Phoma Saccardo: distribution, secondary metabolite production and biotechnological applications.

Phoma Sacc. is an ubiquitous fungus, which has been reported from plants, soil, human beings, animals, and air. Some species of Phoma like P. sorghina, P. herbarum, P. exigua var. exigua, P. macrostoma, P. glomerata, Phoma macdonaldii, Phoma tracheiphila, Phoma proboscis, P. multirostrata, and Phoma foveata secrete phytotoxin and anthraquinone pigments as secondary metabolites, which have great potential for the biological control of weeds, and can be exploited for the production of mycopesticides, agrophytochemicals, and dyes. Some other species produce pharmaceutically active metabolites, viz., Sirodesmins, Phomenoic acid, Phomenolactone, Phomadecalins, Phomactin A, Phomasetin, Squalestatin-1 (S1), and Squalestatin-2 (S2). The secondary metabolites secreted by some species of Phoma are antitumor, antimicrobial, and anti-HIV. Equisetin and Phomasetin obtained from species of Phoma are useful against AIDS. The main goal of the present review is to discuss secondary metabolite production by species of Phoma and their utilization as antibiotics and as biocontrol agents.

Sexual recombination in the Botrytis cinerea populations in Hungarian vineyards.

Botrytis cinerea (anamorph of Botryotinia fuckeliana) causes gray mold on a high number of crop plants including grapes. In this study, we investigated the genetic properties of a grape pathogenic population of B. cinerea in the area of Eger, Hungary. A total of 109 isolates from 12 areas were sampled. Based on the sequence of the beta-tubulin (tub1) locus, they all belong to group II, a phylogenetic species within B. cinerea. Seventy-four isolates were classified as transposa, with both the Flipper and Boty transposons, and 10 were classified as vacuma, lacking both transposons. The remaining isolates contained either only Flipper (13) or Boty (12). Multilocus analysis of sequences from tub1 and two other loci (elongation factor 1-alpha, tef1, and a minisatellite from the intron of an ATPase, MSB1) led to poor phylogenetic resolution of strains in individual clades. Analysis of five microsatellites (Bc2, Bc3, Bc5, Bc6, and Bc10) resulted in 55 microsatellite haplotypes within the 109 strains. No correlation was detected among individual haplotypes and the presence/absence of Flipper and/or Boty, the geographic origin, or the year of isolation. Application of the index of association, the chi-square test, and the phi test consistently indicated that the population of Hungarian isolates of B. cinerea undergoes sexual reproduction. However, the index of association test suggested the presence of some clonality, and the fixation index showed a low or occasionally moderate level of fixation in the Flipper populations. We conclude that the B. cinerea populations in Hungary consist of a strongly recombining group II phylogenetic species.