Fifty years of marine mycology

Marine fungi have been widely studied over the past millennium and considerable progress has been made in documenting their phylogeny, biodiversity, ultrastructure, ecology, physiology and their ability to cause decay of lignocellulosic compounds. These studies have generated a wealth of publications and this review will focus primarily on research undertaken since 1995. During this period new topics have attracted marine mycologists especially: algicolous and manglicolous fungi, deep sea fungi, planktonic fungi, endophytes of marine plants, and the screening of taxa for new chemical structures and bioactive compounds. This review will also highlight areas that warrant further investigation, including surveys for marine fungi in Africa, artic waters and south America, more detailed studies of their physiology and biochemistry, and to determine the marine origin of so called marine derived fungi.