This issue of Mycological Research News features: Mycological Research: now number two for citations; In this issue; Ectomycorrhizas and copper toxicity; Copper deficiency or copper toxicity in ectomycorrhizal pines?; Cloning mating-type genes in non-model mushrooms; Genomic strategies in yeast evolution; Host specificity in Pestalotiopsis; Is long-distance dispersal by wind a reality?; and Daldinia loculata in Scotland.

A critical review of basidiomycete mycelia and their roles in forest soils precedes ten original research papers. The results of major molecular phylogenetic studies on Micareaceae, Anthracoidea, and Cordyceps are presented. Marchandiomyces is considered to have arisen from lignicolous ancestors. Genetic variability is examined in Macrophomina phaseolina and Pleurotus eryngii, and IGS nrDNA data is analyzed in 15 Alternaria spp.

Primers to detect Sclerotinia pseudotuberosa have been designed, molecular methods to study the interactions of wood-rotting basidiomycetes are described, and the occurrence of lignin peroxidase and laccase genes in macromycetes is explored.

The following new scientific name is introduced: Marchandiomyces lignicola sp. nov.