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New reports of endophytic fungi associated with cherry (Prunus avium) and sour cherry (Prunus cerasus) trees in Iran
Abstract and Figures
Endophytic fungi constitute a remarkable multifarious group of microorganisms live within plants tissues without causing any obvious negative effect. Endophytic fungi have been found in every plant species examined to date. During an investigation on endophytic fungi, 123 fungal isolates were obtained from healthy twigs and leaves of cherry (Prunus avium) and sour cherry (P. cerasus) trees in Iran. The isolates identified based on sequence data of 18S rDNA (SSU) region, as well as morphological and cultural features. As a result, four species namely Coniothyrium olivaceum, Collophora paarla, Sarocladium strictum and Quambalaria cyanescens identified. All these identified species are new reports as endophytic fungi from P. cerasus and P. avium in the world. Among them, Collophora paarla and Quambalaria cyanescens are new taxa for the mycobiota of Iran.
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... Conidia were one-celled with a slimy head and measured 3-6 (4.5)×2-4 (2.4) μm in diameter (Fig. 2D). The morphological and culture characteristics of the isolates were similar to those previously reported for Sarocladium species [6,7]. The isolates FD00214 and FD00215 were cultured in 20 mL potato dextrose broth for 10 days, and DNA from representative isolates was extracted using a Maxwell ® RSC PureFood GMO and Authentication Kit (Promega, Madison, WI, USA). ...
... The phylogeny inferred using the sequence data obtained in this study, together with sequence data from Sarocladium species previously described by Abdollahi and Fotouhifar (2016), placed our isolates together with S. strictum (syn. Acremonium strictum) isolates (Fig. 3). ...
Rice sheath rot causes yield losses of up to 85% in rice-growing areas worldwide. In
September 2023, the disease was detected in rice fields at the National Institute of
Agricultural Sciences in Jeonju, Korea. Two isolates (FD00214 and FD00215) were collected from symptomatic rice sheaths and identified as Sarocladium strictum based on their morphological characteristics and molecular sequencing of two genomic regions: the internal transcribed spacer and actin. Pathogenicity tests confirmed that S. strictum isolates were the causative agents of the disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of rice sheath rot caused by S. strictum in South Korea.
Keywords: Sarocladium strictum, Sheath rot
... Number of fungi per sample 50 2 ...
... Trends Agric. Sci., 3 (1): [38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]2024 awareness levels across the four counties. However, other mitigation measures such as the use of resistant varieties, use of chemicals and crop rotation scored less than 20% across the four counties (Fig. 4). ...
Background and Objective: Mycotoxin contamination in maize and groundnuts has undermined Kenya's health care system for decades. This study aimed to determine the diversity of mycotoxin fungi in maize, groundnut and soils of Western Kenya and farmers' awareness of on-field mycotoxin mitigation measures. Materials and Methods: Infected maize, groundnut and soil samples were collected from Homa Bay, Migori, Siaya and Busia Counties. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect socioeconomic data on mycotoxin awareness and mitigation measures used by farmers. Pure fungal isolates were obtained for diversity assessment on PDA and incubated at 25-27°C. A light microscope at ×400 magnification was used for the morphological identification of spores and mycelia, while species were identified using plant pathology reference books and journals. Results: Thirty-five diverse fungal isolates were obtained from all samples. The genus Aspergillus was the highest in terms of isolation frequency, with 14 diverse pathotypes, followed by Penicillium (8 isolates), Fusarium (4 isolates) and the rest (9 isolates). Busia County had the most diverse number of isolates, while Siaya had the least. Among sample categories, most fungi were obtained from soil samples (30 isolates) while maize and groundnuts recorded 19 and 9 isolates respectively. While 22 isolates were specific to counties, 13 were environmentally non-specific. Farmers in Western Kenya had partial knowledge of best pre-and post-harvest mycotoxin mitigation practices. Conclusion: Mycotoxin-producing fungi were the most dominant fungi in maize, groundnut and soils of Busia, Siaya, Homa Bay and Migori counties of Western Kenya. These fungal species were highly specific to the environments.
... Healthy or asymptomatic shoots and branches have been also studied for endophytic fungi in some Prunus species: Prunus africana (Hook. F.) Kalkman [21], P. avium L. [22,23] and its grafts on different rootstocks [24], P. cerasus L. [22], P. dulcis [25], and P. persica (L.) Batsch. [26,27]. ...
... Healthy or asymptomatic shoots and branches have been also studied for endophytic fungi in some Prunus species: Prunus africana (Hook. F.) Kalkman [21], P. avium L. [22,23] and its grafts on different rootstocks [24], P. cerasus L. [22], P. dulcis [25], and P. persica (L.) Batsch. [26,27]. ...
Prunus mandshurica is a rare species of the Russian Far East; it is cultivated for fruits and as an ornamental tree. The objective was to determine the fungi associated with young shoots of the Manchurian apricot, which is an important biotic factor for plant viability and productivity. Fungi were isolated by incubation of shoot fragments (unsterilized or surface-sterilized) on a growth medium and identified according to their cultural and morphological characteristics. Diaporthe eres and Nothophoma quercina isolates were identified by multilocus phylogenetic analysis (apn2, cal, tef1-α, tub2 for D. eres, and ITS, rpb2, tub2 for N. quercina). In total, 12 species (Alternaria alternata, A. tenuissima, Aureobasidium pullulans, Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. herbarum, D. eres, Epicoccum nigrum, Fusarium graminearum, F. oxysporum, N. quercina, Sarocladium strictum, and Tripospermum myrti) and one genus (Gliocladium sp.) were found. Alternaria alternata, N. quercina, and D. eres were the most frequent species of the shoots. Alternaria tenuissima and F. oxysporum were also frequent in some collections, while all other species were rare or occasional in occurrence. Molecular analysis of D. eres and N. quercina revealed redundancy of some species within the D. eres species complex and the genus Nothophoma. This is the first report on the fungal inhabitants of asymptomatic shoots of P. mandshurica. Nothophoma quercina was identified in Russia for the first time.
... Based on high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, the nitrogen-fixing bacterial community inhabiting Prunus avium L. leaves was described [19] and bacterial diversity of pitted sweet cherries, proceeded high-hydrostatic pressure processing, was evaluated [20]. Endophytic fungi associated with Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus trees located in Germany and Iran were isolated and examined by morphological and molecular analysis [21,22]. Microorganisms present on different cultivars of sour cherries in Hungary were evaluated using cultivation techniques only [18]. ...
... To date, rather scattered information addresses microbial biodiversity on economically important P. cerasus and P. avium berries. Most of the studies are based on cultivation techniques and are focused on the trees-but not berry-associated microbiota [18,21,22]. In the present study, we characterize the composition of fungal communities deposited on sour and sweet cherries, using high-throughput DNA sequencing. ...
Sour cherries (Prunus cerasus L.) and sweet cherries (P. avium L.) are economically important fruits with high potential in the food industry and medicine. In this study, we analyzed fungal communities associated with the carposphere of sour and sweet cherries that were freshly harvested from private plantations and purchased in a food store. Following DNA isolation, a DNA fragment of the ITS2 rRNA gene region of each sample was individually amplified and subjected to high-throughput NGS sequencing. Analysis of 168,933 high-quality reads showed the presence of 690 fungal taxa. Investigation of microbial ASVs diversity revealed plant-dependent and postharvest handling-affected fungal assemblages. Among the microorganisms inhabiting tested berries, potentially beneficial or pathogenic fungi were documented. Numerous cultivable yeasts were isolated from the surface of tested berries and characterized by their antagonistic activity. Some of the isolates, identified as Aureobasidium pullulans, Metschnikowia fructicola, and M. pulcherrima, displayed pronounced activity against potential fungal pathogens and showed attractiveness for disease control.
... Collophorina spp. (mostly as Collophora) have also been reported from necrotic and symptomless wood and leaves of Prunus spp. in Germany, Iran, Slovakia and Spain (Benavides et al. 2013, Ivanová & Bernadovičová 2013, Aghdam & Fotouhifar 2016, Arzanlou et al. 2016, Gierl & Fischer 2017, from necrotic wood of Castanea sativa (Yurkewich et al. 2017), from leaves of forest trees and grapevine in France (Fort et al. 2016) and from roots of Caluna vulgaris and Holcus lanatus in Germany (Kreyling et al. 2012). In addition to plant hosts, there is also one report of Collophorina from an animal, namely from the beak of a hummingbird (Belisle et al. 2012). ...
... With the exception of 'C.' aceris and R. euphorbiae, pathogenicity was confirmed for all previously described collophorina-like species , Olmo et al. 2015, Arzanlou et al. 2016. In contrast, some collophorina-like species have been found in symptomless plant tissue, namely Pallidophorina paarla from Prunus avium and P. cerasus (Aghdam & Fotouhifar 2016), 'C.' aceris from Acer glabrum var. douglasii (Xie et al. 2013) and R. euphorbiae from Euphorbia polycaulis (Nasr et al. 2018), indicating an endophytic lifestyle in at least part of their life cycle. ...
Strains with a yeast-like appearance were frequently collected in two surveys on the biodiversity of fungi in Germany, either associated with necroses in wood of Prunus trees in orchards in Saxony, Lower Saxony and Baden-Württemberg or captured in spore traps mounted on grapevine shoots in a vineyard in Rhineland-Palatinate. The morphology of the strains was reminiscent of the genus Collophorina : all strains produced aseptate conidia on integrated conidiogenous cells directly on hyphae, on discrete phialides, adelophialides and by microcyclic conidiation, while in some strains additionally endoconidia or conidia in conidiomata were observed. Blastn searches with the ITS region placed the strains in the Leotiomycetes close to Collophorina spp. Analyses based on morphological and multi-locus sequence data (LSU, ITS, EF-1α , GAPDH ) revealed that the 152 isolates from wood of Prunus spp. belong to five species including C. paarla , C. africana and three new species. A further ten isolates from spore traps belonged to seven new species, of which one was isolated from Prunus wood as well. However, a comparison with both LSU and ITS sequence data of these collophorina-like species with reference sequences from further Leotiomycetes revealed the genus Collophorina to be polyphyletic and the strains to pertain to several genera within the Phacidiales . Collophorina paarla and C. euphorbiae are transferred to the newly erected genera Pallidophorina and Ramoconidiophora , respectively. The new genera Capturomyces , Variabilispora and Vexillomyces are erected to accommodate five new species isolated from spore traps. In total nine species were recognised as new to science and described as Collophorina badensis , C. germanica , C. neorubra , Capturomyces funiculosus , Ca. luteus , Tympanis inflata , Variabilispora flava , Vexillomyces palatinus and V. verruculosus .
... Carlucci et al. isolated this species from internal wood discoloration of olive trees in Italy [101]. Microsphaeropsis olivacea has also been isolated and reported from some woody plants, such as Prunus cerasus, P. avium [102], and Persian oak (Quercus brantii) [103] in Iran. To our knowledge, this is the first report of M. olivacea on citrus trees. ...
Citrus trees with cankers and dieback symptoms were observed in Bushehr (Bushehr province, Iran). Isolations were made from diseased cankers and branches. Recovered fungal isolates were identified using cultural and morphological characteristics, as well as comparisons of DNA sequence data of the nuclear ribosomal DNA-internal transcribed spacer region, translation elongation factor 1α, β-tubulin, and actin gene regions. Dothiorella viticola, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Neoscytalidium hyalinum, Phaeoacremonium (P.) parasiticum, P. italicum, P. iranianum, P. rubrigenum, P. minimum, P. croatiense, P. fraxinopensylvanicum, Phaeoacremonium sp., Cadophora luteo-olivacea, Biscogniauxia (B.) mediterranea, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. boninense, Peyronellaea (Pa.) pinodella, Stilbocrea (S.) walteri, and several isolates of Phoma, Pestalotiopsis, and Fusarium species were obtained from diseased trees. The pathogenicity tests were conducted by artificial inoculation of excised shoots of healthy acid lime trees (Citrus aurantifolia) under controlled conditions. Lasiodiplodia theobromae was the most virulent and caused the longest lesions within 40 days of inoculation. According to literature reviews, this is the first report of L. theobromae and N. hyalinum on citrus in Iran. Additionally, we report several Phaeoacremonium species, S. walteri, Pa. pinodella and C. luteo-olivacea on citrus trees for the first time in the world.
... In spite of this economic importance, there are only a few studies on the fungal diversity of aboveground woody parts of Prunus trees (e.g. Bernadovičová and Ivanová 2011, Haddadderafshi et al. 2011, Hortová and Novotný 2011, Gramaje et al. 2012, Abdollahi Aghdam and Fotouhifar 2016, 2017. Most of these studies are limited by a small sample size, by a narrow sampling area or by relying solely on morphological features for species identification. ...
Prunus belongs to the economically most important genera of fruit crops in Germany. Although wood pathogens possess the capability to damage the host substantially, the knowledge of the fungal pathogenic community and the mycobiome of Prunus wood in general is low. During a survey in important fruit production areas in Germany, branches with symptoms of fungal infection were sampled in Prunus avium, P. cerasus and P. domestica orchards, and 1018 fungal isolates were obtained primarily from the transition zone of symptomatic to non-symptomatic wood. By a combination of blastn searches and phylogenetic analyses based on ITS and LSU sequences with a strong focus on reliable reference data, a diversity of 172 fungal taxa belonging to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Mucoromycota were differentiated. The majority of the strains belonged to three classes of Ascomycota, namely Sordariomycetes, Leotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes. The dominant species were Aposphaeria corallinolutea (Dothideomycetes) and Pallidophorina paarla (Leotiomycetes) that were isolated more than a hundred times each, while all other taxa were isolated ≤ 30 times. Only part of them could be identified to species level. Because of the high plasticity of species boundaries, the identification certainty was divided into categories based on nucleotide differences to reference sequences. In total, 82 species were identified with high and 20 species with low (cf.) certainty. Moreover, about 70 species could not be assigned to a known species, which reveals Prunus wood to represent a habitat harbouring high numbers of potentially new species, even in a well-explored region like Germany.
... It should be noted that species C. pallida and C. capensis were considered to be two distinct species (Damm et al., 2010), but reevaluation of the Collophorina species based on multigene sequence data showed that C. capensis and C. pallida are synonyms to C. africana and C. paarla, respectively (Gramaje et al., 2012). The majority of Collophorina species, with the exception of the endophytes C. aceris and C. euphorbiae (Nasr et al., 2018;Xie et al., 2013), are associated with dark brown-to-black streaking, black spots and even red stain of the xylem tissues of woody hosts, and can cause wood necrosis (Arzanlou et al., 2016;Gierl & Fischer, 2017;Gramaje et al., 2012;Wijayawardene et al., 2017;Yurkewich, Castaño, & Colinas, 2017 in Iran (Aghdam & Fotouhifar, 2016), and in spore traps attached to peach trees located next to vineyards in Germany (Fischer et al., 2016). The results of the pathogenicity test on detached shoots of wild almond revealed that C. paarla caused wood necrosis on shoots and was one of the most virulent fungi of this study (Table 3; to Alternaria, contains species that are plant pathogens (Vannini & Vettraino, 2000), food spoilers and saprotrophs, but also species that have potential as biocontrol agents and enzyme producers (Andersen & Hollensted, 2008 Figure 6). ...
Wild almond (Amygdalus scoparia) is a dominant shrub species in mountain forests of the Irano‐Turanian region. Dieback and decline symptoms of wild almond shrubs were first observed in Harat protected forest (Yazd, Iran) in the autumn of 2014. Since then, the incidence and severity of the disease have increased. To study the aetiology and estimate losses from the disease, field studies were conducted in 2016 and 2017. For this purpose, eight stands were selected, in which 24%–99% of the trees were wild almond in their species composition. In total, 50 cankers and 50 infected twigs of wild almond shrubs were collected. Fungal isolates were identified based on morphological and cultural characteristics, as well as sequence data of ITS1 + 5.8S + ITS2 rDNA. Pathogenicity of fungi was checked on detached shoots and evaluated after 40 days by measuring the discoloured lesion length at the inoculation site. Among 681 wild almond shrubs checked, 84.44% showed decline symptoms with different severities; only 15.56% did not show observable disease symptoms. The most frequent colonizers of infected tissues taken from cankers were Wilsonomyces carpophilus (56%), Thyrostroma cornicola (40%) and Collophorina paarla (30%). Infected twigs were extensively colonized by W. carpophilus (36%), Th. cornicola (24%) and Ulocladium consortiale (24%). Other species, such as Endoconidioma populi, Microsphaeropsis olivacea, Trichoderma asperellum, Paecilomyces formosus, Saccothecium rubi, Preussia sp. and Chaetomium globosum, had lower isolation frequencies. W. carpophilus, Th. cornicola, C. paarla and U. consortiale were found as pathogens on detached wild almond shoots. Based on the frequency of the isolates and the pathogenicity tests, four fungi, such as W. carpophilus, Th. cornicola, C. paarla and U. consortiale, are considered serious contributing agents playing a significant role in the dieback and decline of wild almond. All isolated species are reported for the first time on the wild almond shrubs of the world.
Paramicrosphaeropsis L.W.Hou, L.Cai & Crous is a monophyletic taxon in Didymellaceae and includes two species to date. In a survey on microsphaeropsis-like fungi associated with Zagrosian forest trees in Iran, four new Paramicrosphaeropsis species were identified and described including P. amygdalus M.Mehrabi-Koushki, S.Artand, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., sp. nov. from Amygdalus scoparia Spach., P. pistacicola M.Mehrabi-Koushki, S.Artand, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., sp. nov. from Pistacia spp., P. salandica M.Mehrabi-Koushki, S.Artand, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., sp. nov. from Crataegus sp., Nerium oleander L., Quercus brantii Lindl. and Ziziphus sp., and P. zagrosensis M.Mehrabi-Koushki, S.Artand, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., sp. nov. from Crataegus sp. and Quercus brantii. Phylogenetic
analyses based on a combination of four genomic regions, including the partial nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA (LSU), internal transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 including the intervening 5.8S nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS), partial β-tubulin (tub2) and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2), are provided to clarify the phylogenetic affinities of the new species and other taxa within the Microsphaeropsis complex. In addition, a new genus Heteromicrosphaeropsis M.Mehrabi-Koushki, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., gen. nov. and five new combinations are introduced. The new combinations are Heteromicrosphaeropsis ononidicola (Thambug., Camporesi & K.D.Hyde) M.Mehrabi-Koushki, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., comb. nov., Microsphaeropsis cytisi (W.J.Li & K.D.Hyde) M.Mehrabi-Koushki,
K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., comb. nov., M. cytisicola (Wanas., Camporesi, E.B.G.Jones & K.D.Hyde) M.Mehrabi-Koushki, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., comb. nov., M. cytisinus (Tennakoon, Camporesi & K.D.Hyde) M.Mehrabi-Koushki, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., comb. nov. and M. minima (W.J.Li & K.D.Hyde) M.Mehrabi-Koushki, K.D.Hyde & Jayaward., comb. nov.
Endophytic fungi are symptomless internal inhabits of plant tissues. They are implicated in the production of antibiotic and other compounds of therapeutic importance. Ecologically they provide several benefits to plants, including protection from plant pathogens. There have been numerous studies on the biodiversity and ecology of endophytic fungi. Some taxa dominate and occur frequently when compared to others due to adaptations or capabilities to produce different primary and secondary metabolites. It is therefore of interest to examine different fungal species and major taxonomic groups to which these fungi belong for bioactive compound production. In the present paper a list of endophytes based on the available literature is reported. More than 800 genera have been reported worldwide. Dominant genera are Alternaria, Aspergillus, Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Phoma. Most endophyte studies have been on angiosperms followed by gymnosperms. Among the different substrates, leaf endophytes have been studied and analyzed in more detail when compared to other parts. Most investigations are from Asian countries such as China, India, European countries such as Germany, Spain and the UK in addition to major contributions from Brazil and the USA.
We present the latest version of the Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA) software, which contains many sophisticated
methods and tools for phylogenomics and phylomedicine. In this major upgrade, MEGA has been optimized for use on 64-bit computing
systems for analyzing bigger datasets. Researchers can now explore and analyze tens of thousands of sequences in MEGA. The
new version also provides an advanced wizard for building timetrees and includes a new functionality to automatically predict
gene duplication events in gene family trees. The 64-bit MEGA is made available in two interfaces: graphical and command line.
The graphical user interface (GUI) is a native Microsoft Windows application that can also be used on Mac OSX. The command
line MEGA is available as native applications for Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX. They are intended for use in high-throughput
and scripted analysis. Both versions are available from www.megasoftware.net free of charge.
Camelthorn (Alhagi maurorum) is an importunate weed in
cultivated fields and fallow lands in Iran. A disease at high
severity level (69%) was observed on A. maurorum grown in
arid area in Kermanshah province in September 2015. The
disease was characterized by irregular brown lesions on the
spines and profuse black pycnidia on aerially plant tissues. A
Microsphaeropsis sp. was isolated from the lesions. The fungus
was grown on oat meal agar (OA) at 24˚C for seven days.
Colonies of single-spore isolates were greenish brown with
white aerial hyphae, had semi-immersed pycnidia in agar.
Microscopic examination revealed that conidia were solitary,
initially hyaline, becoming pale brown, 1-2-guttulate, ellipsoidal
to subcylindrical with obtuse ends, straight to slightly
curved, 0(-1) septate, (5-) 6-7 (-10.5) × 4-4.5 μm. The rDNA
ITS was sequenced (GenBank accession No. KX171366) and
found identical (99%) to sequences of Microsphaeropsis olivacea
isolates. Pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed by
inoculating the healthy pinpricked spines with spore suspension
(106 conidia/ml) or spraying with sterile distilled water
as a control. Typical symptoms were produced on the inoculated
spines after ten days. The pathogen was re-isolated
from the infected spines while the controls remained symptomless.
M. olivacea has been previously reported from Pirus
laricio, and Sarothamnus sp. in Europe (Chen et al., 2015).
To our knowledge, this is the first record of M. olivacea as a
causal agent of A. maurorum in Iran and worldwide, and may
have a potential for biocontrol of the weed.
Some fungal species were isolated from scab or scab-like symptoms on leaves of various plant hosts in Iran. Some of them isolated from apple and pear leaves were investigated in the present study. The isolates were identified based on the morphological and cultural characteristics. On the other hand, for molecular identification and phylogenetic analyses were carried out based on the sequence of ITS-rDNA region (including 5.8S rDNA). As a result, six species, namely Acremonium fusidioides, Acrostalagmus luteoalbus, Clonostachys rosea, Sarocladium kiliense, Sarocladium strictum and Endoconidioma populi were identified. Among them, Acremonium fusidioides is a new taxon for the mycobiota of Iran.
The Rafflesia flower is the largest single flower in the world, a parasitic flowering plant found only in Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. This study was undertaken to isolate, identify and evaluate antimicrobial activity of endophytic fungi from Rafflesia cantleyi, a Malaysian endemic species. Different parts of the flower and bud collected in Perak, Malaysia, were surface sterilized and plated onto potato dextrose agar. Fungal isolates recovered were cultured in potato dextrose broth for antimicrobial activity screening and solvent extraction. Fungal 5.8S gene and flanking internal transcribed spacer regions of rDNA were sequenced for construction of phylogenetic trees. Eight endophytic strains obtained from R. cantleyi were categorized as seven morphotypes. Three isolates inhibited the growth of Candida albicans with IC50 values of 3.5-8.2 mu g/ml for crude fungal extracts. Based on morphological study, the endophytes were identified as belonging to Colletotrichum, Cytospora and Gliocladiopsis. Phylogenetic analysis of fungal rDNA internal transcribed spacer sequences confirmed the three active isolates were Colletotrichum siamense, Colletotrichum sp. and Cytospora sp. while other isolates were identified as Colletotrichum siamense, Colletotrichum sp. and Gliocladiopsis sp. Endophytic fungi isolated from Rafflesia cantleyi produce bioactive metabolites which may contribute to the plant's medicinal properties.
Peritonitis is the leading complication of peritoneal dialysis, which is primarily caused by bacteria rather than fungi. Peritonitis is responsible for approximately 18% of the infection-related mortality in peritoneal dialysis patients. In this paper, we report the isolation of a rare fungus, Quambalaria cyanescens, from the peritoneal fluid of a man after he switched from continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis to nocturnal intermittent peritoneal dialysis. Based on the morphological examination and multigene phylogeny, the clinical isolate was confirmed as Q. cyanescens. This pathogen exhibited low sensitivity to all tested echinocandins and 5-flucytosine. Interestingly, morphological characterization revealed that Q. cyanescens UM 1095 produced different pigments at low temperatures (25°C and 30°C) on various culture media. It is important to monitor the emergence of this rare fungus as a potential human pathogen in the tropics. This study provides insight into Q. cyanescens UM 1095 phenotype profiles using a Biolog phenotypic microarray (PM). Of the 760 nutrient sources tested, Q. cyanescens UM 1095 utilized 42 compounds, and the fungus can adapt to a broad range of osmotic and acidic environments. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of Q. cyanescens from peritoneal fluid, revealing this rare fungus as a potential human pathogen that may be misidentified using conventional methods. The detailed morphological, molecular and phenotypic characterization of Q. cyanescens UM 1095 provides the basis for future studies on its biology, lifestyle, and potential pathogenicity.
The subphylum Ustilaginomycotina (Basidiomycota, Fungi) comprises mainly plant pathogenic fungi (smuts). Some of the lineages possess cultivable unicellular stages that are usually classified as yeast or yeast-like species in a largely artificial taxonomic system which is independent from and largely incompatible with that of the smut fungi. Here we performed phylogenetic analyses based on seven genes including three nuclear ribosomal RNA genes and four protein coding genes to address the molecular phylogeny of the ustilaginomycetous yeast species and their filamentous counterparts. Taxonomic revisions were proposed to reflect this phylogeny and to implement the ‘One Fungus = One Name’ principle. The results confirmed that the yeast-containing classes Malasseziomycetes, Moniliellomycetes and Ustilaginomycetes are monophyletic, whereas Exobasidiomycetes in the current sense remains paraphyletic. Four new genera, namely Dirkmeia gen. nov., Kalmanozyma gen. nov., Golubevia gen. nov. and Robbauera gen. nov. are proposed to accommodate Pseudozyma and Tilletiopsis species that are distinct from the other smut taxa and belong to clades that are separate from those containing type species of the hitherto described genera. Accordingly, new orders Golubeviales ord. nov. with Golubeviaceae fam. nov. and Robbauerales ord. nov. with Robbaueraceae fam. nov. are proposed to accommodate the sisterhood of Golubevia gen. nov. and Robbauera gen. nov. with other orders of Exobasidiomycetes. The majority of the remaining anamorphic yeast species are transferred to corresponding teleomorphic genera based on strongly supported phylogenetic affinities, resulting in the proposal of 28 new combinations. The taxonomic status of a few Pseudozyma species remains to be determined because of their uncertain phylogenetic positions. We propose to use the term pro tempore or pro tem. in abbreviation to indicate the single-species lineages that are temporarily maintained.
The Didymellaceae was established in 2009 to accommodate Ascochyta, Didymella and Phoma, as well as several related phoma-like genera. The family contains numerous plant pathogenic, saprobic and endophytic species associated with a wide range of hosts. Ascochyta and Phoma are morphologically difficult to distinguish, and species from both genera have in the past been linked to Didymella sexual morphs. The aim of the present study was to clarify the generic delimitation in Didymellaceae by combing multi-locus phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU, rpb2 and tub2, and morphological observations. The resulting phylogenetic tree revealed 17 well-supported monophyletic clades in Didymellaceae, leading to the introduction of nine genera, three species, two nomina nova and 84 combinations. Furthermore, 11 epitypes and seven neotypes were designated to help stabilise the taxonomy and use of names. As a result of these data, Ascochyta, Didymella and Phoma were delineated as three distinct genera, and the generic circumscriptions of Ascochyta, Didymella, Epicoccum and Phoma emended. Furthermore, the genus Microsphaeropsis, which is morphologically distinct from the members of Didymellaceae, grouped basal to the Didymellaceae, for which a new family Microsphaeropsidaceae was introduced.
The circumscription of the genus Acremonium (Hypocreales) was recently reviewed on the basis of a DNA phylogenetic study. Several species were subsequently transferred to Sarocladium, but the relationships between both genera remained unresolved. Based on multilocus
phylogenetic inferences combined with phenotypic data, we have revised the species concepts within Sarocladium and some genetically related species of Acremonium. As a result of these studies, six species are described as new, viz. S. bifurcatum, S. gamsii, S.
hominis, S. pseudostrictum, S. subulatum and S. summerbellii. In addition, the new combinations S. implicatum and S. terricola are proposed for A. implicatum and A. terricola, respectively. Sarocladium attenuatum is confirmed as synonym
of the type species of the genus, S. oryzae. An epitype and neotype are also introduced for S. oryzae and S. implicatum, respectively. Although Sarocladium species have traditionally been considered as important phytopathogens, the genus also contains opportunistic
human pathogens. This study extends the spectrum of clinical species that could be diagnosed as causal agents of human infections.
Molecular diversity surveys have demonstrated that aquatic fungi are highly diverse, and that they play fundamental ecological roles in aquatic systems. Unfortunately, comparative studies of aquatic fungal communities are few and far between, due to the scarcity of adequate datasets. We combined all publicly available fungal 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences with new sequence data from a marine fungi culture collection. We further enriched this dataset by adding validated contextual data. Specifically, we included data on the habitat type of the samples assigning fungal taxa to ten different habitat categories. This dataset has been created with the intention to serve as a valuable reference dataset for aquatic fungi including a phylogenetic reference tree. The combined data enabled us to infer fungal community patterns in aquatic systems. Pairwise habitat comparisons showed significant phylogenetic differences, indicating that habitat strongly affects fungal community structure. Fungal taxonomic composition differed considerably even on phylum and class level. Freshwater fungal assemblage was most different from all other habitat types and was dominated by basal fungal lineages. For most communities, phylogenetic signals indicated clustering of sequences suggesting that environmental factors were the main drivers of fungal community structure, rather than species competition. Thus, the diversification process of aquatic fungi must be highly clade specific in some cases.The combined data enabled us to infer fungal community patterns in aquatic systems. Pairwise habitat comparisons showed significant phylogenetic differences, indicating that habitat strongly affects fungal community structure. Fungal taxonomic composition differed considerably even on phylum and class level. Freshwater fungal assemblage was most different from all other habitat types and was dominated by basal fungal lineages. For most communities, phylogenetic signals indicated clustering of sequences suggesting that environmental factors were the main drivers of fungal community structure, rather than species competition. Thus, the diversification process of aquatic fungi must be highly clade specific in some cases.