Advancements in the taxonomic study of myxomycetes (Myxogastrea) in China

ABSTRACT

Species in the class Myxomycetes (or Myxogastrea) are essential components of biodiversity and play important ecological roles in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in forests. Studies on the taxonomy and diversity of these organisms started late in China. However, significant progress in China has been made in modern taxonomic studies on myxomycetes based on long-term species surveying and specimen collecting. The existing achievements have shown that comprehensive and continuous studies on the taxonomy and diversity of myxomycetes in China have the potential to enhance global biodiversity and improve the geographic distribution pattern of myxomycetes. Therefore, building on the current research foundation and expanding myxomycete research in a wider and more in-depth approach is imperative.

KEYWORDS:

• Plasmodial slime mould
• taxonomy
• species diversity
• development of taxonomic history

Acknowledgments

This article is dedicated to Professor Li Yu’s 80^th birthday. As his students, we sincerely thank him for helping us down the road towards myxomycete taxonomy and continuously encouraging us in this field.

We are sincerely grateful to the editor and anonymous reviewers whose comments and revisions made our articles more accessible to the readers. We greatly appreciate Prof. Liu Xing-Zhong of Nankai University for his meaningful suggestions. Thanks also to Drs. Liu Pu and Zhang Bo of Jilin Agricultural University, Dr. He Gang of Jiujiang University in Jiangxi Province, and Dr. Song Wen-Long of Nanjing Normal University for providing several references.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (32270005 and 32070007).