A New Genus of the Microascaceae (Ascomycota) Family from a Hypersaline Lagoon in Spain and the Delimitation of the Genus Wardomyces.

The Saladas de Sástago-Bujaraloz is an endorheic and arheic complex of lagoons located in the Ebro Basin and protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Due to the semi-arid climate of the region and the high salinity of their waters, these lagoons constitute an extreme environment. We surveyed the biodiversity of salt-tolerant and halophilic fungi residents of the Laguna de Pito, a lagoon belonging to this complex. Therefore, we collected several samples of water, sediments, and soil of the periphery. Throughout the study, we isolated 21 fungal species, including a strain morphologically related to the family Microascaceae. However, this strain did not morphologically match any of genera within this family. After an in-depth morphological characterization and phylogenetic analysis using a concatenated sequence dataset of four phylogenetically informative molecular markers (the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA); the D1-D2 domains of the 28S gene of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU); and a fragment of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF-1α) and the ß-tubulin (tub2) genes), we established the new genus Dactyliodendromyces, with Dactyliodendromyces holomorphus as its species. Additionally, as a result of our taxonomic study, we reclassified the paraphyletic genus Wardomyces into three different genera: Wardomyces sensu stricto, Parawardomyces gen. nov., and Pseudowardomyces gen. nov., with Parawardomyces ovalis (formerly Wardomyces ovalis) and Pseudowardomyces humicola (formerly Wardomyces humicola) as the type species of their respective genera. Furthermore, we propose new combinations, including Parawardomyces giganteus (formerly Wardomyces giganteus) and Pseudowardomyces pulvinatus (formerly Wardomyces pulvinatus).

Sunken Riches: Ascomycete Diversity in the Western Mediterranean Coast through Direct Plating and Flocculation, and Description of Four New Taxa.

The Mediterranean Sea stands out as a hotspot of biodiversity, whose fungal composition remains underexplored. Marine sediments represent the most diverse substrate; however, the challenge of recovering fungi in culture hinders the precise identification of this diversity. Concentration techniques like skimmed milk flocculation (SMF) could represent a suitable solution. Here, we compare the effectiveness in recovering filamentous ascomycetes of direct plating and SMF in combination with three culture media and two incubation temperatures, and we describe the fungal diversity detected in marine sediments. Sediments were collected at different depths on two beaches (Miracle and Arrabassada) on the Spanish western Mediterranean coast between 2021 and 2022. We recovered 362 strains, and after a morphological selection, 188 were identified primarily with the LSU and ITS barcodes, representing 54 genera and 94 species. Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Scedosporium were the most common genera, with different percentages of abundance between both beaches. Arrabassada Beach was more heterogeneous, with 42 genera representing 60 species (Miracle Beach, 28 genera and 54 species). Although most species were recovered with direct plating (70 species), 20 species were exclusively obtained using SMF as a sample pre-treatment, improving our ability to detect fungi in culture. In addition, we propose three new species in the genera Exophiala, Nigrocephalum, and Queenslandipenidiella, and a fourth representing the novel genus Schizochlamydosporiella. We concluded that SMF is a useful technique that, in combination with direct plating, including different culture media and incubation temperatures, improves the chance of recovering marine fungal communities in culture-dependent studies.

Diversity of Rock-Inhabiting Fungi in Tarragona Province, Spain.

Rock-inhabiting fungi (RIF) are usually extremely tolerant or extremophilic, as they can survive on natural and artificial rocks despite being exposed to stressful conditions. RIF have serious negative effects on the appearance and cohesion of rocky substrates, causing the alteration and decomposition of building materials, but also on human and animal health, as they can act as opportunistic pathogens. Their identification is therefore of great importance, especially in urban areas. In the present study, culturing techniques for isolating fungi, and a polyphasic taxonomic approach to their identification, were used to assess the diversity of micromycetes that darken the surfaces of buildings in various villages and cities in Tarragona Province (Spain). Sixty-four species of RIF belonging to forty-one genera were identified, including a new genus (Coccodomyces) and the following six new fungal species: Coccodomyces pleiosporus, Exophiala caementiphila, Exophiala multiformis, Neocatenulostroma spinulosum, Neodevriesia longicatenispora, and Paradevriesia holothallica. Thus, we have established that building materials are ecological niches where a high biodiversity of RIF can develop.

Insights into Some Onygenalean Fungi from Freshwater Sediments in Spain and Description of Novel Taxa.

During the course of a project investigating culturable Ascomycota diversity from freshwater sediments in Spain, we isolated 63 strains of cycloheximide-resistant fungi belonging to the order Onygenales. These well-known ascomycetes, able to infect both humans and animals, are commonly found in terrestrial habitats, colonizing keratin-rich soils or dung. Little is known about their diversity in aquatic environments. Combining morphological features and sequence analyses of the ITS and LSU regions of the nrDNA, we identified 14 species distributed in the genera Aphanoascus, Arachniotus, Arthroderma, Arthropsis, Emmonsiellopsis, Gymnoascoideus, Leucothecium, Malbranchea, and Myriodontium. Furthermore, three novel species for the genus Malbranchea are proposed as M. echinulata sp. nov., M. irregularis sp. nov., and M. sinuata sp. nov. The new genera Albidomyces and Neoarthropsis are introduced based on Arachniotus albicans and Arthropsis hispanica, respectively. Neoarthropsis sexualis sp. nov. is characterized and differentiated morphologically from its counterpart by the production of a sexual morph. The novel family Neoarthropsidaceae is proposed for the genera Albidomyes, Apinisia, Arachnotheca, Myriodontium, and Neoarthropsis, based on their phylogenetic relationships and phenotypic and ecological traits. Pseudoamaurascopsis gen. nov. is introduced to accommodate P. spiralis sp. nov., a fungus with unclear taxonomy related to Amaurascopsis and Polytolypa. We traced the ecology and global distribution of the novel fungi through ITS environmental sequences deposited in the GlobalFungi database. Studying the fungal diversity from freshwater sediments not only contributes to filling gaps in the relationships and taxonomy of the Ascomycota but also gives us insights into the fungal community that might represent a putative risk to the health of animals and humans inhabiting or transient in aquatic environments.

A new endophytic species of Microthecium (Melanosporales, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota) from Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain).

BACKGROUND: The genus Microthecium contains 31 species worldwide distributed. Most of them are saprobic on soil and plant debris, but a few have been reported as mycoparasites on hypocrealean fungi. By contrast, this genus has never been reported as phytopathogenic, nor endophytic. AIMS: To isolate and identify endophytic fungi from Mediterranean herbaceous plants and trees in order to contribute to the knowledge of the hosts and their geographical location. The present work has been focused on the study of endophytic fungi of hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). METHODS: The following steps were taken: i, isolation of the fungal strain from living stems of C. monogyna; ii, cultural and micro-morphological study, and iii, sequence comparison of different genetic markers by BLAST search with sequences deposited in GenBank. RESULTS: At the present work we describe a new species of the genus, Microthecium pleomorphosporum, isolated from living stems of C. monogyna in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). This fungus is characterized by the production of non-ostiolate perithecia and two sorts of ascospores (some smooth-walled, others delicately reticulated) bearing a germ pore at each end which are frequently ornamented by a surrounding donut-like structures, and a phialidic asexual morph and bulbils. The morphologically closest related species is Microthecium tenuissimum, which has bigger ascospores and lacks asexual reproduction. Phylogenetically, M pleomorphosporum is close-related to other species of the genus, although no genetic marker that discriminates this new species from other phylogenetically closer ones could be elucidated as a gold standard. CONCLUSIONS: M. pleomorphosporum, order Melanosporales, is reported here as the first endophytic species of C. monogyna.