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Talaromyces disparis, Talaromyces funiformis and Talaromyces jianfengicus from soil established in sect. Tal.

Talaromyces disparis, Talaromyces funiformis and Talaromyces jianfengicus from soil established in sect. Tal.

NEWS - Talaromyces disparis (ex-type AS3.26221), Talaromyces funiformis (ex-type AS3.26220) and Talaromyces jianfengicus (ex-type AS3.26253) isolated from soil were established as three new species in sect. Talaromyces based on morphological characters and phylogenetic analysis of BenA, CaM, Rpb2 and ITS sequences.

Talaromyces species play important roles in nutrient cycling in natural ecosystems, plant biomass degradation in industry and implications in medicine. However, the diversity of this genus is far from being fully understood. The genus is currently divided into 8 sections (Bacillispori, Helici, Islandici, Purpurei, Subinflati, Talaromyces, Tenues and Trachyspermi).

In a survey of Talaromyces in China, researchers found five typical Talaromyces strains and proposed three new species represented by these strains included in sect. Talaromyces, which now includes about 90 species, is the largest section within Talaromyces and generally grows rapidly to clumps with a diameter of more than 30 mm on MEA.

The species in this section are usually phylogenetically distant, but some closely related taxa form species complexes and members of these species complexes are not easily distinguished from each other using morphology, especially micromorphology.

The researchers used a polyphasic taxonomy that combines morphological and phylogenetic characters to establish a new species based on a single strain, because this species is phylogenetically unique and morphologically clearly distinguishable from other species. The proposed three species were also confirmed by phylogenetic analysis of the BenA-CaM-Rpb2, BenA-CaM-ITS concatenations and the BenA, CaM, Rpb2, and ITS sequence matrices individually.

T. disparis is nicknamed on penicillins in various patterns and conidia of various shapes and dimensions. The taxon is characterized by low growth, velvety texture and limited to moderate sporulation. Penicillates are biverticulate, monoverticulate, irregular and have polymorphic smooth-walled conidia with some abnormally large round conidia.

T. disparis is a unique species with no close relatives in Talaromyces based on phylogenetic analysis and no bootstrap support provided, although it is in a clade with T. intermedius, T. viridis and T. panamensis in the BenA-CaM-Rpb2 phylogram

T. funiformis is named for its funiculose appearance on CYA, MEA and YES. This taxon is included in the T. pinophilus complex. The species produces mycelial funicules on CYA, MEA and YES. Sporulation is rare on Cz, CYA, MEA and YES but abundant on OA. Growth rate is low at 37°C. Penicillates are biverticulate and conida are round to pyriform with smooth to rough walls.

T. jianfengicus is given its specific epithet in reference to the location where the ex-type strain was isolated. This species belongs to the T. verruculosus complex which includes T. johnpittii, T. stellenboschiensis, T. yunnanensis, and T. verruculosus. These members generally grow moderately to rapidly on MEA, YES, and OA.

T. jianfengicus is characterized by velvety colony texture with moderately to abundant elm green conidia and green-yellow mycelium, biverticulate penicillata, ampulliform phialids, and spherical conidia with verrucous walls.

Original research

Ren X, Li S, Ruan Y, Wang L. 2024. Three new species of Talaromyces sect. Talaromyces discovered in China. PeerJ 12:e18253, DOI:10.7717/peerj.18253

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