New Cladosporium Species from Normal and Galled Flowers of Lamiaceae

Abstract

A series of isolates of Cladosporium spp. were recovered in the course of a cooperative study on galls formed by midges of the genus Asphondylia (Diptera, Cecidomyidae) on several species of Lamiaceae. The finding of these fungi in both normal and galled flowers was taken as an indication that they do not have a definite relationship with the midges. Moreover, identification based on DNA sequencing showed that these isolates are taxonomically heterogeneous and belong to several species which are classified in two different species complexes. Two new species, Cladosporium polonicum and Cladosporium neapolitanum, were characterized within the Cladosporium cladosporioides species complex based on strains from Poland and Italy, respectively. Evidence concerning the possible existence of additional taxa within the collective species C. cladosporioides and C. pseudocladosporioides is discussed.

Cryptic Diversity in Cladosporium cladosporioides Resulting from Sequence-Based Species Delimitation Analyses

“…mPTP indicates this group as a single species together with groups A to D; conversely, GMYC and ABGD suggest that group E represents a different species, while PTP identified two separate species. This group is placed at the boundary of C. cladosporioides , as already observed [ 15 ], and represents a potential cryptic taxon worth further studies.…”

“…Interestingly, 16 out of 26 isolates in this group contain introns in the tef1 sequence ( Figure 1 ). Group E is clearly divergent from the previous groups and only includes two isolates: AjNa1 from the flower of Ajuga reptans in Italy, which was obtained in our previous work [ 15 ], and CPC 15626 from an unspecified ‘wild’ plant in Mexico. Seven out of eight isolates in group F were recovered from conipherous plants in Korea, while one (CBS 674.82) was obtained from cotton seeds in Israel.…”

“…We recently examined a set of Cladosporium isolates associated with galled and non-galled flowers of several plants belonging to the Lamiaceae and found it to consist in an assortment of at least 10 species within the C. cladosporioides and C. herbarum species complexes [ 15 ]. Two novel species belonging to the first taxonomic group were described, and the existence of a wide genetic variation was observed among the isolates ascribed to the species C. pseudocladosporioides and C. cladosporioides .…”

“…It also represents the most common Cladosporium species according to the literature and the number of strains having their DNA sequences deposited in GenBank. Based on the provisional evidence resulting in our previous study [ 15 ], we decided to more accurately investigate the phylogenetic relationships among the strains of C. cladosporioides that have so far been genetically characterized through the deposit in GenBank of sequences of the taxonomic markers ITS, tef1 and act , which are required for molecular delimitation at species level by multilocus approach [ 2 ].…”

The Genus Cladosporium: A Rich Source of Diverse and Bioactive Natural Compounds

“…have been boosted by their tremendous ecological adaptability, as well as their frequent implication in human activities and medical aspects. Fundamental support from the molecular tools for species identification has enabled mycologists to disclose an exceptional taxonomic variation, with as many as 218 accepted species considered in the most recent update [ 3 ] and more new species added to the list in the last three years [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Considering the importance of secondary metabolites as mediators of biological interactions, this versatility has also generated notable research activity concerning the metabolome of these fungi and its biological properties, which are revised in the present paper.…”