Pestalotiopsis revisited

Species of Pestalotiopsis occur commonly as plant pathogens, and represent a fungal group known to produce a wide range of chemically novel, diverse metabolites. In the present study, we investigated 91 Pestalotiopsis isolates from the CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre (CBS) culture collection. The phylogeny of the Amphisphaeriaceae was constructed based on analysis of 28S nrRNA gene (LSU) sequence data, and taxonomic changes are proposed to reflect more natural groupings. We combined morphological and DNA data, and segregated two novel genera from Pestalotiopsis, namely Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis. The three genera are easily distinguishable on the basis of their conidiogenous cells and colour of their median conidial cells. We coupled morphological and combined sequence data of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial ß-tubulin (TUB) and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) gene regions, which revealed 30 clades in Neopestalotiopsis and 43 clades in Pestalotiopsis. Based on these data, 11 new species are introduced in Neopestalotiopsis, 24 in Pestalotiopsis, and two in Pseudopestalotiopsis. Several new combinations are proposed to emend monophyly of Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis

Characterization of Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis and Truncatella species associated with grapevine trunk diseases in France

Pestalotioid fungi associated with grapevine wood diseases in France are regularly found in vine growing regions, and research was conducted to identify these fungi. Many of these taxa are morphologically indistinguishable, but sequence data can resolve the cryptic species in the group. Thirty pestalotioid fungi were isolated from infected grapevines from seven field sites and seven diseased grapevine varieties in France. Analysis of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial β-tubulin (TUB) and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF) sequence data revealed several species of Neopestalotiopsis, Pestalotiopsis and Truncatella associated with the symptoms. Three Neopestalotiopsis spp. and one Pestalotiopsis sp. are reported for the first time associated with wood diseases in grapevine in France and worldwide, and include Neopestalotiopsis asiatica, N. javaensis, Neopestalotiopsis sp. and Pestalotiopsis biciliata. The sequence data indicate that Truncatella angustata was also associated with wood grapevine diseases in France; this species was previously reported on grapevine in Iran.  The importance of controlling Pestalotioid fungi associated with wood grapevine diseases is discussed, which was previously considered of minor importance. These fungi are isolated from plants in nurseries before marketing

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436–1477

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Colletotrichum araujiae on leaves, stems and fruits of Araujia hortorum. Australia, Agaricus pateritonsus on soil, Curvularia fraserae on dying leaf of Bothriochloa insculpta, Curvularia millisiae from yellowing leaf tips of Cyperus aromaticus, Marasmius brunneolorobustus on well-rotted wood, Nigrospora cooperae from necrotic leaf of Heteropogon contortus, Penicillium tealii from the body of a dead spider, Pseudocercospora robertsiorum from leaf spots of Senna tora, Talaromyces atkinsoniae from gills of Marasmius crinis-equi and Zasmidium pearceae from leaf spots of Smilax glyciphylla. Brazil, Preussia bezerrensis from air. Chile, Paraconiothyrium kelleni from the rhizosphere of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. Finland, Inocybe udicola on soil in mixed forest with Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Picea abies and Alnus incana. France, Myrmecridium normannianum on dead culm of unidentified Poaceae. Germany, Vexillomyces fraxinicola from symptomless stem wood of Fraxinus excelsior. India, Diaporthe limoniae on infected fruit of Limonia acidissima, Didymella naikii on leaves of Cajanus cajan, and Fulvifomes mangroviensis on basal trunk of Aegiceras corniculatum. Indonesia, Penicillium ezekielii from Zea mays kernels. Namibia, Neocamarosporium calicoremae and Neocladosporium calicoremae on stems of Calicorema capitata, and Pleiochaeta adenolobi on symptomatic leaves of Adenolobus pechuelii. Netherlands, Chalara pteridii on stems of Pteridium aquilinum, Neomackenziella juncicola (incl. Neomackenziella gen. nov.) and Sporidesmiella junci from dead culms of Juncus effusus. Pakistan, Inocybe longistipitata on soil in a Quercus forest. Poland, Phytophthora viadrina from rhizosphere soil of Quercus robur, and Septoria krystynae on leaf spots of Viscum album. Portugal (Azores), Acrogenospora stellata on dead wood or bark. South Africa, Phyllactinia greyiae on leaves of Greyia sutherlandii and Punctelia anae on bark of Vachellia karroo. Spain, Anteaglonium lusitanicum on decaying wood of Prunus lusitanica subsp. lusitanica, Hawksworthiomyces riparius from fluvial sediments, Lophiostoma carabassense endophytic in roots of Limbarda crithmoides, and Tuber mohedanoi from calcareus soils. Spain (Canary Islands), Mycena laurisilvae on stumps and woody debris. Sweden, Elaphomyces geminus from soil under Quercus robur. Thailand, Lactifluus chiangraiensis on soil under Pinus merkusii, Lactifluus nakhonphanomensis and Xerocomus sisongkhramensis on soil under Dipterocarpus trees. Ukraine, Valsonectria robiniae on dead twigs of Robinia hispida. USA, Spiralomyces americanus (incl. Spiralomyces gen. nov.) from office air. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes

Isolation and identification of pathogenic fungi and oomycetes associated with beans and cowpea root diseases in Oman

The purpose of this study was to characterize fungal and oomycete species associated with root diseases of Phaseolus vulgaris, Vigna unguiculata, V. radiata and Vicia faba in Oman. Root samples were collected from plants suffering from weakened growth and yellowing symptoms. Fungal species were isolated on 2.5% potato dextrose agar amended with 10 mg l−1 rifampicin and 200 mg l−1 of ampicillin and identification was based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA gene (ITS rRNA), glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), translation elongation factor-1 alpha (TEF), beta-tubulin (TUB), calmodulin (CMD), actin (ACT). Isolations yielded 204 fungal isolates belonging to nine different genera, with most isolates belonging to Alternaria and Fusarium. Molecular identification revealed that the isolates belong to 20 fungal species, the most dominant of which was Alternaria alternata. Pathogenicity tests were conducted on each plant species. The inoculations on P. vulgaris revealed that Pythium aphanidermatum induced rotting, damping-off and wilt symptoms while Fusarium equiseti induced yellowing symptoms on the leaves. Rhizoctonia solani produced lesions and root rot on Vigna unguiculata while Curvularia muehlenbeckiae and Curvularia caricae-papayae produced root lesions on the roots of V. unguiculata and V. radiata, respectively. Alternaria alternata produced brown symptoms on the tap root of Vicia faba. P. aphanidermatum resulted in a significant reduction in the fresh weight, dry weight and shoot length of Phaseolus vulgaris. The study shows that several fungal species can be found associated with the roots of beans and Vigna unguiculata in Oman and can result in varying disease symptoms. This is the first report of root lesions produced by Curvularia muehlenbeckiae on the roots of V. unguiculata and by C. caricae-papayae on V. radiata worldwide

WWER-1000 Nuclear reactor simulator for education. Part A': Overview of simulator physico-mathematical model components

A review of phylogenetic studies carried out together with morphological ones shows that a major problem with most early studies is that they concentrated on techniques and used material or strains of fungi that in most cases were not carefully reference, and in a worrying number of cases wrongly named. Most classical species, particularly of microfungi, are not represented by adequate type material, or other authoritatively identified cultures or specimens, that can serve as DNA sources for phylogenetic study, or for developing robust identification systems. Natural classifications of fungi therefore suffer from the lack of reference strains in resultant phylogenetic trees. In some cases, epitypification and neotypification can solve this problem and these tools are increasingly used to resolve taxonomic confusion and stabilize the understanding of species, genera, families, or orders of fungi. This manuscript discusses epitypification and neotypification, describes how to epitypify or neotypify species and examines the importance of this process. A set of guidelines for epitypification is presented. Examples where taxa have been epitypified are presented and the benefits and problems of epitypification are discussed. As examples of epitypification, or to provide reference specimens, a new epitype is designated for Paraphaeosphaeria michotii and reference specimens are provided for Astrosphaeriella stellata, A. bakeriana, Phaeosphaeria elongata, Ophiobolus cirsii, and O. erythrosporus. In this way we demonstrate how to epitypify taxa and its importance, and also illustrate the value of proposing reference specimens if epitypification is not advisable. Although we provided guidelines for epitypification, the decision to epitypify or not lies with the author, who should have experience of the fungus concerned. This responsibility is to be taken seriously, as once a later typification is made, it may not be possible to undo that, particularly in the case of epitypes, without using the lengthy and tedious formal conservation and rejection processes

Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi

Fusarium and allied fusarioid taxa (FUSA). 1

Seven Fusarium species complexes are treated, namely F. aywerte species complex (FASC) (two species), F. buharicum species complex (FBSC) (five species), F. burgessii species complex (FBURSC) (three species), F. camptoceras species complex (FCAMSC) (three species), F. chlamydosporum species complex (FCSC) (eight species), F. citricola species complex (FCCSC) (five species) and the F. concolor species complex (FCOSC) (four species). New species include Fusicolla elongata from soil (Zimbabwe), and Neocosmospora geoasparagicola from soil associated with Asparagus officinalis (Netherlands). New combinations include Neocosmospora akasia, N. awan, N. drepaniformis, N. duplosperma, N. geoasparagicola, N. mekan, N. papillata, N. variasi and N. warna. Newly validated taxa include Longinectria gen. nov., L. lagenoides, L. verticilliforme, Fusicolla gigas and Fusicolla guangxiensis. Furthermore, Fusarium rosicola is reduced to synonymy under N. brevis. Finally, the genome assemblies of Fusarium secorum (CBS 175.32), Microcera coccophila (CBS 310.34), Rectifusarium robinianum (CBS 430.91), Rugonectria rugulosa (CBS 126565), and Thelonectria blattea (CBS 952.68) are also announced her

Fungal diversity notes 1512-1610: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungal taxa

This article is the 14th in the Fungal Diversity Notes series, wherein we report 98 taxa distributed in two phyla, seven classes, 26 orders and 50 families which are described and illustrated. Taxa in this study were collected from Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, French Guiana, India, Indonesia, Italy, Laos, Mexico, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. There are 59 new taxa, 39 new hosts and new geographical distributions with one new combination. The 59 new species comprise Angustimassarina kunmingense, Asterina lopi, Asterina brigadeirensis, Bartalinia bidenticola, Bartalinia caryotae, Buellia pruinocalcarea, Coltricia insularis, Colletotrichum flexuosum, Colletotrichum thasutense, Coniochaeta caraganae, Coniothyrium yuccicola, Dematipyriforma aquatic, Dematipyriforma globispora, Dematipyriforma nilotica, Distoseptispora bambusicola, Fulvifomes jawadhuvensis, Fulvifomes malaiyanurensis, Fulvifomes thiruvannamalaiensis, Fusarium purpurea, Gerronema atrovirens, Gerronema flavum, Gerronema keralense, Gerronema kuruvense, Grammothele taiwanensis, Hongkongmyces changchunensis, Hypoxylon inaequale, Kirschsteiniothelia acutisporum, Kirschsteiniothelia crustaceum, Kirschsteiniothelia extensum, Kirschsteiniothelia septemseptatum, Kirschsteiniothelia spatiosum, Lecanora immersocalcarea, Lepiota subthailandica, Lindgomyces guizhouensis, Marthe asmius pallidoaurantiacus, Marasmius tangerinus, Neovaginatispora mangiferae, Pararamichloridium aquisubtropicum, Pestalotiopsis piraubensis, Phacidium chinaum, Phaeoisaria goiasensis, Phaeoseptum thailandicum, Pleurothecium aquisubtropicum, Pseudocercospora vernoniae, Pyrenophora verruculosa, Rhachomyces cruralis, Rhachomyces hyperommae, Rhachomyces magrinii, Rhachomyces platyprosophi, Rhizomarasmius cunninghamietorum, Skeletocutis cangshanensis, Skeletocutis subchrysella, Sporisorium anadelphiae-leptocomae, Tetraploa dashaoensis, Tomentella exiguelata, Tomentella fuscoaraneosa, Tricholomopsis lechatii, Vaginatispora flavispora and Wetmoreana blastidiocalcarea. The new combination is Torula sundara. The 39 new records on hosts and geographical distribution comprise Apiospora guiyangensis, Aplosporella artocarpi, Ascochyta medicaginicola, Astrocystis bambusicola, Athelia rolfsii, Bambusicola bambusae, Bipolaris luttrellii, Botryosphaeria dothidea, Chlorophyllum squamulosum, Colletotrichum aeschynomenes, Colletotrichum pandanicola, Coprinopsis cinerea, Corylicola italica, Curvularia alcornii, Curvularia senegalensis, Diaporthe foeniculina, Diaporthe longicolla, Diaporthe phaseolorum, Diatrypella quercina, Fusarium brachygibbosum, Helicoma aquaticum, Lepiota metulispora, Lepiota pongduadensis, Lepiota subvenenata, Melanconiella meridionalis, Monotosporella erecta, Nodulosphaeria digitalis, Palmiascoma gregariascomum, Periconia byssoides, Periconia cortaderiae, Pleopunctum ellipsoideum, Psilocybe keralensis, Scedosporium apiospermum, Scedosporium dehoogii, Scedosporium marina, Spegazzinia deightonii, Torula fici, Wiesneriomyces laurinus and Xylaria venosula. All these taxa are supported by morphological and multigene phylogenetic analyses. This article allows the researchers to publish fungal collections which are important for future studies. An updated, accurate and timely report of fungus-host and fungus-geography is important. We also provide an updated list of fungal taxa published in the previous fungal diversity notes. In this list, erroneous taxa and synonyms are marked and corrected accordingly

Fungal Planet description sheets: 1436–1477

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Argentina, Colletotrichum araujiae on leaves, stems and fruits of Araujia hortorum. Australia, Agaricus pateritonsus on soil, Curvularia fraserae on dying leaf of Bothriochloa insculpta, Curvularia millisiae from yellowing leaf tips of Cyperus aromaticus, Marasmius brunneolorobustus on well-rotted wood, Nigrospora cooperae from necrotic leaf of Heteropogon contortus, Penicillium tealii from the body of a dead spider, Pseudocercospora robertsiorum from leaf spots of Senna tora, Talaromyces atkinsoniae from gills of Marasmius crinis-equi and Zasmidium pearceae from leaf spots of Smilax glyciphylla. Brazil, Preussia bezerrensis from air. Chile, Paraconiothyrium kelleni from the rhizosphere of Fragaria chiloensis subsp. chiloensis f. chiloensis. Finland, Inocybe udicola on soil in mixed forest with Betula pendula, Populus tremula, Picea abies and Alnus incana. France, Myrmecridium normannianum on dead culm of unidentified Poaceae. Germany, Vexillomyces fraxinicola from symptomless stem wood of Fraxinus excelsior. India, Diaporthe limoniae on infected fruit of Limonia acidissima, Didymella naikii on leaves of Cajanus cajan, and Fulvifomes mangroviensis on basal trunk of Aegiceras corniculatum. Indonesia, Penicillium ezekielii from Zea mays kernels. Namibia, Neocamarosporium calicoremae and Neocladosporium calicoremae on stems of Calicorema capitata, and Pleiochaeta adenolobi on symptomatic leaves of Adenolobus pechuelii. Netherlands, Chalara pteridii on stems of Pteridium aquilinum, Neomackenziella juncicola (incl. Neomackenziella gen. nov.) and Sporidesmiella junci from dead culms of Juncus effusus. Pakistan, Inocybe longistipitata on soil in a Quercus forest. Poland, Phytophthora viadrina from rhizosphere soil of Quercus robur, and Septoria krystynae on leaf spots of Viscum album. Portugal (Azores), Acrogenospora stellata on dead wood or bark. South Africa, Phyllactinia greyiae on leaves of Greyia sutherlandii and Punctelia anae on bark of Vachellia karroo. Spain, Anteaglonium lusitanicum on decaying wood of Prunus lusitanica subsp. lusitanica, Hawksworthiomyces riparius from fluvial sediments, Lophiostoma carabassense endophytic in roots of Limbarda crithmoides, and Tuber mohedanoi from calcareus soils. Spain (Canary Islands), Mycena laurisilvae on stumps and woody debris. Sweden, Elaphomyces geminus from soil under Quercus robur. Thailand, Lactifluus chiangraiensis on soil under Pinus merkusii, Lactifluus nakhonphanomensis and Xerocomus sisongkhramensis on soil under Dipterocarpus trees. Ukraine, Valsonectria robiniae on dead twigs of Robinia hispida. USA, Spiralomyces americanus (incl. Spiralomyces gen. nov.) from office air. Morphological and culture characteristics are supported by DNA barcodes