Fungal Planet description sheets: 154–213

Novel species of microfungi described in the present study include the following from South Africa: Camarosporium aloes, Phaeococcomyces aloes and Phoma aloes from Aloe, C. psoraleae, Diaporthe psoraleae and D. psoraleae-pinnatae from Psoralea, Colletotrichum euphorbiae from Euphorbia, Coniothyrium prosopidis and Peyronellaea prosopidis from Prosopis, Diaporthe cassines from Cassine, D. diospyricola from Diospyros, Diaporthe maytenicola from Maytenus, Harknessia proteae from Protea, Neofusicoccum ursorum and N. cryptoaustrale from Eucalyptus, Ochrocladosporium adansoniae from Adansonia, Pilidium pseudoconcavum from Greyia radlkoferi, Stagonospora pseudopaludosa from Phragmites and Toxicocladosporium ficiniae from Ficinia. Several species were also described from Thailand, namely: Chaetopsina pini and C. pinicola from Pinus spp., Myrmecridium thailandicum from reed litter, Passalora pseudotithoniae from Tithonia, Pallidocercospora ventilago from Ventilago, Pyricularia bothriochloae from Bothriochloa and Sphaerulina rhododendricola from Rhododendron. Novelties from Spain include Cladophialophora multiseptata, Knufia tsunedae and Pleuroascus rectipilus from soil and Cyphellophora catalaunica from river sediments. Species from the USA include Bipolaris drechsleri from Microstegium, Calonectria blephiliae from Blephilia, Kellermania macrospora (epitype) and K. pseudoyuccigena from Yucca. Three new species are described from Mexico, namely Neophaeosphaeria agaves and K. agaves from Agave and Phytophthora ipomoeae from Ipomoea. Other African species include Calonectria mossambicensis from Eucalyptus (Mozambique), Harzia cameroonensis from an unknown creeper (Cameroon), Mastigosporella anisophylleae from Anisophyllea (Zambia) and Teratosphaeria terminaliae from Terminalia (Zimbabwe). Species from Europe include Auxarthron longisporum from forest soil (Portugal), Discosia pseudoartocreas from Tilia (Austria), Paraconiothyrium polonense and P. lycopodinum from Lycopodium (Poland) and Stachybotrys oleronensis from Iris (France). Two species of Chrysosporium are described from Antarctica, namely C. magnasporum and C. oceanitesii. Finally, Licea xanthospora is described from Australia, Hypochnicium huinayensis from Chile and Custingophora blanchettei from Uruguay. Novel genera of Ascomycetes include Neomycosphaerella from Pseudopentameris macrantha (South Africa), and Paramycosphaerella from Brachystegia sp. (Zimbabwe). Novel hyphomycete genera include Pseudocatenomycopsis from Rothmannia (Zambia), Neopseudocercospora from Terminalia (Zambia) and Neodeightoniella from Phragmites (South Africa), while Dimorphiopsis from Brachystegia (Zambia) represents a novel coelomycetous genus. Furthermore, Alanphillipsia is introduced as a new genus in the Botryosphaeriaceae with four species, A. aloes, A. aloeigena and A. aloetica from Aloe spp. and A. euphorbiae from Euphorbia sp. (South Africa). A new combination is also proposed for Brachysporium torulosum (Deightoniella black tip of banana) as Corynespora torulosa. Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa

Preclinical and randomized phase I studies of plitidepsin in adults hospitalized with COVID-19

Plitidepsin, a marine-derived cyclic-peptide, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication at nanomolar concentrations by targeting the host protein eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1A. Here, we show that plitidepsin distributes preferentially to lung over plasma, with similar potency against across several SARS-CoV-2 variants in preclinical studies. Simultaneously, in this randomized, parallel, open-label, proof-of-concept study (NCT04382066) conducted in 10 Spanish hospitals between May and November 2020, 46 adult hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection received either 1.5 mg (n = 15), 2.0 mg (n = 16), or 2.5 mg (n = 15) plitidepsin once daily for 3 d. The primary objective was safety; viral load kinetics, mortality, need for increased respiratory support, and dose selection were secondary end points. One patient withdrew consent before starting procedures; 45 initiated treatment; one withdrew because of hypersensitivity. Two Grade 3 treatment-related adverse events were observed (hypersensitivity and diarrhea). Treatment-related adverse events affecting more than 5% of patients were nausea (42.2%), vomiting (15.6%), and diarrhea (6.7%). Mean viral load reductions from baseline were 1.35, 2.35, 3.25, and 3.85 log10 at days 4, 7, 15, and 31. Nonmechanical invasive ventilation was required in 8 of 44 evaluable patients (16.0%); six patients required intensive care support (13.6%), and three patients (6.7%) died (COVID-19-related). Plitidepsin has a favorable safety profile in patients with COVID-19.This work was supported by grants from the Government of Spain (PIE_INTRAMURAL_ LINEA 1 - 202020E079; PIE_INTRAMURAL_CSIC-202020E043). The research of CBIG consortium (constituted by IRTA-CReSA, BSC, & IrsiCaixa) is supported by Grifols pharmaceutical. We also acknowledge the crowdfunding initiative #Yomecorono (https://www.yomecorono.com). N Izquierdo-Useros has nonrestrictive funding from PharmaMar to study the antiviral effect of Plitidepsin. NJ Krogan was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (P50AI150476, U19AI135990, U19AI135972, R01AI143292, R01AI120694, and P01AI063302); by the Excellence in Research Award (ERA) from the Laboratory for Genomics Research (LGR), a collaboration between the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), University of California, Berkley (UCB), and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (#133122P); by the Roddenberry Foundation, and gifts from QCRG philanthropic donors. This work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under Cooperative Agreement #HR0011-19-2-0020. The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this material are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. This research was partly funded by Center for Research for Influenza Pathogenesis and Transmission (CRIPT), a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) supported Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRS, contract # 75N93021C00014), by DARPA grant HR0011-19-2-0020, by supplements to NIAID grants U19AI142733, U19AI135972, and DoD grant W81XWH-20-1-0270, and by the generous support of the JPB Foundation, the Open Philanthropy Project (research grant 2020-215611 (5384)), and anonymous donors to A García-Sastre. S Yildiz received funding from a Swiss National Foundation Early Postdoc Mobility fellowship (P2GEP3_184202).Peer reviewe

FATTY ACIDS, PHENOLS CONTENT, AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY IN Ibervillea sonorae CALLUS CULTURES

"Ibervillea sonorae callus cultures were established in order to produce fatty acids (lauric, myristic, pentadecanoic, palmitic and stearic acids) and phenolic compounds. Highest callus induction (100%) was obtained in treatments containing 2.32 or 4.65

MICROPROPAGATION OF Buddleja cordata AND THE CONTENT OF VERBASCOSIDE AND TOTAL PHENOLS WITH ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE REGENERATED PLANTLETS

Buddleja cordata is a medicinal plant distributed in Mexican territory that is characterized for producing phenolic compounds possessing antioxidant activity. It was evaluated the type of morphogenetic responses induced by plant growth regulators. Furthermore, the content of verbascoside and total phenols was determined, as well as the antioxidant activity in regenerated plantlets. The greatest shoot proliferation (29.2 shoots per explant) was achieved in the stem-nodes that were grown in a half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium containing 4.44 M N6-benzyladenine. The greatest shoot heights of 4.3 and 4.7 cm (statistically not dierent) were obtained with gibberellic acid at 4.34 and 8.67 M, respectively. The highest percentage of rooting (89.4%) occurred with 2.45-M indole-3-butyric acid with 20.3 roots per shoot and an average root length of 4.4 cm. Of the rooted shoots, 91.7% were able to survive after 30 days of acclimatization. The verbascoside (1.0 mg g1) and total phenols (24.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents g1) content was related to antioxidant activity of the regenerated plantlets. The micropropagation of B. cordata might represent an alternative about massive production and depict the basis of the establishment of commercial crops and genetic studies

MICROPROPAGATION OF Buddleja cordata AND THE CONTENT OF VERBASCOSIDE AND TOTAL PHENOLS WITH ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE REGENERATED PLANTLETS

Buddleja cordata is a medicinal plant distributed in Mexican territory that is characterized for producing phenolic compounds possessing antioxidant activity. It was evaluated the type of morphogenetic responses induced by plant growth regulators. Furthermore, the content of verbascoside and total phenols was determined, as well as the antioxidant activity in regenerated plantlets. The greatest shoot proliferation (29.2 shoots per explant) was achieved in the stem-nodes that were grown in a half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium containing 4.44 M N6-benzyladenine. The greatest shoot heights of 4.3 and 4.7 cm (statistically not dierent) were obtained with gibberellic acid at 4.34 and 8.67 M, respectively. The highest percentage of rooting (89.4%) occurred with 2.45-M indole-3-butyric acid with 20.3 roots per shoot and an average root length of 4.4 cm. Of the rooted shoots, 91.7% were able to survive after 30 days of acclimatization. The verbascoside (1.0 mg g1) and total phenols (24.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents g1) content was related to antioxidant activity of the regenerated plantlets. The micropropagation of B. cordata might represent an alternative about massive production and depict the basis of the establishment of commercial crops and genetic studies

PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS AND PARTHENOLIDE PRODUCTION FROM in vitro CULTURES OF Tanacetum parthenium

Tanacetum parthenium has gained attention for drug development due to its production of bioactive secondary metabolites, such as phenolic compounds (PHEC) and parthenolide (PTN). This work investigated the dierences in the production of those compounds among in vitro cultures (organs from plantlets and roots cultures) of T. parthenium. Results showed that the in vitro cultures produced PHEC and PTN, which depended on the type of culture and the incubation time. The content of secondary metabolites was higher in shoots of plantlets (S-ivPL), followed by root cultures (R-ivC) and roots of plantlets (R-ivPL). The PHEC and PTN production was enhanced in plantlets by applying a combination of plant growth regulators (PGRs: -naphtalenacetic acid [NAA] at 0.27 M with kinetin [KIN] at 2.32 M). The highest content of secondary metabolites (62.54 mg gallic acid equivalents g1; 4.261 and 4.973 mg chlorogenic acid g1; 0.858 and 1.015 mg caeic acid g1; 1.931 mg salicylic acid g1; 0.071 mg PTN g1) was found in the PGRs-treated S-ivPL samples. Also, morphogenesis and growth of plantlets was enhanced by these PGRs

Benthic-pelagic coupling: effects on nematode communities along southern European continental margins

Along a west-to-east axis spanning the Galicia Bank region (Iberian margin) and the Mediterranean basin, a reduction in surface primary productivity and in seafloor flux of particulate organic carbon was mirrored in the in situ organic matter quantity and quality within the underlying deep-sea sediments at different water depths (1200, 1900 and 3000 m). Nematode standing stock (abundance and biomass) and genus and trophic composition were investigated to evaluate downward benthic-pelagic coupling. The longitudinal decline in seafloor particulate organic carbon flux was reflected by a reduction in benthic phytopigment concentrations and nematode standing stock. An exception was the station sampled at the Galicia Bank seamount, where despite the maximal particulate organic carbon flux estimate, we observed reduced pigment levels and nematode standing stock. The strong hydrodynamic forcing at this station was believed to be the main cause of the local decoupling between pelagic and benthic processes. Besides a longitudinal cline in nematode standing stock, we noticed a west-to-east gradient in nematode genus and feeding type composition (owing to an increasing importance of predatory/scavenging nematodes with longitude) governed by potential proxies for food availability (percentage of nitrogen, organic carbon, and total organic matter). Within-station variability in generic composition was elevated in sediments with lower phytopigment concentrations. Standing stock appeared to be regulated by sedimentation rates and benthic environmental variables, whereas genus composition covaried only with benthic environmental variables. The coupling between deep-sea nematode assemblages and surface water processes evidenced in the present study suggests that it is likely that climate change will affect the composition and function of deep-sea nematodes