New and interesting chaetothyrialean fungi from Spain

Abstract

In the course of taxonomic studies on saprobic microfungi from Spain, several slow-growing, dematiaceous hyphomycetes were isolated from soil, submerged plant material and river sediments. Sixteen of these strains were identified as members of the ascomycete order Chaetothyriales on the basis of morphology and DNA sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacer region and partial large subunit ribosomal RNA gene. These included three novel species (Cladophialophora pseudocarrionii, Cyphellophora chlamydospora, and Rhinocladiella amoena) and five interesting, little-known or clinically-relevant species (Cyphellophora suttonii, Exophiala aquamarina, E. lacus, E. radicis, and Rhinocladiella similis). In addition, Exophiala oligosperma, an emerging opportunistic fungus, was found for the first time in an aquatic freshwater environment (river sediments). Cladophialophora pseudocarrionii resembles C. carrionii in the branching pattern of its conidial chains, but differs from the latter species in its inability to grow at 30 °C. Cyphellophora chlamydospora differs from other species of the genus in the absence of conidiation, producing only chlamydospores in vitro. Rhinocladiella amoena shows branched conidiophores similar to those of R. anceps, R. atrovirens, R. basitona and R. similis, but differs from them in conidial shape and size. The ex-type strain of Phialophora livistonae, included in the phylogenetic study, clustered with high statistical support with members of the genus Cyphellophora and is transferred to this genus.

The genus Anthopsis and its phylogenetic position in Chaetothyriales

“…The amplification programme included an initial denaturation step at 95°C for 5 minutes, followed by 30 cycles of 30 seconds at 95°C, 30 seconds at 52°C and 90 seconds at 72°C with final extension step of 7 minutes at 72°C. LSU locus was amplified and sequenced with primers NL1 and NL4 and with the following protocol: 5 minutes at 95°C and then 30 cycles of 45 seconds at 94°C, 45 seconds at 52°C and 90 seconds at 72°C with final extension step of 7 minutes at 72°C. Amplification was performed in a 9700 Thermal Cycler (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA).…”

“…Phylogenetic trees based on ITS sequences and LSU (not shown) sequences were generated separately. Members of Cyphellophoraceae, Herpotrichiellaceae and Trichomeriaceae were included in the comparison. Sequences were aligned in MEGA6 in the Lasergene software (DNASTAR, Madison, WI, USA).…”

Opportunistic Water-Borne Human Pathogenic Filamentous Fungi Unreported from Food

“…Surface water include streams, rivers, and lakes that can be used for preparation of drinking water, but they may also serve recreational purposes [26,40,41]. During recreational activities, people are exposed to fungi via direct skin contact and through inhalation of aerosols [1].…”

“…During recreational activities, people are exposed to fungi via direct skin contact and through inhalation of aerosols [1]. The latest literature links surface water with the presence of ascomycetous species of Cylindrocarpon , Microsporum , Phialemonium , Rhinocladiella , and fungi from subphylum Mucoromycotina (Table 2) [19,26,35]. Cylindrocarpon (Nectriaceae) species are closely related to Fusarium and Nectria , and are causative agents of plant and trees diseases [42].…”

“…They are opportunistic pathogens, reported to cause endocarditis, keratitis, and peritonitis, respiratory, subcutaneous, and systemic infections [8]. Also close relatives of Exophiala , black filamentous fungi Rhinocladiella (Herpotrichiellaceae) were isolated from both groundwater and surface water, and they are one of the common contaminants of drinking water [6,12,17,26,33] (Table 2). They can cause chromoblastomycosis and cutaneous infections, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical regions [8].…”