Freshwater ascomycetes: Aquapoterium pinicola, a new genus and species of Helotiales (leotiomycetes) from Florida.

As part of a survey of freshwater ascomycetes in Florida an unusual discomycete fungus belonging in the Helotiales was found on submerged Pinus needles. This fungus is described and illustrated as a new genus and species, Aquapoterium pinicola, based on morphological data. Aquapoterium pinicola is characterized by minute, hyaline apothecia with an excipulum one cell layer thick of parallel hyphae composed of chains of cells narrow at the basal end and enlarged at the apical end and aseptate ascospores that are surrounded by a gelatinous sheath. Analyses of the nuclear ribosomal large subunit DNA sequence data confirmed its placement within the Helotiales but failed to resolve its familial placement.

Jahnula species from North and Central America, including three new species.

Three new species of loculoascomycetes collected from freshwater habitats in North America are described as new species of Jahnula (Jahnulales, Dothideomycetes). All three share these morphological features: hyaline to blackish translucent, membranous ascomata with subtending, wide, septate brown, spreading hyphae; peridia composed of large angular cells; hamathecium of septate pseudoparaphyses; 8-spored, clavate to cylindrical asci; and 1-septate, broadly fusiform, brown, multiguttulate ascospores. Four additional species, J. aquatica, J. bipolaris, J. potamophila, and J. seychellensis, are reported for the first time from the western hemisphere.

Phenytoin hepatotoxicity: a case report and review.

A 17-year-old woman with phenytoin-induced hepatotoxicity was compared with 23 other cases from the literature. Hepatic injury caused by phenytoin is rare but important because of its significant morbidity and mortality. A typical multisystem clinical pattern precedes the manifestations of hepatic dysfunction. Pathologic findings indicate a mixed hepatocellular damage of cholestasis and necrosis. Pathogenic mechanisms are unexplained, but a delayed hypersensitivity reaction appears likely.

Systematics of Halosarpheia based on morphological and molecular data.

The genus Halosarpheia (Halosphaeriales) was established for marine ascomycetes with obpyriform to sub-globose, coriaceous, brown to black ostiolate ascomata with long necks; hamathecia of catenophyses; thin-walled, unitunicate, persistent asci with thick-walled apices; and ellipsoid, one septate, hyaline ascospores equipped with coiled, threadlike apical appendages that unfurl in water. Emphasis on ascospore appendage morphology has led to the inclusion in the genus of morphologically disparate fungi from a variety of marine and freshwater habitats. To better understand the evolutionary relationships of Halosarpheia species, phylogenetic analyses were conducted on 16 Halosarpheia species, 13 other species of Halosphaeriales and representatives of the Microascales, Hypocreales, Sordariales and Xylariales using 18S and 28S rDNA sequence data. All of the Halosarpheia species occurred on the Halosphaeriales clade. The type species of the genus, H. fibrosa, occurred on a well-supported clade with two morphologically similar species, H. trullifera and H. unicellularis. This clade, which phylogenetically was distant from the clades of other Halosarpheia species, represents the genus Halosarpheia sensu stricto. The other Halosarpheia species were distributed among eight other well-supported clades clearly separated from one another based on molecular data. New generic names are established for six of these clades, one new species is described, and one species is transferred to Aniptodera. A table (Table I) comparing the morphology, habitat, substrate and distribution of the genera of aquatic ascomycetes with coiled, threadlike apical appendages treated in this study is provided, along with a key for their identification.

A reassessment of two freshwater ascomycetes, Ceriospora caudae-suis and Submersisphaeria aquatica.

Ceriospora caudae-suis and Submersisphaeria aquatica, two freshwater pyrenomycetes reported infrequently since their original description, occur commonly on submerged woody debris in the USA. Based on analyses of 28S rDNA sequence data and morphology, both species belong in the Annulatascaceae. Ceriospora caudae-suis is transferred to Pseudoproboscispora, a genus in the Annulatascaceae with similar overall morphology and ecology. Submersisphaeria aquatica is redescribed and illustrated based on additional collections.

The molecular phylogeny of freshwater Dothideomycetes.

The freshwater Dothideomycetes species are an ecological rather than taxonomic group and comprise approximately 178 meiosporic and mitosporic species. Due to convergent or parallel morphological adaptations to aquatic habitats, it is difficult to determine phylogenetic relationships among freshwater taxa and among freshwater, marine and terrestrial taxa based solely on morphology. We conducted molecular sequence-based phylogenetic analyses using nuclear ribosomal sequences (SSU and/or LSU) for 84 isolates of described and undescribed freshwater Dothideomycetes and 85 additional taxa representative of the major orders and families of Dothideomycetes. Results indicated that this ecological group is not monophyletic and all the freshwater taxa, except three aeroaquatic Tubeufiaceae, occur in Pleosporomycetidae as opposed to Dothideomycetidae. Four clades comprised of only freshwater taxa were recovered. The largest of these is the Jahnulales clade consisting of 13 species, two of which are the anamorphs Brachiosphaera tropicalis and Xylomyces chlamydosporus. The second most speciose clade is the Lindgomycetaceae clade consisting of nine taxa including the anamorph Taeniolella typhoides. The Lindgomycetaceae clade consists of taxa formerly described in Massarina, Lophiostoma, and Massariosphaeriae.g.,Massarina ingoldiana, Lophiostoma breviappendiculatum, and Massariosphaeria typhicola and several newly described and undescribed taxa. The aquatic family Amniculicolaceae, including three species of Amniculicola, Semimassariosphaeria typhicola and the anamorph, Anguillospora longissima, was well supported. A fourth clade of freshwater species consisting of Tingoldiago graminicola,Lentithecium aquaticum,L. arundinaceum and undescribed taxon A-369-2b was not well supported with maximum likelihood bootstrap and Bayesian posterior probability. Eight freshwater taxa occurred along with terrestrial species in the Lophiostoma clades 1 and 2. Two taxa lacking statistical support for their placement with any taxa included in this study are considered singletons within Pleosporomycetidae. These singletons, Ocala scalariformis, and Lepidopterella palustris, are morphologically distinct from other taxa in Pleosporomycetidae. This study suggests that freshwater Dothideomycetes are related to terrestrial taxa and have adapted to freshwater habitats numerous times. In some cases (Jahnulales and Lindgomycetaceae), species radiation appears to have occurred. Additional collections and molecular study are required to further clarify the phylogeny of this interesting ecological group.

A class-wide phylogenetic assessment of Dothideomycetes.

We present a comprehensive phylogeny derived from 5 genes, nucSSU, nucLSU rDNA, TEF1, RPB1 and RPB2, for 356 isolates and 41 families (six newly described in this volume) in Dothideomycetes. All currently accepted orders in the class are represented for the first time in addition to numerous previously unplaced lineages. Subclass Pleosporomycetidae is expanded to include the aquatic order Jahnulales. An ancestral reconstruction of basic nutritional modes supports numerous transitions from saprobic life histories to plant associated and lichenised modes and a transition from terrestrial to aquatic habitats are confirmed. Finally, a genomic comparison of 6 dothideomycete genomes with other fungi finds a high level of unique protein associated with the class, supporting its delineation as a separate taxon.

Chrysotherapy-induced aplastic anemia: a case report.

A case of gold-induced aplastic anemia occurring in a 58-year-old male with rheumatoid arthritis who received a total dose of 635 mg of gold sodium thiomalate over a 16-week period is reported. The clinical features, treatment, prevention and pathogenesis of gold-induced aplastic anemia are reviewed. The ability to predict patients in whom this hematologic effect may occur is discussed. Chrysotherapy is beneficial in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, but gold-induced aplastic anemia may be fatal. Absolute identification of patients at risk of having this hematologic side effect is not possible, but dosage reduction and intense monitoring of laboratory and clinical signs may prevent its occurrence.

New bioactive metabolites from a freshwater isolate of the fungus Kirschsteiniothelia sp.

The new cytotoxic naphthoquinone dimer kirschsteinin [5], two new chlorinated diphenyl ethers 8 and 9, three known naphthoquinone derivatives 1, 2, and 7, a monoacetyl derivative of 2, and the (-)-enantiomer of O-methylasparvenone [4], have been isolated from a previously undescribed species of Kirschsteiniothelia. The structures of these compounds were assigned primarily by nmr studies and by spectral comparisons.

Identification of a group I intron in the nuclear small subunit rDNA of Pseudohalonectria lignicola.

A 865-bp insertion was detected within the nuclear small subunit (SSU) rDNA in two isolates (intron+) of the freshwater ascomycete Pseudohalonectria lignicola by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The intron sequences from the two isolates were identical to each other, and the exon sequences from the two intron+ isolates were identical to those in the intron- isolates in the PCR-amplified region of rDNA. Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) indicated that the intron was absent in the mature rRNA. The intron sequence has all the characteristics of a group I intron, including four conserved sequence elements (P, Q, R, and S), the presence of a U at the 5' splice site of the exon, a G at the 3' splice site of the intron, a putative internal guiding sequence, and the sequence fit a secondary structure model for group I introns. Like most introns found in nuclear rDNA, this intron was located at a highly conserved region and was devoid of long open reading frames.

Canadian Drug Products Containing ASA.

A list of nearly 200 Canadian ASA-containing drug products is presented. Information was supplied by the major pharmaceutical companies and data were also obtained from various Canadian reference sources. This information should aid the physician and other health-related personnel in identifying ASA-containing products and counselling the salicylate-endangered patient.

Phylogenetic ordinal placement based on rDNA sequences of the freshwater genera Ophioceras and Pseudohalonectria.

The ordinal placement of two closely related freshwater genera, Ophioceras and Pseudohalonectria, was assessed by using phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters, partial sequences of the large subunit ribosomal DNA and restriction site variations in the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). The two genera have some morphological features that are used to define taxa in both the Sordariales and Diaporthales, and, hence, their phylogenetic relationships are unclear. Equally weighted analyses of thirty-eight morphological characters produced unresolved phylogenetic trees and unequivocal conclusions could not be drawn based on the morphological data. The polymerase chain reaction-amplified ITS region was variable in length between the two genera and restriction sites in the ITS region were determined. Analysis of variation in restriction sites in the ITS region placed Ophioceras and Pseudohalonectria in one clade with taxa sampled from Sordariales. About 350 basepairs of DNA sequence from the 5' end of the large subunit rDNA were also determined. In phylogenetic analysis of the sequence data with Hypocrea lutea and Nectria cinnabarina as outgroups, Ophioceras and Pseudohalonectria showed a closer relationship to Neurospora crassa, Schizothecium sp., and Sordaria fimicola of the Sordariales than to Cryphonectria parasitica and Endothia gyrosa of the Diaporthales.

Oral contraceptive-induced ischemic bowel disease.

PIP: A case report of subacute, reversible ischemic colitis associated with use of oral contraceptives (OCs) is reported. A 19-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with chief complaints of abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and rectal bleeding of 2 days' duration. Past medical history and family history were noncontributory. The patient was receiving no medication other than Norinyl 2 (2 mg of norethindrone and .1 mg of mestranol), which she had been taking for 6 months. 2 days before admission the patient had taken 100 mg of dimenhydrinate and 2 ExLax tablets (90 mg of phenolphthalein) for constipation. Colonic roentgenograms revealed impaired mesenteric circulation and bowel ischemia; OC-induced ischemic bowel disease was diagnosed. Patient symptoms subsided within 96 hours of discontinuing the OC and initiating supportive therapy (including intravenous fluid infusion, nasogastric suction, analgesics, and antiemetics). When a repeat barium enema was performed, it showed resolution of the ischemia. In a short review following the case report, these drugs were indicted in causation of colitis-like syndrome: amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephazolin, chloramphenicol, chlorpropamide, clindamycin, cloxacillin, cotrimoxasole, cyclophosphamide, digitalis, ergotamine tartrate, flucytosine, fluorouracil, gold salts, laxative and cathartic abuse, mercurous chloride, methyldopa, penicillin V, and tetracycline. Ischemic bowel disease secondary to OC use is a rare but important complication because of its significant morbidity and potential mortality, and because of the widespread use of the drugs. The case report emphasizes the need to consider the differential diagnosis of acute vascular insult with bowel ischemia when acute abdominal pain progressing to bloody diarrhea occurs in young women taking OCs.^ieng

Anguillosporal, a new antibacterial and antifungal metabolite from the freshwater fungus Anguillospora longissima.

Anguillosporal [1], a new antifungal and antibacterial metabolite, has been isolated from the freshwater fungus Anguillospora longissima (CS-869-1A). Its structure was determined as 2,4-dihydroxy-3-ethyl-6-(1'-methylpentyl)-benzaldehyde on the basis of ms, 1H-nmr, and 13C-nmr data.

Tenellic acids A-D: new bioactive diphenyl ether derivatives from the aquatic fungus Dendrospora tenella.

Tenellic acids A-D (1-4) were isolated from cultures of the freshwater fungus Dendrospora tenella. The structures of these new diphenyl ether derivatives were determined primarily by analysis of NMR data. Compounds 1-4 display antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria.