Publications by authors named "Viktor Papp"

The fungus "Fuling" has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for more than 2000 years, and its sclerotia have a wide range of biological activities including antitumour, immunomodulation, anti-inflammation, antioxidation, anti-aging etc. This prized medicinal mushroom also known as "Hoelen" is resurrected from a piece of pre-Linnean scientific literature. Fries treated it as Fr. and mentioned that it was cultivated on pine trees in China. However, this name had been almost forgotten, and (syn. ), originally described from North America, and known as "Tuckahoe" has been applied to "Fuling" in most publications. Although Merrill mentioned a 100 years ago that Asian and North American are similar but different, no comprehensive taxonomical studies have been carried out on the East Asian and its related species. Based on phylogenetic analyses and morphological examination on both the sclerotia and the basidiocarps which are very seldomly developed, the East Asian samples of including sclerotia, commercial strains for cultivation and fruiting bodies, nested in a strongly supported, homogeneous lineage which clearly separated from the lineages of North American and other species. So we confirm that the widely cultivated "Fuling" in East Asia is not conspecific with the North American . Based on the changes in Art. 59 of the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, the generic name , which was sanctioned by Fries, has nomenclatural priority (ICN, Art. F.3.1), and this name well represents the economically important stage of the generic type. So we propose to use rather than , and subsequently and are the valid names for "Fuling" in East Asia and "Tuckahoe" in North America, respectively. In addition, a new combination, , is proposed. Furthermore, it seems that is a species complex, and that three species exist in North America.

The chemical analysis of the methanol extract of Porodaedalea chrysoloma (Fr.) Fiasson & Niemela afforded the isolation of five compounds (1-5). The first two are phenolic derivatives: methyl (E)-3-(4-methoxycar-bonylphenoxy)-acrylate (1) is a new natural product, while methyl 3-(4-methoxycarbonylphenoxy)-propionate (2) was isolated from a natural source for the first time. The triterpene steroids ergone (3), 3β-hydroxyergosta-7,22-diene (4), and ergosterol (5) have not been previously identified in this species. The structures of the compounds were determined on the basis of NMR and MS spectroscopic analysis. The isolated fungal metabolites 1-5 were evaluated for their antioxidant activity. Compounds 1, 2, and 4 proved to possess considerable antioxidant effect in the ORAC assay with 2.21 ± 0.34, 1.58 ± 0.18, and 5.02 ± 0.47 mmol TE/g, respectively.

The detailed chemical analysis of the methanol extract of (Pers.) P. Karst. led to the isolation of two new cerebrosides, mericeramides A () and B () together with cerebroside B (), ergosterol (), 3β-hydroxyergosta-7,22-diene (), cerevisterol (), 3β-hydroxyergosta-6,8(14),22-triene (), 3β--glucopyranosyl-5,8-epidioxyergosta-6,22-diene () and (11,13)-9,10-dihydroxy-11,13-octadecadienoic acid (). The structures of the compounds were determined on the basis of NMR and MS spectroscopic analysis. Mericeramide A () is the first representative of halogenated natural cerebrosides. The isolated fungal metabolites - were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay. Compounds and proved to possess considerable antioxidant effects, with 2.50 ± 0.29, 4.94 ± 0.37 and 4.27 ± 0.05 mmol TE/g values, respectively. The result obtained gives a notable addition to the chemical and bioactivity profile of , highlighting the possible contribution of this species to a versatile and balanced diet.

Thirteen new species are formally described: from Pakistan, from India, on from Iran, from China, on species of , , and (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from Nicaragua and Panama, on (Hemiptera, Veliidae) from Brazil, on (Blattodea, Termitidae) from the DR Congo, from Slovenia, from Peru, from China, on from Italy, from , on subsp. from Pakistan. The following new records are reported: on from India; on apple and quince fruits from Iran; from Turkey; and on from Italy; causing tip blight of '' from India; from Madeira, Portugal, new for Macaronesia and Africa; , , and from Russia; on from India; on from Italy; on from Austria; from Turkey; from Wisconsin, USA; and from Turkey. Multi-locus analysis of ITS, LSU, , sequences revealed that , commonly classified within Gnomoniaceae (Diaporthales) or as Sordariomycetes , belongs to Magnaporthaceae (Magnaporthales). Analysis of a six-locus Ascomycota-wide dataset including SSU and LSU sequences of revealed that this species, currently in Ascomycota , belongs to Pyronemataceae (Pezizomycetes, Pezizales).

Mushroom-forming fungi (Agaricomycetes) have the greatest morphological diversity and complexity of any group of fungi. They have radiated into most niches and fulfil diverse roles in the ecosystem, including wood decomposers, pathogens or mycorrhizal mutualists. Despite the importance of mushroom-forming fungi, large-scale patterns of their evolutionary history are poorly known, in part due to the lack of a comprehensive and dated molecular phylogeny. Here, using multigene and genome-based data, we assemble a 5,284-species phylogenetic tree and infer ages and broad patterns of speciation/extinction and morphological innovation in mushroom-forming fungi. Agaricomycetes started a rapid class-wide radiation in the Jurassic, coinciding with the spread of (sub)tropical coniferous forests and a warming climate. A possible mass extinction, several clade-specific adaptive radiations and morphological diversification of fruiting bodies followed during the Cretaceous and the Paleogene, convergently giving rise to the classic toadstool morphology, with a cap, stalk and gills (pileate-stipitate morphology). This morphology is associated with increased rates of lineage diversification, suggesting it represents a key innovation in the evolution of mushroom-forming fungi. The increase in mushroom diversity started during the Mesozoic-Cenozoic radiation event, an era of humid climate when terrestrial communities dominated by gymnosperms and reptiles were also expanding.

Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11 International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.

The scientific name Ganoderma lucidum has long been used in the global medicinal mushroom market, and many publications have proven its pharmacological properties and chemical components. Although several Ganoderma species have been described worldwide as having morphology considerably similar to that of G. lucidum s. str., this binomial is still the most frequently used in pharmacological studies. However, the use of particularly divergent nomenclature has caused major difficulties in the evaluation of the results of pharmacological studies. This article is intended to provide a nomenclatural and taxonomic overview of the medically important G. lucidum group, that is, G. lucidum aggregate and G. lingzhi. Moreover, we evaluate the possibilities of how nomenclatural changes can help to avoid misunderstandings in thousands of publications and highlight scientifically correct interpretations for future studies.

Ten representative Central European phellinoid Hymenochaetaceae species (Phellinus sensu lato) were selected to examine their potential pharmacological activity. In this study 40 organic (n-hexane, chloroform, 50% methanol) and aqueous extracts with different polarities were analyzed for their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and xanthine oxidase (XO)--inhibitory properties. Fomitiporia robusta, Fuscoporia torulosa, Phellopilus nigrolimitatus, and Porodaedalea chrysoloma showed moderate antibacterial activity; Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 43300, and Moraxella catarrhalis ATCC 43617 were the strains most susceptible to the examined fungal species. The in vitro antioxidant and XO assays demonstrated that most of the selected species possess remarkable antioxidant and XO-inhibitory activities. The water extracts in general proved to be more active antioxidants than organic extracts. In the case of F. torulosa, Ph. Nigrolimitatus, and P. chrysoloma, the results of DPPH tests correlate well with those obtained by oxygen radical absorbance capacity tests; these mushrooms presented high antioxidant activities in both assays. Future studies involving phellinoid Hymenochaetaceae species are planned, which may furnish novel results in terms of the species' pharmacological activity and the specific compounds responsible for the observed activity.

Due to their bluish basidiocarps the Postiacaesia (syn. Oligoporuscaesius) complex forms a distinctive morphological group within the polypore genus Postia Fr., 1874. Five species of this group occur in Europe: Postiaalni Niemelä & Vampola, Postiacaesia (Schrad.) P. Karst., Postialuteocaesia (A. David) Jülich, Postiamediterraneocaesia M. Pierre & B. Rivoire and Postiasubcaesia (A. David) Jülich. In this study Postiaalni is reported for the first time from Hungary. The dichotomous key of the species of the European Postiacaesia complex was prepared as well.