Cordyceps species are diverse and grow worldwide from larval to adult stages of a range of insects. They are traditionally regarded as medicinal mushrooms in Asia for their immune-enhancing properties. Different species of Cordyceps are being cultivated in large scale to fulfill the demand of public consumption as supplementary health food or immune booster. Cultivation of Cordyceps fruiting bodies is a complex process and a controlled environment of temperature, light, humidity etc. along with appropriate medium is a prerequisite for regular, stable fruiting process. Besides environmental factors, recent molecular studies have shown the role of genetic factors that control normal fruiting body production of Cordyceps. Recent progress in our understanding of Cordyceps fruiting in laboratory condition is discussed with some prospect of better fruiting body production of Cordyceps spp. in future.

In the past two decades, European ash trees (Fraxinus spp.) have been severely damaged by ash dieback disease of which causal agent is a fungal species called Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (anamorphic stage Chalara fraxinea). Recent molecular phylogenetic and population genetic studies suggested that this fungus may have been introduced from Eastern Asia to Europe. In the course of fungal biodiversity survey in Korea, H. fraxineus-like apothecia were collected from fallen leaves, rachis and petioles of Korean ash and Manchurian ash trees. The morphological and ecological traits of these materials are provided, supplemented by ITS rDNA sequence comparison of H. fraxineus strains collected from Europe, China and Japan.

Cordyceps species (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) were previously mentioned under dominant genera such as basidiomycetous Clavaria Vaill. ex L. and ascomycetous Sphaeria Haller. Cordyceps Fr. was coined by Fries (1818) from a combination of a Greek word cordyle, meaning a club, and a Latin word caput, meaning a head. Cordyceps was, however, ranked at tribal level under Sphaeria by Fries (1823). Link (1833) later re-elevated Cordyceps to genus level. As a result, there was variation on author citation of Cordyceps in different botanical codes such as Cordyceps (E. M. Fries) Link (1833), Cordyceps E. M. Fries (1818) and Cordyceps Fr. (1824). In 19th and 20th centuries, more and more species were described, with necessity to divide Cordyceps into subgenera, sections and subsections based on morphological similarities. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies, however, showed that Cordyceps is polyphyletic and its members are dispersed in various clades within Hypocreales. As a consequence, Cordyceps was amended in strict sense by Sung et al. (2007) and distantly related clades were named under separate genera. Here, we review recent nomenclatural changes of Cordyceps-related fungi in light of recent changes in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).

Cordyceps sensu lato contains more than 400 entomopathogenic and mycoparasitic species. It was traditionally classified in Clavicipitaceae of Hypocreales and recently phylogenetically separated into several genera such as Cordyceps Fr. 1818 emend. G. H. Sung et al.(Cordycipitaceae Kreisel ex Sung et al.), Elaphocordyceps G. H. Sung & Spatafora and Ophiocordyceps Petch emend. G. H. Sung et al.(Ophiocordycipitaceae G. H. Sung et al.), and Metacordyceps G. H. Sung et al . and Tyrannicordyceps Kepler & Spatafora (Clavicipitaceae (Lindau) Earle ex Rogerson). Some species of Cordyceps sensu lato (e.g., C. militaris and C. pruinosa) are highly regarded as medicinal mushrooms in East Asia. Beauveria species, on the other hand, are widely used as potential biocontrol agents for insects in agriculture and forest due to their wide host range and global distribution. A recently described Beauveria species, Beauveria sungii S.A. Rehner & Humber 2011, is here shown as the anamorph of Cordyceps scarabaeicola Y. Kobayasi 1976 based on the teleomorphic material and phylogenetic analysis of the B.sungii isolate KACC 47482. In Cordyceps sensu stricto clade, Cordyceps Fr. 1818 is an older generic name than Beauveria Vuill. 1912 .Hence ,C. scarabaeicola is suggested to be adopted for B. sungii on the priority basis of both generic name and species epithet in view of the recent revision of Article 59 of the Melbourne Code (recently changed to the ‘International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plant’orICN). Based on one fungus = one name principle, all legitimate Beauveria species are also proposed to be transferred to Cordyceps. The consequences of abandonment of dual nomenclature for pleomorphic fungi are also briefly discussed with reference to Cordyceps and Beauveria.

전통적으로 Cordyceps종은 한국을 포함한 동양에서 건강증진과 심장과 폐에 관련된 질환을 치료하는 약용식물의 하나로 사용되어왔다. 최근에 동충하초의 약리적 가치 때문에 큰번데기 동충하초를 포함한 몇가지 Cordyceps종의 인공재배에 관한 연구가 활발하게 이루어지고 있다. 본 연구에서는 큰번데기 동충하초를 in vitro에서 인공재배한 결과 자실체 형성이 불안정한 것을 관찰하였기에 보고하고자 한다.