New Coelomycetous Fungi from Freshwater in Spain

Abstract

Coelomycetous fungi are ubiquitous in soil, sewage, and sea- and freshwater environments. However, freshwater coelomycetous fungi have been very rarely reported in the literature. Knowledge of coelomycetous fungi in freshwater habitats in Spain is poor. The incubation of plant debris, from freshwater in various places in Spain into wet chambers, allowed us to detect and isolate in pure culture several pycnidia-producing fungi. Fungal strains were phenotypically characterized, and a phylogenetic study was carried out based on the analysis of concatenated nucleotide sequences of the D1–D2 domains of the 28S nrRNA gene (LSU), the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the nrDNA, and fragments of the RNA polymerase II subunit 2 (rpb2) and beta tubulin (tub2) genes. As a result of these, we report the finding of two novel species of Neocucurbitaria, three of Neopyrenochaeta, and one of Pyrenochaetopsis. Based on the phylogenetic study, we also transferred Neocucurbitaria prunicola to the genus Allocucurbitaria. This work makes an important contribution to the knowledge of the mycobiota of plant debris in freshwater habitats.

A visceral mycosis in farmed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) caused by Neopyrenochaeta submersa

“…In this study, we extended the spectrum of coelomycetous fungi pathogenic for fish. Although our attempts to find characteristic fruiting bodies in isolated fungus were not successful, phylogenetic analysis clearly identified it as a recently described species of Neopyrenochaeta , N. submersa , described from plant debris in freshwater in Spain [ 12 ]. Problems with induction of sporulation in colelomomycetous fungi are relatively common and make their identification based on phenotype challenging or impossible [ 11 ].…”

New Dothideomycetes from Freshwater Habitats in Spain

“…A total of 119 samples of plant debris submerged in freshwater in Spain were collected as follows: two in Parque de Doña Casilda Iturriza (Vizcaya province), three in Les Guilleries (Barcelona province), ten in Cúber (Escorca, Mallorca), 22 in Capafonts (Tarragona province), 15 in Pontons (Barcelona province), 17 in Riaza (Segovia province), and 50 in Cascadas del Huéznar (Cazalla de la Sierra, Sevilla province). Samples were placed into sterile self-sealing plastic bags for transport to the laboratory and stored at 5 • C. Samples were processed and examined following the method described previously by Magaña-Dueñas et al [13]. All isolates were stored in the culture collection at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMR), Reus (Spain), and herborized materials and living cultures of novel fungi were deposited in the fungal collection at Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute (CBS; Utrecht, The Netherlands).…”

“…DNA extraction, amplification, and sequencing were carried out following the protocols outlined by Magaña-Dueñas et al [13,14]. SeqMan software v. 7.0.0 (DNAStar Lasergene, Madison, WI, USA) was used to obtain and edit the consensus sequences.…”

Novel Freshwater Ascomycetes from Spain

“…Except for the Ebro, the rivers of the Atlantic slope are the longest [ 13 ]. Spain is a country where the hyphomycetes have been studied for decades, but only in recent years have the sexual states of freshwater ascomycetes and their coelomycetous asexual states begun to be investigated with any great frequency [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. The present study describes the phenotype and taxonomy of several new species of the Ascomycota found in various freshwater habitats in Spain, all of them isolated from submerged plant debris.…”