium was Douglas sawdust: corn cob: soybean meal: wheat bran = 40:30:15:15. In addition, 7% rice bran and 3% yellow sucrose was the most effective composition for spawn's liquid medium. For the maturation of the isolates was favorable for growing for 20 to 30 days at $25^{\circ}C$ and the LED lights in mixture of white and blue was good for growth period. For effective growth, the temperature, humidity and aeration control in every step was important.

Koji molds are comprised of yellow, black and white. Black and white koji molds were recently re-visited by this author and it is concluded that they consists of Aspergillus luchuesnsis, A. niger and A. tubingensis, and the most important species for alcoholic beverage production is A. luchuensis. In the case of yellow koji mold, it is comprised of Aspergillus oryzae, A. sojae and A. tamari. In the case of A. sojae, the species is scarcely isolated from nature and rarely used for industry in Korea. Aspergillus tamari is often isolated from traditional Korean Meju, a fermented soybean product, and the classification of the species is clear. However, in the case of A. oryzae, differentiation between A. oryzae and A. flavus is still in controversy. In this study, we collected 415 strains of Aspergillus flavus/oryzae complex from air, rice straw, soybean, corn, peanut, arable soil and Meju in Korea and we examined the aflatoxin producing capacity of the strains. The norB-cypA, omtA and aflR genes in the aflatoxin biosynthesis gene cluster were analyzed. We found that 367 strains (88.4%) belonged to non-aflatoxigenic group (Type I of norB-cypA, IB-L-B-, IC-AO, or IA-L-B- of omtA, and AO type of aflR), and only 48 strains (11.6%) belonged to aflatoxin-producible group (Type II of norB-cypA, IC-L-B+/B- or IC-L-B+ of omtA, and AF type of aflR). In the case of A. flavus/oryzae strains from Meju, almost strains (178/192, 92.7%) belonged to non-aflatoxigenic group and only 14 strains (7.3 %) belonged to aflatoxin-producible group. It is proposed in this study that non-aflatoxigenic strain from Meju is classified as A. oryzae, considering that Meju is food material.

Beauveria bassiana (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is an anamorphic fungus having a potential to be used as a biological control agent because it parasitizes a wide range of arthropod hosts including termites, aphids, beetles and many other insects. A number of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs) have been isolated from B. bassiana and functionally verified. Among them, beauvericin and bassianolide are cyclic depsipeptides with antibiotic and insecticidal effects belonging to the enniatin family. Non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) play a crucial role in the synthesis of these secondary metabolites. NRPSs are modularly organized multienzyme complexes in which each module is responsible for the elongation of proteinogenic and non-protein amino acids, as well as carboxyl and hydroxyacids. A minimum of three domains are necessary for one NRPS elongation module: an adenylation (A) domain for substrate recognition and activation; a tholation (T) domain that tethers the growing peptide chain and the incoming aminoacyl unit; and a condensation (C) domain to catalyze peptide bond formation. Some of the optional domains include epimerization (E), heterocyclization (Cy) and oxidation (Ox) domains, which may modify the enzyme-bound precursors or intermediates. In the present study, we analyzed genomes of B. bassiana and its allied species in Hypocreales to verify the distribution of NRPS-encoding genes involving biosynthesis of beauvericin and bassianolide, and to unveil the evolutionary processes of the gene clusters. Initially, we retrieved completely or partially assembled genomic sequences of fungal species belonging to Hypocreales from public databases. SM biosynthesizing genes were predicted from the selected genomes using antiSMASH program. Adenylation (A) domains were extracted from the predicted NRPS, NRPS-like and NRPS-PKS hybrid genes, and used them to construct a phylogenetic tree. Based on the preliminary results of SM biosynthetic gene prediction in B. bassiana, we analyzed the conserved gene orders of beauvericin and bassianolide biosynthetic gene clusters among the hypocrealean fungi. Reciprocal best blast hit (RBH) approach was performed to identify the regions orthologous to the biosynthetic gene cluster in the selected fungal genomes. A clear recombination pattern was recognized in the inferred A-domain tree in which A-domains in the 1st and 2nd modules of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases were grouped in CYCLO and EAS clades, respectively, suggesting that two modules of each synthetase have evolved independently. In addition, inferred topologies were congruent with the species phylogeny of Cordycipitaceae, indicating that the gene fusion event have occurred before the species divergence. Beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases turned out to possess identical domain organization as C-A-T-C-A-NM-T-T-C. We also predicted precursors of beauvericin and bassianolide synthetases based on the extracted signature residues in A-domain core motifs. The result showed that the A-domains in the 1st module of both synthetases select D-2-hydroxyisovalerate (D-Hiv), while A-domains in the 2nd modules specifically activate L-phenylalanine (Phe) in beauvericin synthetase and leucine (Leu) in bassianolide synthetase. antiSMASH ver. 2.0 predicted 15 genes in the beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster of the B. bassiana genome dispersed across a total length of approximately 50kb. The beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster contains beauvericin synthetase as well as kivr gene encoding NADPH-dependent ketoisovalerate reductase which is necessary to convert 2-ketoisovalarate to D-Hiv and a gene encoding a putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator. Our syntenic comparison showed that species in Cordycipitaceae have almost conserved beauvericin biosynthetic gene cluster although the gene order and direction were sometimes variable. It is intriguing that there is no region orthologous to beauvericin synthetase gene in Cordyceps militaris genome. It is likely that beauvericin synthetase was present in common ancestor of Cordycipitaceae but selective gene loss has occurred in several species including C. militaris. Putative bassianolide biosynthetic gene cluster consisted of 16 genes including bassianolide synthetase, cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, and putative Gal4-like transcriptional regulator genes. Our synteny analysis found that only B. bassiana possessed a bassianolide synthetase gene among the studied fungi. This result is consistent with the groupings in A-domain tree in which bassianolide synthetase gene found in B. bassiana was not grouped with NRPS genes predicted in other species. We hypothesized that bassianolide biosynthesizing cluster genes in B. bassiana are possibly acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from distantly related fungi. The present study showed that B. bassiana is the only species capable of producing both beauvericin and bassianolide. This property led to B. bassiana infect multiple hosts and to be a potential biological control agent against agricultural pests.

We isolated various yeasts from wild flowers in main islands, Jejudo, Ulleungdo and Yokjido of Korea and their yeasts were identified by comparison of their PCR-amplified D1/D2 regions of 26S rDNA using the BLAST database. Thirty two yeast strains of fourteen species were isolated from wild flowers of Jejudo. Forty eight yeast strains of twenty two species were isolated and identified from wild flowers of Ulleungdo, Korea. Sixty yeast strains belonged to twenty five species were isolated identified from wild flowers of Yokjido in Tongyeong, Korea. Only Metschnikowia reukaufii was overlapped from the three different islands areas. Two species overlapped from Jejudo and Ulleungdo: Pichia guilliermondii, Metschnikowia reukaufii. Seven species were overlapped from Ulleungdo and Yokjido: Cryptococcus albidus, Cryptococcus laurentii, Metschnikowia reukafii, Pichia scolyti, Rhodotorula glutinis, Rhodotorula graminis and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. Four species were overlapped from Jejudo and Yokjido: Candida sp. Cryptococcus aureus, Metschnikowia reukafii and Pseudozyma sp.

Glomerella leaf spot pathogens can infect apple leaves, causing extensive necrosis and premature defoliation, as well as necrotic spots on fruit. In recent years, the disease has been reported with increasing frequency in China, and appears to be spreading rapidly in some apple-producing areas. In this study, fungal isolates from diseased apples leaves collected in Henan and Shaanxi provinces were analyzed based on morphology, cultural characters, pathogenicity and molecular phylogenetics. It was found that Glomerella leaf spot of apple was caused by two pathogens, Colletotrichum fructicola and C. aenigma. Pathogenicity tests showed that C. fructicola and C. aenigma could infect apple leaves of cultivar Golden Delicious, as well as Gala, Qinguan, Pink Lady, Pacific Rose, Golden Century and Honeycrisp, all of which include Golden Delicious in their parentage. In wound inoculation experiments, C. fructicola and C. aenigma were pathogenic to fruit of Gala, Qinguan, Golden Delicious, Pacific Rose, Starkrimson and Fuji. With non-wounded fruit, C. fructicola was pathogenic to Gala and Golden Delicious, and C. aenigma was pathogenic to Gala. It is concluded that the two pathogens could be differentiated according to pathogenicity to leaves and fruits of different apple cultivars.

In a homothallic filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, sexual and asexual developments are largely affected by the genetic and environmental factors. To regulate the complex subsets of genes involved in the developmental processes accurately, tight regulations of transcription factors are required. The forkhead type transcription factors are the class of regulators that function in a broad spectrum of cellular and developmental processes in many species from yeast to human. Here, we identified the fkhA and fkhB genes that encode a conserved forkhead transcription factors. The fkhA deletion resulted in the complete loss of fruiting body formation under all conditions favoring sexual development, suggesting that the fkhA gene is required for sexual development in A. nidulans. Overexpression of fkhA resulted in enhanced formation of fruiting bodies under induction condition not only in the normal condition but also in the condition of presence of 0.6 M KCl, which strongly inhibits sexual development. To know the function of the fkhB gene, we also generated fkhB knock-out strain in A. nidulans. Deletion of fkhB resulted in abnormal conidiophore formation under standard conditions and delayed sexual development process, suggesting that the fkhB gene plays an important role in conidiophore morphogenesis Taken together, these results suggest that the fkhA gene is necessary and sufficient for regulating sexual development and the fkhB gene is a transcription factor related in asexual developmental process in A. nidulans.

Pinewood nematode (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is a serious pathogenic worm that quickly dry pine trees to death. Recently, PWN has been devastating huge amounts of conifer trees in Korea. As a first step to explore the association and ecological roles of fungi in PWN life cycle in Korea, in this study we first isolated and indentified fungi from PWN-infested Korean pine and Japanese black pine wood sampled in Jinju, Sacheon, Pocheon, Chuncheon, Gwangju, and Hoengseong in Korea. A total of 144 fungal isolates were obtained from Japanese black pine wood and 264 fungal isolates from Korean pine wood. Their morphology and nucleotide sequences of the ITS rDNA and ♌-tubulin gene were examined for species identification. Ophiostoma ips, Botrytis anthophila, Penicillium sp., Hypocrea lixii, Trichoderma atroviride, O. galeiforme, Fusarium proliferatum were identified from Japanese black pine wood. Leptographium koreanum, L. pini-densiflorae, Ophiostoma ips, Penicillium raistrick, Trichoderma sp. were isolated from Korean pine wood. O. ips and L. koreanum were the major species on the two different PWN-infected pine tree. The cultivation of PWN on fungal mat of the identified species did some enhance PWN reproduction. The ambrosia beetle, Platypus koryoensis, is a serious pest of oak trees in Korea. In this study we investigated filamentous fungi present in the body of the beetle. Fourteen genera of filamentous fungi belonging to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were isolated. All the obtained genera were isolated in the mitosporic state. The identified fungi were classified in 11 distinct orders including the Ascomycota (Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Microascales, Ophiostomatales, Pleosporales, and Sordiales) and Basidiomycota (Agaricales, Corticiales, Polyporales, and Russulales Xylariales). Within Ascomycota, 13 species were found. Meanwhile five species were found within Basidiomycota. The results showed the presence of diverse fungi in P. koryoensis. Among the isolated fungi, some were able to produce wood degrading enzymes. Further fungal isolation was performed with P. koryoensis infested Quercus mongolica trees sampled at Kumdan mountain in Hanam-Si, Gyeonggi province from June of 2009 to June of 2010. Penicillin spp. and Trichoderma spp. were the major species of mold fungi group. Pichia guilliermondii was the major species of mold yeast group. Raffaelea quercus-mongolicae was also isolated, but its isolation frequency was not high. Other species identified were Ambrosiella xylebori, Fusarium solani, Cryphonectria nitschke, Chaetomium globosum, and Gliocladium viride, Candida kashinagacola, C. maritima, C. vanderkliftii, Saccharomycopsis crataegensis.

White rot fungi have been useful source of enzymes for the degradation of environmental pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and synthetic dyes. PAHs are widespread organic compounds present in fossil fuels and are routinely generated by incomplete fuel combustion. PAHs are some of the major toxic pollutants of water and soil environments. Synthetic dyes are major water-pollutants, which are toxic to organisms in water environments and interfere photosynthesis of water plants. Removal of PAHs and synthetic dyes has been of interests in the environmental science especially in the environmental microbiology. Mushrooms are fungal groups that function as primary degraders of wood polyphenolic lignin. The ligninolytic enzymes produced by mushroom, including manganese peroxidase, lignin peroxidase, and laccase, mediate the oxidative degradation of lignin. The catalytic power of these enzymes in the degradation of aromatic ring compounds has been sought for the degradation of various organic compounds. In this project, we have screened 60 wild mushroom strains for their degradation activity against two representative PAHs, naphthalene and anthracene, and five aromatic dyes, including alizarin red S, crystal violet, malachite green, methylene blue, rose bengal. The degradation of PAHs was measured by GC while the decolorization of dyes was measured by both UV spectrophotometer and HPLC. As results, 9 wild mushroom strains showed high activity in degradation of PAHs and textile dyes. We also describe the secretive enzyme activities, the transcription levels, and cloning of target genes. In conjunction with this, activities of degradative enzymes, including laccase, lignin peroxidase, and Mn peroxidase, were measured in the liquid medium in the presence of PAHs and dyes. Our results showed that the laccase activity was directed correlated with the degradation, indicating that the main enzyme acts on PAHs and dyes is the laccase. The laccase activity was further simulated by the addition of $Cu^{2+}$ ion. Detailed studies of the enzyme system should be sought for future applications.

Individualities of precious health mushroom called Zhenghonggu@ from respective protections scattered among all main mountains of Fujian China were collected and recognized locally, then compared with Russula griseocarnosa. Their internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region (ITS1, ITS2 and 5.8S rDNA) of the nuclear rDNA were amplified, AMOVA analyzed, nested clade analyzed and then compared with the ITS sequences of relative Russula species from other regions of China to confirm the taxonomic status of Zhenghonggu$^@$ and its population structure. Total 23 haplotypes from different protections of Fujian can be clustered into three clades similar to the three lineages of Dahongjun$^@$ from southeastern China reported by Li et al. The geographic distribution characteristic of these three phylogeny clades may be closely coupled with the vegetation regionalization and/or the differences of coenosium construction of Fagaceae that is the host of Russula griseocarnosa. The correlation of taxonomy, phylogeny and geographical distribution of Russula are discussed.

In order to explore mycelial growth and fruiting body formation of Lyophyllum decates on different media, ten cultivation media by using cottonseed hull, sawdust, corn cob etc. as main components were designed for seven strains. The results showed that the mycelial colour of all strains are mainly snow-white, and the formula of media using corn cob as main materials was better than that using cottonseed hull and sawdust for mycelial growth, but no fruiting body was formed. The cottonseed hull medium with a small amount of sawdust, plant leaves, humus or fermented material and wheat was beneficial for fruiting formation. The incubation period for fruiting formation of strain 3001 was 108 days and the highest yield was-214.80 g/bag. Fructification of the strains tasted occurs successively in order of 3001, 1035, 1004 and 1013. It was concluded that different medium composition had significant effect on the mycelial growth and fruiting body formation.

South Korea is covered primarily by temperate vegetation; therefore, foliicolous lichens may not be expected to play an important role in its lichen flora. Indeed, more than 100 years after the first lichen record from South Korea reported by Hue, the paper "Pyrenocarpous lichens in Korea" published by Moon and Aptroot, reported on the presence of two foliicolous lichens, Strigula nemathora Mont, and S. smaragdula Fr., for the first time in South Korea. No detailed reports on foliicolous lichens have since been published in South Korea. In Japan, the neighboring country, approximately 83 foliicolous lichen species are distributed at the southernmost part under temperate to subtropical climatic conditions. However, a large number of foliicolous lichens, with many recent records, have been reported in neighboring countries like China and Taiwan. According to Thor et al., studies on foliicolous lichen flora of Asia are comparatively poor compared to those reported from America. There are six lichenogeographical regions: the Neotropics, Valdivia, Tethyan, African Paleotropics, eastern Paleotropics, and Neozelandic-Tasmanian, which are demarcated based on the known worldwide distribution pattern of foliicolous lichen flora. South Korea belongs to the eastern paleotropic region, where a higher number of local endemic foliicolous lichens have been reported. So far, there are a total of six known foliicolous lichen taxa from South Korea; S. concreta, S. macrocarpa, S. melanobapha, S. nemathora, S. smaragdula, and S. subelegans from Jeju Island. So far, the genus Strigula is the only known representative of the foliicolous lichen flora in South Korea. Among the recorded species, S. concreta, S. smaragdula, and S. subelegans are abundant and widespread. Japan, the closest area to Jeju Island, has the same distribution pattern of foliicolous lichens, with S. smaragdula, S. melanobapha, and S. subtilissima. Pollen studies conducted by Chung reported that changes in vegetation on Jeju Island, due mainly to deglacial warming and the influence of geographical change, resulted from sea-level rises. In general, all of the foliicolous lichens observed so far were restricted to the southernmost part of South Korea, particularly Jeju Island. Island might be influenced by its geographical setting. One reason could be the close dispersal distances of spores and vegetative propagules from areas such as the southern part of Japan and eastern part of China, where more foliicolous lichens can be found. Thor et al. also showed that the southern part of Japan harbors more foliicolous lichens than the northern part. Considering that China is close to Jeju Island, many foliicolous lichens, including S. concreta, S. macrocarpa, S. nemanthora, and S. smaragdula, have been reported from Yunnan province, the southernmost part of China. Geographically, this province is far away from Jeju Island. In other provinces, such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, which are closer to Jeju Island, no foliicolous lichens have been recorded so far. Therefore, the chance of spores and propagules coming from such closer areas is questionable. Thus, the location of origin of ancestors of foliicolous lichens of South Korea and the time and means of their invasion of this island is controverisial. The current study would lead the way to finding answers to the above mentioned questions.