Assessment of the pathogenicity of marine Cladosporium spp. towards mangroves

Abstract

Summary Mangroves play an important role in coastal ecosystems. In this work, Cladosporium spp were isolated from a natural mangrove environment in Zhanjiang Bay, Guangdong Province, China. Ninety‐one isolates were obtained and identified as Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. colocasiae, C. oxysporum, C. perangustum, C. sphaerospermum, C. tenuissimum and C. uredinicola. Forty‐two isolates were selected and tested for pathogenicity towards mangroves. The results showed that pathogenic isolates were found on Avicennia marina, Kandelia candel and Rhizophora stylosa with prevalence of 93.40%, 83.52% and 7.41%, respectively. This indicated that A. marina and K. candel were more vulnerable to Cladosporium ssp. than R. stylosa. Among the seven species, C. colocasiae had the strongest pathogenic effect towards A. marina and K. candel with a prevalence of 100.00%. The rest of the seven species also showed pathogenic effects on the same plants. These results provided valuable insights into the effect of various pathogens on mangroves.

The culturable mycobiota associated with three Atlantic sponges, including two new species: Thelebolus balaustiformis and T. spongiae

“…Fusarium solani and Metschnikowia bicuspidata are a threat for shrimp and prawn aquaculture (Baker et al 2009, Hatai et al 2012; both species have already been reported in apparently healthy sponges (Baker et al 2009, Paz et al 2010, Bolaños et al 2015. Concerning plants, Cladosporium perangustum (isolated from marine water) showed pathogenic activity against mangrove leaves under laboratory conditions (Liu et al 2016). These fungi are probably opportunistic pathogens, not properly able to affect healthy organisms, like the sponges of the present studies; however, further studies will be necessary to better understand their ecological role.…”