• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.132-139
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• 2014

Basidiomycetous macrofungi play important roles in maintaining forest ecosystems via carbon cycling and the mobilization of nitrogen and phosphorus. To understand the impact of human activity on macrofungi, an ongoing project at the Korea National Arboretum is focused on surveying the macrofungi in unexploited areas. Mt. Oseo was targeted in this survey because the number of visitors to this destination has been steadily increasing, and management and conservation plans for this destination are urgently required. Through 5 field surveys of Mt. Oseo from April to October 2012, 116 specimens of basidiomycetous macrofungi were collected and classified. The specimens were identified to the species level by analyzing their morphological characteristics and their DNA sequence data. A total of 80 species belonging to 57 genera and 25 families were identified. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify five of these species-Artomyces microsporus, Hymenopellis raphanipes, Pholiota abietis, Phylloporus brunneiceps, and Sirobasidium magnum-in Korea.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

Macrofungi are visible to the naked eye and play important ecological roles in nutrient cycles as decomposers and symbionts in forest ecosystems. Collectively, macrofungi have great potential as valuable resources for food, cosmetics, and medicinal uses. We surveyed the Royal Tombs (Donggureung and Seooreung) of the Joseon Dynasty and Jongmyo Shrine, where the surrounding vegetation is well-preserved, to investigate indigenous macrofungi. During surveys in 2015-2016, we discovered six macrofungi that were previously not recorded to Korea. They were identified to the species level using morphological features and phylogenetic analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer region: Cruentomycena kedrovaya, Dacrymyces aureosporus, Laetiporus versisporus, Parasola setulosa, Piptoporellus soloniensis, and Pluteus longistriatus. The detailed morphological descriptions and molecular analysis are provided in this study.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.378-390
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• 2019

The Tian Shan mountain system is one of the large mountain ranges located in Central Asia. This region is globally recognized as mountain ranges, offering inestimable wealth in fauna and flora with significant biodiversity values. We surveyed macrofungal diversity of Tian Shan in Kyrgyzstan from 2016 to 2018. A collection of macrofungi was made, and these were subjected to sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis to ensure the identity of the collected macrofungi. Of those collected, 95 out of 100 specimens were successfully sequenced and compared with those of other related species retrieved from GenBank. The sequenced specimens were classified into 2 phyla, 8 orders, 24 families, 47 genera, and 57 species, based on current taxonomic concepts (combining morphology and phylogeny). To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first well-documented checklist and phylogenetic analysis of macrofungi recovered from the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan.

• Mycobiology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.184-194
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• 2020

Macrofungi play important roles in forest ecology as wood decayers, symbionts, and pathogens of living trees. For the effective forest management, it is imperative to have a comprehensive overview of macrofungi diversity in specific areas. As a part of the National Institute of Biological Resources projects for discovering indigenous fungi in Korea, we collected macrofungi in Gayasan National Park from 2017 to 2018. These specimens were identified based on morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) or the nuclear large subunit rRNA (LSU) region. We discovered 17 macrofungi new to Korea: Butyrea japonica, Ceriporia nanlingensis, Coltricia weii, Coltriciella subglobosa, Crepidotus crocophyllus, Cylindrobasidium laeve, Fulvoderma scaurum, Laetiporus cremeiporus, Lentinellus castoreus, Leucogyrophana mollusca, Marasmius insolitus, Nidularia deformis, Phaeophlebiopsis peniophoroides, Phanerochaete angustocystidiata, Phlebiopsis pilatii, Postia coeruleivirens, and Tengioboletus fujianensis. We described their detailed morphological characteristics.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.455-467
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• 2021

Macrofungi are valuable resources as novel drug candidates, new biomaterials, and edible materials. Recently, genetic approaches pertaining to macrofungi have been continuously growing for their identification, molecular breeding, and genetic engineering. However, purification and amplification of fungal DNA is challenging because of the rigid cell wall and presence of PCR inhibitory metabolites. Here, we established a direct PCR method to provide a rapid and efficient method for PCR-grade macrofungal DNA preparation applicable to both conventional PCR and real-time PCR. We first optimized the procedure of lysis and PCR using the mycelia of Lentinula edodes, one of the most widely consumed macrofungal species. Lysates prepared by neutralizing with (NH₄)₂SO₄ after heating the mycelia in a mixture of TE buffer and KOH at 65℃ for 10 min showed successful amplification in both conventional and real-time PCR. Moreover, the addition of bovine serum albumin to the PCR mixture enhanced the amplification in conventional PCR. Using this method, we successfully amplified not only internal transcribed spacer fragments but also low-copy genes ranging in length from 500 to 3,000 bp. Next, we applied this method to 62 different species (54 genera) of macrofungi, including edible mushrooms, such as Pleurotus ostreatus, and medicinal mushrooms such as Cordyceps militaris. It was found that our method is widely applicable to both ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. We expect that our method will contribute to accelerating PCR-based approaches, such as molecular identification, DNA marker typing, gene cloning, and transformant screening, in macrofungal studies.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.167-177
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• 2023

In 2022, our investigation focused on exploring the macrofungal diversity in South Korea. Through the examination of morphological characteristics and ITS sequences of the rDNA, we successfully identified four unrecorded species (Laccaria striatula, Leotia atrovirens, Malvipezia emileia, Xerula strigosa). Detailed morphological descriptions, accompanied by photographs and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2018

Dadohaehaesang National Park is a well-known habitat for a variety of indigenous animals and plants; however, there are no studies on the diversity of macrofungi. To undertake a basic survey of the macrofungi diversity in an unexploited area, we focused on surveying the macrofungi in Dadohaehaesang National Park, Korea, during 2017 and discovered two unrecorded species belonging to the order Polyporales. The two species were identified as Cinereomyces lindbladii and Steccherinum bourdotii based on a combination of morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region. We provide macro- and micro-morphological descriptions for these two unrecorded species in Korea.

• Mycobiology
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.286-296
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• 2017

Ulleung Island is a biodiversity hotspot in South Korea. During a survey of indigenous fungal species from Ulleung Island conducted from 2015 to 2016, we discovered 10 unrecorded macrofungi in Korea. These macrofungi were identified to the species level using morphological features and phylogenetic analysis based on the internal transcribed spacer region: Deconica phyllogena, Mycena zephirus, Phaeomarasmius proximans, Phlebia radiata, Pluteus semibulbosus, Postia alni, Resinicium pinicola, Scytinostroma portentosum, Tricholomopsis flammula, and Tyromyces kmetii. We also provide detailed morphological descriptions for these 10 species.

• Mycobiology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

Wound care has become increasingly important over the years. Various synthetic products for wound care treatment have been reported to cause toxic side effects and therefore natural products are in significant demand as they have minimal side effects. The presence of bioactive compounds in medicinal mushrooms contributes to various biological activities which assist in the early inflammatory phase, keratinocyte proliferation, and its migration enhancement which are pertinent to wound rehabilitation. Lignosus rhinocerus (tiger milk mushroom) can reduce the inflammation phase in wound healing by fighting off bacterial infection and modulating pro-inflammatory cytokines expression in the early stage to avoid prolonged inflammation and tissue damage. The antibacterial, immunomodulating, and anti-inflammatory activities exhibited by most macrofungi play a key role in enhancing wound healing. Several antibacterial and antifungal compounds sourced from traditional botanicals/-products may prevent further complications and reoccurrence of injury to a wounded site. Scientific studies are actively underway to ascertain the potential use of macrofungi as a wound healing agent.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.67-88
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• 2024

Macrofungi are essential decomposers in the forest environment. Although more than 70% of the land is mountainous, there has been a lack of research on mushroom diversity in Korea compared to the global species estimation. For this reason, the need for further research became apparent. The surveys were conducted from 2014 to 2022 nationwide. As a result, 15 unrecorded macrofungal species were discovered: Agaricus thiersii, Baorangia alexandri, Boletellus putuoensis, Entoloma bulakhae, Entoloma pygmaeopapillatum, Entoloma subtenuicystidiatum, Gerronema kuruvense, Hyphoderma nudicephalum, Hyphoderma tenue, Macrolepiota subcitrophylla, Mycena jingyinga, Mycena yuezhuoi, Ophiocordyceps vespulae, Scytinostroma acystidiatum, and Steccherinum straminellum. These species are identified based on morphological, molecular, and phylogenetic analyses using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the nuclear large subunit rRNA (LSU) region. Here, we provided macro- and micro-morphological figures with phylogenetic trees to support 15 species as unrecorded to Korea.