Taxonomy of Penicillium section Citrina

Abstract

Species of Penicillium section Citrina have a worldwide distribution and occur commonly in soils. The section is here delimited using a combination of phenotypic characters and sequences of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene operon, including the internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2, the 5.8S nrDNA (ITS) and partial RPB2 sequences. Species assigned to section Citrina share the production of symmetrically biverticillate conidiophores, flask shaped phialides (7.0–9.0 μm long) and relatively small conidia (2.0–3.0 μm diam). Some species can produce greyish-brown coloured cleistothecia containing flanged ascospores. In the present study, more than 250 isolates presumably belonging to section Citrina were examined using a combined analysis of phenotypic and physiological characters, extrolite profiles and ITS, β-tubulin and/or calmodulin sequences. Section Citrina includes 39 species, and 17 of those are described here as new. The most important phenotypic characters for distinguishing species are growth rates and colony reverse colours on the agar media CYA, MEA and YES; shape, size and ornamentation of conidia and the production of sclerotia or cleistothecia. Temperature-growth profiles were made for all examined species and are a valuable character characters for species identification. Species centered around P. citrinum generally have a higher maximum growth temperature (33–36 °C) than species related to P. westlingii (27–33 °C). Extrolite patterns and partial calmodulin and β-tubulin sequences can be used for sequence based identification and resolved all species. In contrast, ITS sequences were less variable and only 55 % of the species could be unambiguously identified with this locus.Taxonomic novelties:Penicillium argentinense Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. atrofulvum Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. aurantiacobrunneum Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. cairnsense Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. christenseniae Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. copticola Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. cosmopolitanum Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. neomiczynskii Cole, Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. nothofagi Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. pancosmium Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. pasqualense Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. quebecense Seifert, Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. raphiae Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. terrigenum Seifert, Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. ubiquetum Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. vancouverense Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson, P. wellingtonense Cole, Houbraken, Frisvad & Samson.

Metagenomic analysis of medicinal Cannabis samples; pathogenic bacteria, toxigenic fungi, and beneficial microbes grow in culture-based yeast and mold tests

“…Studies on the natural Cannabis microbiome have identified several species of culturable endophytic fungi, including Penicillium citrinum, Penicillium copticola (a member of the citrinum section 9 ) and several Aspergillus species 10, 11 . Similar studies looking at culturable bacterial endophytes identified nearly a dozen isolates from the Bacillus clade and two mycobacteria 1 .…”

Taxonomy and Antifungal Susceptibility of Clinically Important Rasamsonia Species

“…Recently, the ITS region was accepted as the prime fungal barcode (25). In contrast to other related genera, such as Aspergillus and Penicillium (26)(27)(28), all Rasamsonia species can be identified with ITS sequences. It has been suggested that clinical laboratories refer to a complex rather than a species in their report when no molecular-based identification is undertaken (29,30).…”

Fungal Chemotaxonomy

“…For example, as some secondary metabolites were formed by P. steckii on a rice medium, quite different metabolites were produced by the same strain on white beans. Some of the same compounds were found by Malmstrøm et al [129] and Houbraken et al [130] on the media CYA and YES, but not all of them. Similarly, P. citrinum produced nine secondary metabolites on white beans and six other secondary metabolites on rice [131].…”

“…Similarly, P. citrinum produced nine secondary metabolites on white beans and six other secondary metabolites on rice [131]. Several of those were also produced on CYA and YES agar [130], but on white beans P. citrinum produced alternariol, never reported before from that species. A combination of CYA, YES, rice, and white beans seems to allow expression of many secondary metabolites in many species of fungi, but special ecological groups of fungi may need modified media to be able to produce and accumulate their secondary metabolites.…”