<i>Penicillium excelsum sp. nov </i>from the Brazil Nut Tree Ecosystem in the Amazon Basin'

A new Penicillium species, P. excelsum, is described here using morphological characters, extrolite and partial sequence data from the ITS, β-tubulin and calmodulin genes. It was isolated repeatedly using samples of nut shells and flowers from the brazil nut tree, Bertolletia excelsa, as well as bees and ants from the tree ecosystem in the Amazon rainforest. The species produces andrastin A, curvulic acid, penicillic acid and xanthoepocin, and has unique partial β-tubulin and calmodulin gene sequences. The holotype of P. excelsum is CCT 7772, while ITAL 7572 and IBT 31516 are cultures derived from the holotype

Penicillium excelsum.

<p>Colonies after 7 days at 25°C on (a) Czapek yeast extract agar; (b) malt extract agar; (c–f) penicilli, bar = 20 μm; (g) conidia, bar = 5 μm.</p

Maximum-likelihood tree reconstructed from the partial β-tubulin (<i>BenA</i>) gene sequences aligned with corresponding sequences of <i>Penicillium</i> section <i>Lanata-Divaricata</i> deposited in public databases.

<p>Numbers at branch nodes refer to bootstrap values (1,000 replicates), only values of >70% are shown.</p

Neighbour joining tree reconstructed from the partial β-tubulin (<i>BenA</i>) gene sequences aligned with corresponding sequences of <i>Penicillium</i> section <i>Lanata-Divaricata</i> deposited in public databases.

<p>Numbers at branch nodes refer to bootstrap values (1000 replicates), only values of >70% are shown.</p

Plate of Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA) with <i>Penicillium excelsum</i>, opaqueness of petri dish lid after 7 days of incubation at 25°C.

<p>Plate of Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA) with <i>Penicillium excelsum</i>, opaqueness of petri dish lid after 7 days of incubation at 25°C.</p