Taxonomic circumscription and phylogenetics of novel didymellaceous taxa with brown muriform spores

Sexual morph of didymellaceous taxa are characterized by their ascomata with relatively thin peridium,cylindric-clavate to clavate,short-pedicellate or apedicellate asci,hyaline to brown,1-septate to muriform ascospores.Its asexual morphs are coelomycetous and comprising pycnidial or acervulus conidiomata,phialidic,hyaline conidiogenous cells and hyaline or pale brown,septate or aseptate conidia.The majority of these cosmopolitan species are plant associated fungi which can be pathogens on a wide range of hosts and some species are of particular relevance for quarantine measures.Recent studies have significantly improved the taxonomy and systematics of didymellaceous taxa based on molecular phylogenetics.In contrast to the accurate and detailed studies on the asexual morphs which are common obligate pathogens,information on their usually saprobic sexual morphs is still limited.Among these phenotypically diverse species,spore characteristics are quite unique as most have hyaline spores with 0-1 septum,while only Neomicrosphaeropsis and Didymellocamarosporium are reported as producing pigmented,muriform spores.These dematiaceous muriform spores are characteristic of a considerable number of species that may be quite divergent in other characters.During taxonomic investigations on the diversity of didymellaceous taxa,we have isolated species from Alhagi pseudalhagi,Coronilla emerus,Cytisus sp.,Elaeagnus angustifolia and Spartium junceum in Italy,Russia and Uzbekistan.A comprehensive phylogeny,based on four loci(ITS,LSU,rpb2 and tub2)is used to infer species relationships.Comprehensive morphological descriptions and in-depth phylogenetic investigations of five new species viz.Ascochyta coronillae-emeri,Microsphaeropsis spartii-juncei,Neomicrosphaeropsis alhagi-pseudalhagi,N.cytisicola and N.elaeagni are presented.

Polyurethane-degrading fungi from soils contaminated with rocket propellant and their ability to decompose alkyne terminated polybutadiene with urethane

A large amount of propellant materials are produced every year,and storage and disposal of these propellant materials seriously contributes to environmental pollution.Alkyne terminated polybutadiene with urethane segments(PUPB)is the macromolecule backbone of these propellant materials,and degradation of PUPB is central to the eco-friendly treatment of propellant materials.In this study,we isolated a polyurethane(PU)-and PUPB-degrading fungus from soils contaminated with rocket propellant,and the fungus H14 was identified as Fusarium solani(Mart.)Sacc.based on macro-and micro-morphology as well as phylogenetic analyses.The ability of F.solani H14 to degrade PU film and PUPB patches was evaluated via mass loss,scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and enzyme production ability.Mass loss analyses revealed a 25.8%reduction in mass of PU and 1.3%reduction in mass of PUPB after F.solani H14 was incubated with PU and PUPB for 90 days,respectively.We found that F.solani H14 mycelia significantly colonized both PU and PUPB.SEM images showed that the surface of PU films and PUPB patches formed holes,underwent folding and experienced damage as well as irregular fissuring from the erosion of fungal hypha.Moreover,two possible degradative enzymes,lipase and esterase,were produced by F.solani.Our study opens a new avenue of research for eco-friendly treatments of explosive materials and propellants.This paper represents the first article on the degradation of PUPB patches.

Saprobic Dothideomycetes in Thailand:Muritestudina gen.et sp.nov.(Testudinaceae)a new terrestrial pleosporalean ascomycete,with hyaline and muriform ascospores

The family Testudinaceae and its intergeneric classification are poorly understood.This is due to overlap of morphological characteristics in genera and lack of DNA sequence data to infer phylogenetic relationships.The main objective of the present paper is to establish a novel genus,Muritestudina,based on distinct morphological characteristics and analyses of combined LSU,SSU,ITS,rpb2 and tef1 sequence data.We also fill the gap of our current knowledge on the phylogenetic position of Testudinaceae.Based on the morphological characteristics of species representing existing genera of Testudinaceae,we herein introduce a new genus,Muritestudina with M.chiangraiensis as the type species.The new genus is characterized by globose to subglobose,ostiolate ascomata;a peridium of brown to dark-brown cells of textura angularis;septate and cellular pseudoparaphyses;cylindric-clavate asci with a distinct pedicel;and hyaline,ellipsoidal and muriform ascospores.The new genus differs from the other genera in Testudinaceae in having hyaline,muriform ascospores.Combined analyses of ribosomal and protein coding gene sequence data confirmed that our new taxon belongs in Testudinaceae with a close relationship with Neotestudina rosatii.

Saprobic Dothideomycetes in Thailand: Vaginatispora appendiculata sp. nov. (Lophiostomataceae) introduced based on morphological and molecular data

In order to establish the evolutionary relationships and resolve the polyphyletic nature of Dothideomycetes,we are studying their natural classification based on both morphology and multigene phylogeny.In this paper we introduce Vaginatispora appendiculata,a novel species on dead twigs from southern Thailand.Morphological character differences and analyses of combined LSU,TEF,SSU and ITS sequence datasets support the validity of the new species and its placement in Vaginatispora(Lophiostomataceae).