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Cladosporium halotolerans (DTO 161-D3). A-F. Conidiophores and conidial chains. G-I. Conidial chains. Scale bars = 10 μm.
Source publication
As part of a worldwide survey of the indoor mycobiota about 520 new Cladosporium isolates from indoor environments mainly collected in China, Europe, New Zealand, North America and South Africa were investigated by using a polyphasic approach to determine their species identity. All Cladosporium species occurring in indoor environments are fully de...
Citations
... The Dothideomycetes are represented by the genera Cladosporium, Toxicocladosporium, and Neocamarosporium with significant abundances. Cladosporium halotolerans, the most frequently isolated indoor species [65], was found in the two gypsum caves, and previously in other Spanish caves [17]. Other species of Cladosporium are ubiquitous plant pathogens and were also isolated from caves [17,66]. ...
The Gypsum Karst of Sorbas, Almeria, southeast Spain, includes a few caves whose entrances are open and allow the entry and roosting of numerous bats. Caves are characterized by their diversity of gypsum speleothems, such as stalactites, coralloids, gypsum crusts, etc. Colored biofilms can be observed on the walls of most caves, among which the Covadura and C3 caves were studied. The objective was to determine the influence that bat mycobiomes may have on the fungal communities of biofilms. The results indicate that the fungi retrieved from white and yellow biofilms in Covadura Cave (Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, Basidiomycota) showed a wide diversity, depending on their location, and were highly influenced by the bat population, the guano and the arthropods that thrive in the guano, while C3 Cave was more strongly influenced by soil- and arthropod-related fungi (Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota), due to the absence of roosting bats.
... Airborne fungal identification was performed based on cultural and morphological characteristics. This process involved comprehensive comparisons with established keys from previous studies (Alexopoulos et al. 1996;Barnett and Hunter 1998;Watanabe 2002Watanabe , 2010. Initial identification included assessing macroscopic features, colony appearance, color, growth patterns on plates, as well as colony texture and pigmentation. ...
... Identification was then conducted using taxonomic literature sources (Campbell et al. 2013;Pitt and Hocking 2022;Sciortino 2017;Watanabe 2010;Westblade et al. 2023). Additionally, identification of Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Cladosporium species relied on research studies providing detailed morphological descriptions of fungi, including microscopic and macroscopic features (Nyongesa et al. 2015;Bensch et al. 2018;Schubert et al. 2007;Visagie et al. 2014). ...
This study provided crucial insights into the concentrations of airborne fungi, environmental parameters, and atmospheric pollution in Thailand’s ancient stone temples. Airborne fungi were identified based on morphological characteristics. Airborne fungi, meteorological parameters, and atmospheric pollutants concurrently assessed during each sampling event, evaluating indoor/outdoor ratio. Prevalent genera included Penicillium (14.36%), Aspergillus (10.94%), Cladosporium (10.74%), Rhizopus (6.31%), and Fusarium (5.90%), with an average fungi concentration of 4884.46 ± 724.79 CFU/m³. Eighteen fungal species out of the 64 airborne fungi identified were well-known serious pathogenic agents, contributing not only to structural deterioration but also to human health. Significant variations were observed between indoor and outdoor environments and across diverse landscapes, particularly for PM10 (ranging from 43.47 to 121.31 µg/m³) and PM2.5 (ranging from 29.59 to 89.60 µg/m³), with intensive incense burning identified as a prominent source of indoor atmospheric pollution. Historical temples, particularly situated in urban areas, were identified as significant reservoirs of airborne fungi. Correlations between meteorological parameters and pollutants revealed strong associations. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis elucidated distinct patterns in airborne fungal concentrations and contaminations. This study analyzed environmental factors, pollutants, airborne fungi, and geographical variations from July 2020 to March 2021. Understanding prevalent genera, airborne fungi concentrations, pathogenic species, biodeterioration, and environmental dynamics provided strategies for improving indoor air quality and mitigating airborne fungal contamination in archaeological buildings worldwide.
Graphical Abstract
... After 1-2 weeks, the fungus was sub-cultured to obtain pure cultures. Microscopic examination was conducted to describe the morphological characteristics of the fungal isolate (Bensch et al. 2018). ...
... Morphological identification was carried out by observing the shape and colour of the fungal colonies on PDA media, conidial development and branching patterns of conidial chains, and general morphology and size of conidiophores and conidia (Bensch et al. 2018). The morphological observation was carried out on the fungal-infected whiteflies upon field collection and on the isolated fungus grown on PDA. ...
... The hyphae observed from PDA media were the same as hyphae from field collection ( Figure 4C,D). Based on these morphological characteristics, the fungus that attack the whitefly is predicted as Cladosporium (Bensch et al. 2018;Islam et al. 2019). The similarity of conidiophores and conidia both in shape and size in the genus Cladosporium was so high that it was difficult to distinguish between species. ...
As natural enemies, entomopathogenic fungi are essential for controlling certain plant pests, such as whitefly. Many types of entomopathogenic fungi can infect whiteflies, including those from the genera Aschersonia, Metarhizium, Beauveria, and Cladosporium. Currently, there is great interest in using entomopathogenic fungi as an environmentally friendly pest control in organic and sustainable agricultural systems. This study aimed to identify entomopathogenic fungus associated with whiteflies. Identification of entomopathogenic fungus was performed morphologically and molecularly using DNA barcoding with ITS-1 and ITS-4 as primers, in addition to sequencing and phylogenetic tree analysis. Whiteflies infected with entomopathogenic fungus were discovered on ornamental plants (Premna serratifolia, Ficus religiosa, and Ficus rumphii) in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia from January to March 2023. We found that samples from the field had mycelium that was unbranched or sparingly branched with solitary conidiophores arising terminally from ascending hyphae or laterally from plagiotropous hyphae. Samples from PDA media had ramoconidia with darkened septa, straight and conidia in long branched chains, branching in all directions, conidia were obovoid, ovoid to limoniform. The fungal colonies had the characteristics of being grey-olivaceous, olivaceous-black, and the margins were grey-livaceous to white, gray olivaceous in colony center due to abundant sporulation. In addition, based on the BLAST nucleotide sequence from NCBI GenBank, the insect pathogen phylogenetic tree found in Denpasar, Bali, is in the same clade as Cladosporium dominicanum strain SCAU014, accession number KY827344.1. Based on morphological and molecular analysis the fungus that infects whiteflies on ornamental plants is C. dominicanum.
... Mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, nivalenol, deoxynivalenol and diacetoxyscirpenol can cause skin and eye irritation, gastrointestinal diseases, inflammation, vomiting, liver injury and allergy. Exposure to mould spores are leading cause of sick building symptoms especially when exposed for a long period of time (Sun et al. 2023;Shahidah and Shukri 2017;Chegini et al. 2020;Bensch et al. 2018). Microbial air pollution can be minimised by ensuring the classrooms are well ventilated, proper hygiene activities are carried out and adequate maintenance of air conditioning system. ...
... However, when the immune system is exposed to harmful substances in the environment, it reacts by triggering allergic responses (Sun et al. 2022). Other common health effects associated with exposure to C. dominicanum are ear infection, skin infection and sinus infection (Bensch et al. 2018). ...
Microorganisms are an important aspect of the environment which have significant effects on human health. Children are more vulnerable to the effects of microbial pollutants, pathogens and allergens. Microbial components of indoor air cannot be overemphasized due to its vastness and ubiquitous nature. This is a cross sectional comparative study which analysed microbiome in 10 preschools according to their level of exposure to outdoor air pollutant sources using amplicon sequencing technique. A total of 20 dust samples were collected from indoor and outdoor environment and analysed for the presence of bacteria and fungi. A detailed questionnaire was used to assess the respiratory health status of the respondents. Indoor air quality was assessed by measuring the level of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), temperature, relative humidity, air velocity, and CO2. Exposed area recorded higher level of PM10 and CO2 (p <0.05) while temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were higher in the comparative area (p <0.05). Health symptoms were significantly higher in exposed area for cough, eczema and allergy symptoms (p <0.05). Predominant bacteria species includes Acinetobacter_radioresistens, Acinetobacter_seifertii, Lactobaccillus_iners, Pseudomonas_B_luteola, and Franconibacter_pulveris while predominant fungi species includes Rhodosporidioboluc_fluvialis, Rhodotorula_kratochvilovae, Aspergillus_penicilloides, Aspergillus_gracilis, Curvularia_sorghina, Eupenidiella_venezuelensis, Rhodosporidiobolus_ruineniae, Bipolaris_papendorfii and Curvularia_lunata. Cough symptom was strongly associated with PM10 (AOR =1.27), carpeting (AOR =1.62), Cladosporium dominicanum (AOR =2.12) and Aureobasidium gracilis (AOR =2.04). Eczema was strongly associated with keeping furry pet (AOR =5.46) and Rhodotorula_toruloides (1.02). Allergy was strongly associated with PM10 (AOR =3.23), Megasporoporia_bannaensis (AOR =1.43) and Malassezia_restricta (AOR =2.10). Preschools located close to outdoor air pollutants were more exposed to pollutants and microbiome from indoor and outdoor sources. Health symptoms were significantly associated with air pollutants, therefore proper measures should be implemented to mitigate the exposure to microbiome, infiltration of outdoor air pollutants and health effects on children.
... Various fungi groups, including Aspergillus, Penicillium, Phoma, Alternaria, Cladosporium, and others, can contaminate tobacco leaves from stages like harvesting, processing, transportation, and storage [7]. Especially, Cladosporium species are widely distributed and are prevalent in plants, fungi, and other debris, with conidia of the Cladosporium genus being common constituents in the air [8,9]. Due to their small conidia forming branching chains, they can easily spread over long distances. ...
Aims: Mildew poses a significant threat to tobacco industry. This study focuses on a strain of Cladosporium asperulatum isolated from moldy tobacco leaves to investigate its growth under different temperature and humidity conditions, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for local prevention and control strategies against this fungus. Methodology: Potential fungal strains were obtained from moldy tobacco leaves utilizing isolation techniques and individual colonies were cultured on PDA medium subsequently. Microscopic examination and molecular identification were employed to determine the species of the isolated strains. Isolated strain was initially inoculated with varying spore powder concentrations at water activities of 0.99, 0.95, 0.90, 0.87, 0.83, and 0.77, combined with diverse culture temperatures of 15°C, 20°C, 25°C, 30°C, and 35°C on PDA. The growth of colony area was daily measured by ImageJ software, and spore powder yield was observed after a 7-day incubation period under these specified culture conditions. Results: (1) colony area of isolated C. asperulatum CY-H1 has a rising trend with increasing culture time at consistent temperatures. Sporulation exhibited an initial increase followed by a decrease, yet overall demonstrated an upward trajectory. The maximum value was attained at a water activity of 0.95. Under identical water activity, escalating temperatures initially augmented colony area until reaching a maximum at 25°C. Similarly, spore production displayed an initial increase followed by a decrease, with the highest production occurring at 25°C. (2) Varied concentrations of initial spore suspension influenced colony growth differently. A high concentration (initially 106 spores/mL) exhibited an earlier growth trend compared to medium (105 spores/mL) and low concentrations (104 spores/mL). (3) C. asperulatum CY-H1 did not thrive under the culture conditions of 35°C, irrespective of the initial inoculation concentration and water activity. Conclusion: C. asperulatum assumes a crucial role as a predominant mold in tobacco storage environments. Effective prevention of fungal mildew in stored tobacco leaves is achieved by maintaining temperatures exceeding 35°C and sustaining water activity below 0.77. These findings highlight the significance of environmental conditions in controlling mold growth during tobacco storage.
... However, the isolate C. xanthochromaticum CMAA 1835 demonstrated the ability to cause disease on macadamia in the pre-anthesis and anthesis stages. This species can be found in many different environments and substrates, including plants (Bensch et al. 2018;Sadeghi et al. 2019). In associated with racemes. ...
... C. xanthochromaticum belongs to the C. cladosporioides complex and is closely related to C. angulosum and C. perangustum, forming a basal lineage characterized by the presence of narrow conidia, conidiophores, and slightly rough conidia (Bensch et al. 2018; Sandoval-Denis et al. Fig. 7 Maximum Likelihood tree topology of Cladosporium based on a concatenated multi-locus alignment (ITS + TEF1 + ACT). ...
In Brazil, the cultivation of macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia) has expanded within the nut industry. However, there is a lack of information concerning the primary macadamia diseases under Brazilian conditions, which is crucial to defining management strategies. This study aims to identify the causal agents responsible for macadamia diseases and determine their prevalence based on a 2-year survey in a representative production area in Brazil. Samples were collected from leaves, trunk sections, racemes, and macadamia fruit from November 2019 to September 2021 in Brazil. All associated microorganisms were isolated, and pathogenicity tests were conducted to fulfill Koch’s postulates. For isolates confirmed as pathogenic, morphological characterisation and molecular identification were performed. The diseases observed, along with their respective prevalence, were as follows: leaf spot caused by Neopestalotiopsis (7%), stem canker caused by Lasiodiplodia (28%), Cladosporium blight caused by Cladosporium (72%), and fruit rot caused by Colletotrichum (18%). This study marks the first reporting of the fungi species L. pseudotheobromae, C. xanthochromaticum, and Co. siamense as phytopathogens of macadamia in Brazil. Additionally, it reports C. xanthochromaticum and Co. siamense for the first time as causal agents of Cladosporium blight and fruit rot in macadamia worldwide, respectively.
... Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) were performed for genomic regions of interest for the genus Cladosporium (Bensch et al. 2018) for each sample. The internal transcribed spacer regions and intervening 5.8S rRNA gene (ITS) of the rDNA was amplified with the primer pair ITS-5/ ITS-4 (White et al. 1990), and part of the actin (act) and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) genes were amplified with the primer pairs ACT-512F/ ACT-783R (Carbone & Kohn 1999), and EF1-728F and EF1-986R (Carbone & Kohn 1999), respectively. ...
... 82: 42. 2015 For a detailed description and illustrations, see Bensch et al. (2015Bensch et al. ( , 2018. ...
... The two isolates evaluated here form a subclade within a well-supported superior monophyletic group of C. austrohemisphaericum. The cultural characteristics of these two isolates are similar to those described by Bensch et al. (2015Bensch et al. ( , 2018 but presented some biometric discrepancies to the original description, but these are interpreted here as resulting from the effect of their growth in different media from that used in the original description (SNA). For instance, conidiophores were wider, 2.5-5.5 µm vs. 2.5-3.5 µm than those in the original description and the conidiogenous cells were somewhat shorter, 8.5-34.5 µm long vs. (6-)13-45(-60) µm. ...
... Cladosporium fungi belong to the order Capnodiales in the class Dothideomycete and a member of the dematiaceous hyphomycetes (Dugan et al., 2004;Bensch et al., 2018). Cladosporium is commonly found in plant, fungal, and other organic debris, can be isolated from soil, air, food, paint, textiles, and diverse types of organic materials (Farr et al., 1989;Flannigan, 2001;Mullins, 2001;Sandoval-Denis et al., 2015). ...
... Molecular analysis showed that EF-1α sequence of BF-F had only 88% similarity to C. angulosum (Figure 2). However, morphologically, BF-F produces no soluble pigment when cultured in PDA medium ( Figures 1A,B) and thus differs from C. angulosum as it releases sulfur-yellow pigment into PDA (Bensch et al., 2018). On the basis of sequence homology (99%) and phylogenetic analysis, BF-F is likely a new C. angulosum strain or possibly a new Cladosporium species that is most homologous to C. angulosum. ...
Introduction
Endophytic microorganisms are bacteria or fungi that inhabit plant internal tissues contributing to various biological processes of plants. Some endophytic microbes can promote plant growth, which are known as plant growth-promoting endophytes (PGPEs). There has been an increasing interest in isolation and identification of PGPEs for sustainable production of crops. This study was undertaken to isolate PGPEs from roots of a halophytic species Sesuvium portulacastrum L. and elucidate potential mechanisms underlying the plant growth promoting effect.
Methods
Surface-disinfected seeds of S. portulacastrum were germinated on an in vitro culture medium, and roots of some germinated seedlings were contaminated by bacteria and fungi. From the contamination, an endophytic fungus called BF-F (a fungal strain isolated from bacterial and fungal contamination) was isolated and identified. The genome of BF-F strain was sequenced, its genome structure and function were analyzed using various bioinformatics software. Additionally, the effect of BF-F on plant growth promotion were investigated by gene cluster analyses.
Results
Based on the sequence homology (99%) and phylogenetic analysis, BF-F is likely a new Cladosporium angulosum strain or possibly a new Cladosporium species that is most homologous to C. angulosum . The BF-F significantly promoted the growth of dicot S. portulacastrum and Arabidopsis as well as monocot rice. Whole genome analysis revealed that the BF-F genome has 29,444,740 bp in size with 6,426 annotated genes, including gene clusters associated with the tryptophan synthesis and metabolism pathway, sterol synthesis pathway, and nitrogen metabolism pathway. BF-F produced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) and also induced the expression of plant N uptake related genes.
Discussion
Our results suggest that BF-F is a novel strain of Cladosporium and has potential to be a microbial fertilizer for sustainable production of crop plants. The resulting genomic information will facilitate further investigation of its genetic evolution and its function, particularly mechanisms underlying plant growth promotion.
... The conidiogenous loci and conidial hila in Cladosporium are coronate, meaning they are protuberant with a central convex dome surrounded by a raised periclinal rim. These characteristics distinguish this genus from similar genera [14][15][16][17][18]. Cladosporium is characterised by the formation of various conidia, including ramoconidia, secondary ramoconidia, intercalary conidia and small terminal conidia [19]. ...
... Cladosporium spores are the most common spores found in indoor environments [2,30,31]. Several Cladosporium species have been reported in closed environments and clinical samples [18,32]. Other species of the genus are also found in caves, e.g. C. anthropophilum, C. cavernicola, C. cladosporioides, C. halotolerans, C. pernambucoense, C. puris, C. sphaerospermum, C. subuliforme and C. tenuissimum [5,8]. ...
... The new sequences were compared with sequences of GenBank using the megaBLAST. Sequences of ex-type cultures or reference isolates were obtained from GenBank and included in the phylogenetic analyses for the identification of the isolates following recent papers [8,14,18,20,22,24,46]. ...
Caves are underground and natural environments mainly found in rocky terrain. Caves have a very specific microclimate, which benefits the occurrence of specific fungi. In recent studies, researchers have observed that caves harbour a great diversity of fungi. However, studies on fungal diversity in Brazilian caves are still incipient. In September 2019, airborne spore and soil samples were collected from the Monte Cristo cave, in the Southern Espinhaço Range, Diamantina, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Two Cladosporium single‐spore isolates, among other genera, were obtained from these samples. This study aimed to characterise these two fungal isolates based on their DNA sequence data and morphology. Phylogenetic analyses of the rDNA-ITS, ACT and TEF1-α loci revealed that the isolates belonged to the Cladosporium cladosporioides species complex. Both isolates did not cluster with any known species and were formally described and named herein as C. diamantinense and C. speluncae. This study presents taxonomic novelties and contributes to the knowledge about the fungal diversity in Brazilian caves.
... Our study results are consistent with other results 23,49,[61][62][63] . Out of 772 taxa of Cladosporium, only 170 has recently been recognized as distinct species with C. cladosporioides, C. herbarum, and C. sphaerospermum being considered the three major species complexes 64 . Among them, C. cladosporioides has been found to cause Phaeohyphomycotic dermatitis in giant panda 65 . ...
Exposure to bioaerosols has been associated with the occurrence of a variety of health impacts, including infectious illnesses, acute toxic effects, allergies, and cancer. This study aimed at evaluating airborne bacteria and fungi populations at different indoor and outdoor sites on a college campus in Bengaluru, India. Bioaerosol samples were collected using a two-stage Andersen air sampler; and isolates were identified using standard procedures. Six air samples and meteorological data were collected in March and April 2014 to examine the effects of temperature and relative humidity on bioaerosol concentration using linear regression modeling. Among all sites, the canteen showed the highest bioaerosol levels both indoors and outdoors. Specific bacterial identification was not possible, but gram staining and microscopic analysis helped to identify gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The most prevalent fungal species in the samples were Cladosporium, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Fusarium, Mucor, and Alternaria. Due to the impact of weather conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, the bioaerosol concentration varied greatly at each site according to the regression model. The indoor bioaerosol concentrations at all sites exceeded the values established by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (< 250 CFU/m³ for total fungi and < 500 CFU/m³ for total bacteria). Higher concentrations of bioaerosols may be attributed to the transportation of microbes from the ground surface to suspended particles, the release of microbes from the respiratory tract, higher rate of shredding of human skin cells, and many other factors.
