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Studies in Mycology Dec 2022series members occur in a wide range of environments and substrates such as indoor environments, food, clinical materials, soil, caves, marine or hypersaline...
series members occur in a wide range of environments and substrates such as indoor environments, food, clinical materials, soil, caves, marine or hypersaline ecosystems. The taxonomy of the series has undergone numerous re-arrangements including a drastic reduction in the number of species and subsequent recovery to 17 species in the last decade. The identification to species level is however problematic or impossible in some isolates even using DNA sequencing or MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry indicating a problem in the definition of species boundaries. To revise the species limits, we assembled a large dataset of 518 strains. From these, a total of 213 strains were selected for the final analysis according to their calmodulin () genotype, substrate and geography. This set was used for phylogenetic analysis based on five loci (, , , , ). Apart from the classical phylogenetic methods, we used multispecies coalescence (MSC) model-based methods, including one multilocus method (STACEY) and five single-locus methods (GMYC, bGMYC, PTP, bPTP, ABGD). Almost all species delimitation methods suggested a broad species concept with only four species consistently supported. We also demonstrated that the currently applied concept of species is not sustainable as there are incongruences between single-gene phylogenies resulting in different species identifications when using different gene regions. Morphological and physiological data showed overall lack of good, taxonomically informative characters, which could be used for identification of such a large number of existing species. The characters expressed either low variability across species or significant intraspecific variability exceeding interspecific variability. Based on the above-mentioned results, we reduce series to four species, namely , and , and the remaining species are synonymized with either or . The revised descriptions of the four accepted species are provided. They can all be identified by any of the five genes used in this study. Despite the large reduction in species number, identification based on phenotypic characters remains challenging, because the variation in phenotypic characters is high and overlapping among species, especially between and . Similar to the 17 narrowly defined species, the four broadly defined species do not have a specific ecology and are distributed worldwide. We expect that the application of comparable methodology with extensive sampling could lead to a similar reduction in the number of cryptic species in other extensively studied species complexes and other fungal genera. Sklenář F, Glässnerová K, Jurjević Ž, Houbraken J, Samson RA, Visagie CM, Yilmaz N, Gené J, Cano J, Chen AJ, Nováková A, Yaguchi T, Kolařík M, Hubka V (2022). Taxonomy of series : species reduction and lessons learned about intraspecific variability. : 53-93. doi: 10.3114/sim.2022.102.02.
PubMed: 36760461
DOI: 10.3114/sim.2022.102.02 -
Marine Drugs Sep 2019Two new antimicrobial bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid derivatives, -aspergoterpenin C (compound ) and 7--methylhydroxysydonic acid (), and two new butyrolactone-type...
Two new antimicrobial bisabolane-type sesquiterpenoid derivatives, -aspergoterpenin C (compound ) and 7--methylhydroxysydonic acid (), and two new butyrolactone-type monoterpenoids, pestalotiolactones C () and D (), along with a known monoterpenoid pestalotiolactone A () and four known bisabolane sesquiterpenoids (-), were isolated and identified from the deep-sea sediment-derived fungus SD-330. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, and the absolute configurations of the new compounds - were determined by the combination of NOESY and TDDFT-ECD calculations and X-ray crystallographic analysis. Additionally, we first determined and reported the absolute configuration of the known monoterpenoid pestalotiolactone A () through the X-ray crystallographic experiment. All of these isolated compounds were evaluated for antimicrobial activities against human and aquatic pathogenic bacteria. Compounds , , and exhibited selective inhibitory activities against zoonotic pathogenic bacteria such as , , and , with MIC values ranging from 1.0 to 8.0 μg/mL.
Topics: Animals; Anti-Infective Agents; Aspergillus; Crystallography, X-Ray; Edwardsiella tarda; Escherichia coli; Geologic Sediments; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Molecular Conformation; Monoterpenes; Seawater; Sesquiterpenes; Vibrio; Zoonoses
PubMed: 31569593
DOI: 10.3390/md17100563 -
Microscopy Research and Technique Aug 2022In the present study, two Aspergillus species as biocontrol agents together with Chenopodium quinoa dry biomass were used to investigate their effects on histochemical...
In the present study, two Aspergillus species as biocontrol agents together with Chenopodium quinoa dry biomass were used to investigate their effects on histochemical features of mungbean plant inoculated with M. phaseolina. In a pot experiment, Aspergillus flavipes and Aspergillus versicolor were added either alone or together with 1%, 2%, and 3% dry biomass of quinoa (DBQ) to the pot soil already inoculated with M. phaseolina. After 4 weeks of sowing, root and lower-stem sections of the mungbean plants were stained with ferric chloride, phloroglucinol-HCl and Lugol's iodine to detect the presence of polyphenols, lignin, and starch granules, respectively, and observed under light microscope. Stem and root sections were also observed under scanning electron microscope (SEM) to reveal the effect of soil amendments on cell structures. The findings revealed that mungbean plant cross sections from all the treatments except positive control (only inoculated with M. phaseolina) showed very clear cell structures. In positive control, distorted, fragmented, and collapsed cell structures were observed. Moreover, M. phaseolina blocked vascular vessels in comparison to negative control where the cell structures were intact and normal in size. Plant sections from treatments with A. flavipes and A. versicolor alone or together with DBQ were without pathogen colonization, with normal cell structures and a high deposition of gel. The results suggested that the two Aspergillus spp. and C. quinoa induced defense responses in mungbean plants. HIGHLIGHTS: Macrophomina phaseolina causes significant yield losses in mungbean. Pot soil was amended with two species of Aspergillus as biocontrol agents along with plant biomass. Aspergillus spp. markedly saved the root and stem structures from the damage caused by M. phaseolina.
Topics: Aspergillus; Biomass; Fabaceae; Plant Diseases; Soil; Vigna
PubMed: 35510761
DOI: 10.1002/jemt.24145 -
Natural Product Research May 2020Two new compounds, versicolones A and B ( and ), and three known pyrone derivatives (-) were isolated from the insect-associated fungus . Their structures were...
Two new compounds, versicolones A and B ( and ), and three known pyrone derivatives (-) were isolated from the insect-associated fungus . Their structures were elucidated through a combination of HRESIMS and NMR spectroscopic analysis. Versicolone A () was revealed as a coumarin derivative with the rare 5-alkyl side chain substitution. Compound exhibited significant antioxidant activity with EC value of 8.0 μM in the ABTS (2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) assay, which was more than 2-fold potency of the positive control trolox.
Topics: Animals; Antioxidants; Aspergillus; Coumarins; Fungi; Insecta; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Molecular Structure; Pyrones
PubMed: 30398378
DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2018.1509334 -
Phytochemistry Jun 2022Indole alkaloids have attracted widespread attention of chemists and biologists. Therefore, the aim of this study is to screen more bioactivities indole alkaloids from...
Indole alkaloids have attracted widespread attention of chemists and biologists. Therefore, the aim of this study is to screen more bioactivities indole alkaloids from the microorganisms. In this study, five undescribed CPA-type indole alkaloids, aspergillines F-J, and three known CPA-type indole alkaloids, aspergilline A, aspergilline C, and cyclopiamide E, were obtained from the Nicotiana tabacum-derived fungus Aspergillus versicolor. Notably, aspergillines F and G represent the first examples of indole alkaloids with a benzo[cd]indol-2(1H)-one skeleton, and aspergilline J is also the firstly obtained indole alkaloids bearing a N-1-(2-(1H-imidazole-5-yl)ethyl) moiety. Aspergillines F-J and cyclopiamide E were tested for their anti-TMV activities, and the results revealed that aspergillines G and J exhibited obvious anti-TMV activities with inhibition rates of 41.2 and 56.8% at the concentration of 20 μM, respectively. These rates are high than that of positive control (with inhibition rate of 32.5%). In addition, the molecular docking studies for the isolated CPA-type indole alkaloids may also reveal that the benzo[cd]indol-2(1H)-one substructure is the fundamental for anti-TMV activity and the oxygen-containing substituent groups at C-19 also increases the inhibitory activity. This study of structure-activity relationship is helpful to find new anti-TMV activity inhibitors.
Topics: Aspergillus; Fungi; Indole Alkaloids; Indoles; Molecular Docking Simulation; Molecular Structure; Nicotiana; Tobacco Mosaic Virus
PubMed: 35240133
DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113137 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Nov 2022Onychomycosis is a fungal disease of the nail that is found worldwide and is difficult to diagnose accurately. This study used metagenomics to investigate the...
Onychomycosis is a fungal disease of the nail that is found worldwide and is difficult to diagnose accurately. This study used metagenomics to investigate the microbiology of 18 clinically diagnosed mycotic nails and two normal nails for fungi and bacteria using the ITS2 and 16S loci. Four mycotic nails were from Bass Coast, six from Melbourne Metropolitan and eight from Shepparton, Victoria, Australia. The mycotic nails were photographed and metagenomically analysed. The ITS2 sequences for and averaged over 90% of hits in 14/18 nails. The high abundance of sequences of a single dermatophyte, compared to all other fungi in a single nail, made it the most likely infecting agents (MLIA). and interdigitale/mentagrophytes were found in Bass Coast and Shepparton while only was found in Melbourne. Two nails with mixed with high abundance non-dermatophyte moulds (NDMs) (, ) were also observed. The two control nails contained chiefly and . For bacteria, was in every nail and was the most abundant, including the control nails, with an overall mean rate of 66.01%. , , and also featured.
PubMed: 36422019
DOI: 10.3390/jof8111198 -
Journal of Fungi (Basel, Switzerland) Aug 2023series are molds distributed among 17 species, commonly found in our environment, and responsible for infections. Since 2022, a new taxonomy has grouped them into 4...
series are molds distributed among 17 species, commonly found in our environment, and responsible for infections. Since 2022, a new taxonomy has grouped them into 4 major lineages: , , , and . Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) could be a faster and more cost-effective alternative to molecular techniques for identifying them by developing a local database. To evaluate this technique, 30 isolates from series were used. A total of 59 main spectra profiles (MSPs) were created in the local database. This protocol enabled accurate identification of 100% of the extracted isolates, of which 97% (29/30) were correctly identified with a log score ≥ 2.00. Some MSPs recorded as in the supplier's database could lead to false identifications as they did not match with the correct lineages. Although the local database is still limited in the number and diversity of species of series , it is sufficiently effective for correct lineage identification according to the latest taxonomic revision, and better than the MALDI-TOF MS supplier's database. This technology could improve the speed and accuracy of routine fungal identification for these species.
PubMed: 37754976
DOI: 10.3390/jof9090868 -
Medical Mycology Case Reports Dec 2022A two-year-old neutered male Coton de Tulear presented with lethargy, anorexia, and tachypnea. Cystic masses noticed at the cranial mediastinal region were diagnosed as...
A two-year-old neutered male Coton de Tulear presented with lethargy, anorexia, and tachypnea. Cystic masses noticed at the cranial mediastinal region were diagnosed as granuloma containing hyphae of . Despite antifungal treatment using itraconazole, fluconazole, and voriconazole, the lesions spread to the lung. After euthanasia, was identified in the lung and splenic lymph node. This is the first case of fungal infection caused by and in a dog.
PubMed: 36245568
DOI: 10.1016/j.mmcr.2022.09.005 -
Indoor Air Aug 2016Recycling of organic waste appeals to more and more people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological contamination around organic waste bins at three...
Recycling of organic waste appeals to more and more people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological contamination around organic waste bins at three distances over a 12-month period. Contamination near the customary trash of control households was evaluated at the beginning to ensure that there is no recruitment bias. Air samples using the MAS 100 impactor were carried out in 38 dwellings that do household waste composting and in 10 dwellings of controls. Collection of particles by CIP 10 rotating cup sampler and dust samples collected by electrostatic dust collector cloths were acquired in dwellings that do household waste composting. Samples were analyzed by culture and by real-time quantitative PCR. Information about dwelling characteristics and inhabitant practices was obtained by a standardized questionnaire. The genera most often isolated were Penicillium, Aspergillus, Cladosporium and Streptomyces. Near the organic waste bins, bioaerosol samples showed an increase of Acarus siro (P = 0.001). Sedimented dust analyses highlighted an increase of A. siro, Wallemia sebi, Aspergillus versicolor, and Cladosporium sphaerospermum concentrations after a 12-month survey compared to the beginning. Composting favors microorganism development over time, but does not seem to have an effect on the bioaerosol levels and the surface microbiota beyond 0.5 m from the waste bin.
Topics: Aerosols; Air Microbiology; Air Pollution, Indoor; Aspergillus; Case-Control Studies; Cladosporium; Composting; Dust; Environmental Monitoring; Garbage; Housing; Penicillium; Streptomyces; Time Factors
PubMed: 26299932
DOI: 10.1111/ina.12242 -
Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2022Viable airborne pathogenic fungi represent a potential health hazard when exposing vulnerable persons in quantities exceeding their resilience. In this study, 284 indoor...
Viable airborne pathogenic fungi represent a potential health hazard when exposing vulnerable persons in quantities exceeding their resilience. In this study, 284 indoor fungal isolates from a strain collection of indoor fungi were screened for pathogenic potential through the ability to grow in neutral pH at 37 °C and 30 °C. The isolates were collected from 20 locations including 14 problematic and 6 non-problematic ordinary buildings. Out of the screened isolates, 170 isolates were unable to grow at 37 °C, whereas 67 isolates growing at pH 7.2 at 37 °C were considered as potential opportunistic pathogens. Forty-seven isolates growing at 30 °C but not at 37 °C were considered as less likely pathogens. Out of these categories, 33 and 33 strains, respectively, were identified to the species level. The problematic buildings included known opportunistic pathogens: , , and , as well as less likely pathogens: , , and Opportunistic pathogens such as , and and less likely pathogens such as and were isolated both from ordinary and from problematic buildings. was the dominant, most diverse genus found during screening for potentially pathogenic isolates in the indoor strain collection. Studies on and revealed that tolerance to cleaning chemicals may contribute to the adaptation of species to indoor environments.
PubMed: 36297230
DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11101171