Pseudovirgaria, a fungicolous hyphomycete genus

The genus Pseudovirgaria, based on P. hyperparasitica, was recently introduced for a mycoparasite of rust sori of various species of Frommeëlla, Pucciniastrum and Phragmidium in Korea. In the present study, an older name introduced by Saccardo based on European material, Rhinotrichum griseum, is shown to resemble P. hyperparasitica. Morphological study and ITS barcodes from fresh collections of R. griseum from Austria on uredinia and telia of Phragmidium bulbosum on Rubus spp. reveal that it is distinct from P. hyperparasitica. The status of the genus Rhinotrichum, introduced for a fungus occurring on dry wood, remains unclear. Pseudovirgaria grisea comb. nov. is therefore proposed for the mycoparasite occurring on rust fungi in Europe, and an epitype is designated from the recent collections

Cercosporoid leaf pathogens from whorled milkweed and spineless safflower in California

Two cercosporoid species are respectively described from Mexican whorled milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis), and spineless safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) from California. Passalora californica represents a new pathogen on Asclepias fascicularis, while Ramularia cynarae is confirmed on Carthamus tinctorius and Cynara cardunculus (Asteraceae), and an epitype designated. Pathogenicity is also established for both pathogens based on Koch’s postulate

Biodiversity, evolution and adaptation of fungi in extreme environments

Fungi play irreplaceable roles for ecosystem functioning. They may adopt different lifestyles, for example saprotrophs, symbionts or parasites: some species are cosmopolitan with a wide distribution and others, thanks to their ecological plasticity, may adapt to harsh environments precluded to most of life forms. In stressing conditions, their role is even more crucial for the recycling of organic matter or favoring nutrients uptake. When the conditions become really extreme and competition is low, fungi focus on extremotolerance and evolve peculiar competences to exploit natural or xenobiotic resources in the particular constrains imposed by the environment. This paper focuses on three different cases of fungal life in the extremes: hydrocarbon-polluted sites, extremely acidic substrates, and littoral dunes, aiming to give few but significant examples of the role of these fascinating organisms in peculiar habitats and the valuable biotechnological potentialities of the abilities they have evolved in response to such constrains

Actinomadura meyerae osteitis following wound contamination with hay in a woman in France: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Mycetoma is a chronic granulomatous infection caused by environmental fungi or bacteria. It affects dermal and subcutaneous tissues, with putative contiguous extension to muscles or bones. While common in tropical and subtropical areas, mycetoma is rare in Europe.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe a case of <it>Actinomadura meyerae </it>osteitis in a 49-year-old Caucasian woman who suffered a tibia open fracture contaminated with hay; to the best of our knowledge the first case of autochthonous <it>A. meyerae </it>infection reported in France. The bacterium was cultivated from a bone biopsy. Following surgical osteosynthesis and six months of treatment with cotrimoxazole, our patient made a full recovery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our case report suggests that <it>A. meyerae </it>is a potential agent of wound infection in farm workers in contact with hay.</p

Mould Routine Identification in the Clinical Laboratory by Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

BACKGROUND: MALDI-TOF MS recently emerged as a valuable identification tool for bacteria and yeasts and revolutionized the daily clinical laboratory routine. But it has not been established for routine mould identification. This study aimed to validate a standardized procedure for MALDI-TOF MS-based mould identification in clinical laboratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, pre-extraction and extraction procedures were optimized. With this standardized procedure, a 143 mould strains reference spectra library was built. Then, the mould isolates cultured from sequential clinical samples were prospectively subjected to this MALDI-TOF MS based-identification assay. MALDI-TOF MS-based identification was considered correct if it was concordant with the phenotypic identification; otherwise, the gold standard was DNA sequence comparison-based identification. RESULTS: The optimized procedure comprised a culture on sabouraud-gentamicin-chloramphenicol agar followed by a chemical extraction of the fungal colonies with formic acid and acetonitril. The identification was done using a reference database built with references from at least four culture replicates. For five months, 197 clinical isolates were analyzed; 20 were excluded because they were not identified at the species level. MALDI-TOF MS-based approach correctly identified 87% (154/177) of the isolates analyzed in a routine clinical laboratory activity. It failed in 12% (21/177), whose species were not represented in the reference library. MALDI-TOF MS-based identification was correct in 154 out of the remaining 156 isolates. One Beauveria bassiana was not identified and one Rhizopus oryzae was misidentified as Mucor circinelloides. CONCLUSIONS: This work's seminal finding is that a standardized procedure can also be used for MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of a wide array of clinically relevant mould species. It thus makes it possible to identify moulds in the routine clinical laboratory setting and opens new avenues for the development of an integrated MALDI-TOF MS-based solution for the identification of any clinically relevant microorganism

Antibiofillm activity of propolis extract on Fusarium species from onychomycosis

Aim: The present study evaluated the capacity of three species of Fusarium isolated from onychomycosis to form bio lms and the antibio lm effect of propolis extract on these bio lms. Materials & methods: The bio lms and antibio lm effects were evaluated by quantifying the colony-forming units, mitochondrial metabolic activity assays, total biomass by crystal violet staining and scanning electron microscopy. Results: Propolis extract demonstrated signi cant antibio lm ef ciency on Fusarium spp. isolates and reduced F. solani, F. oxysporum and F. subglutinans mature bio lms. Conclusion: Propolis extract can be an alternative topical treatment of onychomycosis caused by Fusarium spp.This study was supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico(CNPq) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Molecular phylogenetic studies on the lichenicolous Xanthoriicola physciae reveal Antarctic rock-inhabiting fungi and Piedraia species among closest relatives in the Teratosphaeriaceae

The phylogenetic placement of the monotypic dematiaceous hyphomycete genus Xanthoriicola was investigated. Sequences of the nLSU region were obtained from 11 specimens of X. physciae, which formed a single clade supported both by parsimony (91 %), and maximum likelihood (100 %) bootstraps, and Bayesian Posterior Probabilities (1.0). The closest relatives in the parsimony analysis were species of Piedraria, while in the Bayesian analysis they were those of Friedmanniomyces. These three genera, along with species of Elasticomyces, Recurvomyces, Teratosphaeria, and sequences from unnamed rock-inhabiting fungi (RIF), were all members of the same major clade within Capnodiales with strong support in both analyses, and for which the family name Teratosphaeriaceae can be used pending further studies on additional taxa

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Madurella mycetomatis Confirms Its Taxonomic Position within the Order Sordariales

Background: Madurella mycetomatis is the most common cause of human eumycetoma. The genus Madurella has been characterized by overall sterility on mycological media. Due to this sterility and the absence of other reliable morphological and ultrastructural characters, the taxonomic classification of Madurella has long been a challenge. Mitochondria are of monophyletic origin and mitochondrial genomes have been proven to be useful in phylogenetic analyses. Results: The first complete mitochondrial DNA genome of a mycetoma-causative agent was sequenced using 454 sequencing. The mitochondrial genome of M. mycetomatis is a circular DNA molecule with a size of 45,590 bp, encoding for the small and the large subunit rRNAs, 27 tRNAs, 11 genes encoding subunits of respiratory chain complexes, 2 ATP synthase subunits, 5 hypothetical proteins, 6 intronic proteins including the ribosomal protein rps3. In phylogenetic analyses using amino acid sequences of the proteins involved in respiratory chain complexes and the 2 ATP synthases it appeared that M. mycetomatis clustered together with members of the order Sordariales and that it was most closely related to Chaetomium thermophilum. Analyses of the gene order showed that within the order Sordariales a similar gene order is found. Furthermore also the tRNA order seemed mostly conserved. Conclusion: Phylogenetic analyses of fungal mitochondrial genomes confirmed that M. mycetomatis belongs to the order of Sordariales and that it was most closely related to Chaetomium thermophilum, with which it also shared a comparable gene and tRNA order

What is Scirrhia?

The ascomycetous genus Scirrhia is presently treated as a member of Dothideomycetidae, though uncertainty remains as to which family it belongs in Capnodiales, Ascomycota. Recent collections on stems of a fern, Pteridium aquilinum (Dennstaedtiaceae) in Brazil, led to the discovery of a new species of Scirrhia, described here as S. brasiliensis. Based on DNA sequence data of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (LSU), Scirrhia is revealed to represent a member of Dothideomycetes, Capnodiales, Mycosphaerellaceae. Scirrhia is the first confirmed genus in Mycosphaerellaceae to have well developed pseudoparaphyses and a prominent hypostroma in which ascomata are arranged in parallel rows. Given the extremely slow growth rate and difficulty in obtaining cultures of S. brasiliensis on various growth media, it appears that Scirrhia represents a genus of potentially obligate plant pathogens within Mycosphaerellaceae