Knufia aspidiotus sp. nov., a new black yeast from scale insects

Abstract

Three ascomycetes, isolated from the body cavity of the scale insect, Aspidiotus sp., collected in Song Mountain, Yanqing, Beijing, China, were identified to be a new species of Knufia. Knufia aspidiotus sp. nov. is introduced in this paper. The species is characterized by slow-growing, dematiaceous and blastic, endogenous conidia in undifferentiated hyphae, as well as darkly pigmented, enlarged multicellular bodies, and is similar to other Knufia species in morphology. Phylogenetic analyses, based on the small ribosomal subunit (SSU) gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, indicated that Knufia aspidiotus was related to, but clearly distant from other sequenced species in Knufia.

Sooty molds from the Jurassic of Patagonia, Argentina

“…As mentioned before, both Morphotypes 1 and 2 are characterized by epiphyllous subicula composed of moniliform hyphae that taper toward the distal ends; hyphae are composed of opaque globose to subglobose cells with walls that are deeply constricted at the septa. This combination of vegetative characters is shared within extant capnodialean sooty molds (Dothideomycetes; Hughes, 1972, 1976; Hyde et al, 2013; Chomnunti et al, 2014), but also with taxa from the Chaetothyriales (Eurotiomycetes; Hughes, 1976; Chomnunti et al, 2012; He et al, 2013; Chomnunti et al, 2014). There are very few differences in the organization of the mycelium and the morphology of the hyphae between the families of these two orders (see Hughes, 1972, 1976; Hughes and Seifert, 2012; Chomnunti et al, 2014).…”

“…Moreover, morphological features of sooty molds are also present in phylogenetically distant taxa, placed within the Chaetothyriales (He et al, 2013; Chomnunti et al, 2014). For instance, species of the genus Knufia also display melanized distally tapering moniliform hyphae branching at a right angle, produce aseptate to multiseptate blastic conidia, and moniliform hyphae dissociate into smaller dispersal units (He et al, 2013). These features are also present in closely related genera from the Chaetothyriaceae (e.g., Coniosporium, Sarcinomyces ; Tsuneda et al, 2011).…”

“…More recently, phylogenetic analyses exclusively based on molecular data have recovered Capnobotryella nested within Teratosphaeriaceae, also in the Order Capnodiales (Crous et al, 2007(Crous et al, , 2009. Moreover, morphological features of sooty molds are also present in phylogenetically distant taxa, placed within the Chaetothyriales (He et al, 2013;Chomnunti et al, 2014). For instance, species of the genus Knufia also display melanized distally tapering moniliform hyphae branching at a right angle, produce aseptate to multiseptate blastic conidia, and moniliform hyphae dissociate into smaller dispersal units (He et al, 2013).…”

Extremotolerant rock inhabiting black fungi from Italian monumental sites

“…The two species of the recently described genus Bradymyces (Hubka et al 2014), B. oncorhynchi and B. alpinus have quite different ecologies: the first was found in a hyperhaemic focus near the spleen of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and the second shows a saxicolous habitus, having been isolated from Alpine rocks. The genus Knufia (Tsuneda et al 2011) includes ecologically diverse species ranging from lichenicolous taxa as K. peltigerae, human opportunistics colonizing human skin as K. epidermidis (Li et al 2008;Li and Chen 2010), insectassociated species as K. aspidioti (He et al 2013), and plant pathogens as K. cryptophialidica and K. endospora (Hutchison et al 1995;Tsuneda and Currah 2004). In the same family, the saxicolous species Phaeococcomyces chersonesos and Sarcinomyces petricola were proven to be conspecific (Tsuneda et al 2011) and were included in the genus Knufia as K. petricola, one of the most frequent species on stone monuments.…”

Draft Genome Sequences of the Black Rock Fungus Knufia petricola and Its Spontaneous Nonmelanized Mutant

“…The genus Knufia , order Chaetothyriales , family Trichomeriaceae , is a relatively small clade prevalently accommodating extremotolerant fungi inhabiting bare rock surfaces. Species from plants, insects, and clinical samples have been additionally reported ( 1 – 3 ).…”