Endophytic fungi are an intriguing group of host-associated microorganisms that enhance plant growth and fitness by producing bioactive secondary metabolites. These fungi serve as valuable sources of industrial enzymes for secondary metabolite synthesis, benefiting green agriculture, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Despite the economic and ecological significance of the Itea genus—known for its rare sugar content—its associated endophytic fungi remain undocumented. This study isolated and characterized 11 strains of endophytic fungi, primarily identified as pestalotioid taxa, from the leaves, stems, and roots of Itea japonica and I. riparia in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. Using morphological analysis, multiloci phylogeny (ITS, tub2, tef1-α), and nucleotide polymorphism studies, researchers proposed Neopestalotiopsis iteae and Pseudopestalotiopsis iteae as new species inhabiting I. japonica and I. riparia, respectively. Additionally, Neopestalotiopsis chrysea, N. haikouensis, and Pestalotiopsis jinchanghensis were identified as new records on I. riparia.
Tag: phylogeny
Outline of Ascomycota: 2017
Nutritious Food Portfolios for targeting year-round food harvest and nutrient gaps – Debre Zeit
Multigene Phylogeny Coupled with Morphological Characterization Reveal Two New Species of Holmiella and Taxonomic Insights within Patellariaceae
Mapping tree species in geographical and environmental space: a comparison of vegetation and habitat suitability maps
Measuring Terrestrial Area of Habitat (AOH) and Its Utility for the IUCN Red List
Aquimonospora tratensis gen. et sp. nov. (Diaporthomycetidae, Sordariomycetes), a new lineage from a freshwater habitat in Thailand
An interesting hyphomycetous taxon was collected on submerged wood in a freshwater stream in Trat Province, Thailand. It is morphologically similar to endophragmiella-like taxa, characterized by macronematous, mononematous conidiophores, monoblastic, enteroblastic conidiogenous cells and clavate to obovoid, septate brown conidia. The unique feature of this taxon is that the mature conidium often bears a young new conidial primordium which develops percurrently from a lower semi-transparent cell and they secede simultaneously. Phylogenetic analyses of a combined LSU, SSU and RPB2 sequence data support the placement of this fungus together with Platytrachelon and close to the family Papulosaceae within Diaporthomycetidae, Sordariomycetes. A new genus is introduced to accommodate the new taxon as Aquimonospora. The novel species Aquimonospora tratensis is described and illustrated and is compared with other morphologically similar taxa.
One stop shop II: taxonomic update with molecular phylogeny for important phytopathogenic genera: 26-50 (2019)
This paper is the second in a series focused on providing a stable platform for the taxonomy of phytopathogenic fungi. It focuses on 25 phytopathogenic genera: Alternaria, Bipolaris, Boeremia, Botryosphaeria, Calonectria, Coniella, Corticiaceae, Curvularia, Elsinoe, Entyloma, Erythricium, Fomitiporia, Fulviformes, Laetisaria, Limonomyces, Neofabraea, Neofusicoccum, Phaeoacremonium, Phellinotus, Phyllosticta, Plenodomus, Pseudopyricularia, Tilletia, Venturia and Waitea, using recent molecular data, up to date names and the latest taxonomic insights. For each genus a taxonomic background, diversity aspects, species identification and classification based on molecular phylogeny and recommended genetic markers are provided. In this study, varieties of the genus Boeremia have been elevated to species level. Botryosphaeria, Bipolaris, Curvularia, Neofusicoccum and Phyllosticta that were included in the One Stop Shop 1 paper are provided with updated entries, as many new species have been introduced to these genera.
The amazing potential of fungi: 50 ways we can exploit fungi industrially
Fungi are an understudied, biotechnologically valuable group of organisms. Due to the immense range of habitats that fungi inhabit, and the consequent need to compete against a diverse array of other fungi, bacteria, and animals, fungi have developed numerous survival mechanisms. The unique attributes of fungi thus herald great promise for their application in biotechnology and industry. Moreover, fungi can be grown with relative ease, making production at scale viable. The search for fungal biodiversity, and the construction of a living fungi collection, both have incredible economic potential in locating organisms with novel industrial uses that will lead to novel products. This manuscript reviews fifty ways in which fungi can potentially be utilized as biotechnology. We provide notes and examples for each potential exploitation and give examples from our own work and the work of other notable researchers. We also provide a flow chart that can be used to convince funding bodies of the importance of fungi for biotechnological research and as potential products. Fungi have provided the world with penicillin, lovastatin, and other globally significant medicines, and they remain an untapped resource with enormous industrial potential.
Effects of land‐use change on community diversity and composition are highly variable among functional groups
In order to understand how the effects of land‐use change vary among taxa and environmental contexts, we investigate how three types of land‐use change have influenced phylogenetic diversity (PD) and species composition of three functionally distinct communities: plants, small mammals, and large mammals. We found large mammal communities were by far the most heavily impacted by land‐use change, with areas of attempted large wildlife exclusion and intense livestock grazing, respectively, containing 164 and 165 million fewer years of evolutionary history than conserved areas (~40% declines). The effects of land‐use change on PD varied substantially across taxa, type of land‐use change, and, for most groups, also across abiotic conditions. This highlights the need for taxa‐specific or multi‐taxa evaluations, for managers interested in conserving specific groups or whole communities, respectively. It also suggests that efforts to conserve and restore PD may be most successful if they focus on areas of particular land‐use types and abiotic conditions. Importantly, we also describe the substantial species turnover and compositional changes that cannot be detected by alpha diversity metrics, emphasizing that neither PD nor other taxonomic diversity metrics are sufficient proxies for ecological integrity. Finally, our results provide further support for the emerging consensus that conserved landscapes are critical to support intact assemblages of some lineages such as large mammals, but that mosaics of disturbed land‐uses, including both agricultural and pastoral land, do provide important habitats for a diverse array of plants and small mammals.