White‐rot fungi efficiently degrade wood lignin; however, the mechanisms involved remain largely unknown. Recently, a forward genetics approach to identify several genes in Pleurotus ostreatus (Agaricales) in which mutations cause defects in wood lignin degradation was used. For example, pex1 encodes a peroxisome biogenesis factor and gat1 encodes a putative Agaricomycetes ‐specific DNA‐binding transcription factor. In this st...

We examined long‐term charcoal records spanning the glacial–interglacial cycles that are evident in two cores collected from Lake Biwa in central Japan. We found that the records of the two cores have a similar long‐term variation pattern of charcoal concentrations and abundant large charcoal fragments in postglacial sediments, which indicates that frequent fires occurred near the shores of Lake Biwa during the postglacial per...