Two Novel Species of Talaromyces Discovered in a Karst Cave in the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark of Southern Thailand

Abstract

Karst caves are oligotrophic environments that appear to support a high diversity of fungi. Studies of fungi in Thailand’s caves are limited. During a 2019 exploration of the mycobiota associated with soil samples from a karst cave, namely, Phu Pha Phet in the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark in Satun Province, southern Thailand, two previously undescribed fungi belonging to Talaromyces (Trichocomaceae, Eurotiales, Eurotiomycetes) were studied using a polyphasic approach combining phenotypic and molecular data. Based on datasets of four loci (ITS, BenA, CaM, and RPB2), phylogenetic trees of the section Trachyspermi were constructed, and two new species—Talaromyces phuphaphetensis sp. nov. and T. satunensis sp. nov.—phylogenetically related to T. subericola, T. resinae, and T. brasiliensis, are described. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of the new species are provided. This study increases the number of cave-dwelling soil fungi discovered in Thailand’s Satun UNESCO Global Geopark, which appears to be a unique environment with a high potential for discovering fungal species previously undescribed.

Talaromyces mellisjaponici sp. nov., a xerophilic species isolated from honey in Japan

“…Talaromyces mellisjaponici has been isolated from honey, despite previous studies suggesting that species in section Trachyspermi are mainly found in soil and living or decayed plants [7–11]. Only six Talaromyces species have been reported in honey, including T. scorteus from section Islandici , T. brasiliensis , T. affinitatimellis and T. basipetosporus from section Trachyspermi , T. brunneosporus from section Purpurei , and T. funiculosus from section Talaromyces [14, 15, 34].…”

“…Phylogenetic analysis was done, encompassing the entire section Trachyspermi , utilizing combined ITS, BenA , CaM and RPB2 sequences. Published sequence data from Rodríguez-Andrade et al [15, 21], Nuankaew et al [11], Houbraken et al [22] and Zang et al [23] were included (). The sequences were aligned using mafft version 7 [24], and the resulting alignment was submitted to TreeBASE (ID 30596).…”

“…The species diversity of filamentous fungi in honey in Japan was investigated, and five undescribed strains of Talaromyces section Trachyspermi were isolated. Most section Trachyspermi species are found in various materials, such as soil and plant debris [7][8][9][10][11]. Some species are isolated from substrates with low water activity, such as house dust and leather [12,13].…”

Uniting the Role of Endophytic Fungi against Plant Pathogens and Their Interaction

“…For example, under field conditions, the Talaromyces flavus isolate Tfl (anamorph Penicillium dangeardii , also known as P. vermiculatum ) suppresses verticillium wilt of eggplant (Brunner et al, 2005) and has the ability to suppress the verticillium wilt of potato [ 108 ]. In the soil, Talaromyces is a strong competitor [ 109 ].…”

Unravelling the hidden diversity of cave mycobiota in Thailand’s Satun Geopark

“…Nuankaew et al 18 recently discovered two new Talaromyces species in soil samples from the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark in Thailand, a region with scarce documentation of fungi in tropical caves. As part of a mycological diversity study in the Satun UNESCO Global Geopark, this research aimed to explore the fungi present in two karst caves, Phu Pha Phet Cave and Le Stegodon Cave.…”