Multilocus molecular phylogenetic-led discovery and formal recognition of four novel root-colonizing Fusarium species from northern Kazakhstan and the phylogenetically divergent Fusarium steppicola lineage

ABSTRACT

In this study, DNA sequence data were used to characterize 290 Fusarium strains isolated during a survey of root-colonizing endophytic fungi of agricultural and nonagricultural plants in northern Kazakhstan. The Fusarium collection was screened for species identity using partial translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1) gene sequences. Altogether, 16 different Fusarium species were identified, including eight known and four novel species, as well as the discovery of the phylogenetically divergent F. steppicola lineage. Isolates of the four putatively novel fusaria were further analyzed phylogenetically with a multilocus data set comprising partial sequences of TEF1, RNA polymerase II largest (RPB1) and second-largest (RPB2) subunits, and calmodulin (CaM) to assess their genealogical exclusivity. Based on the molecular phylogenetic and comprehensive morphological analyses, four new species are formally described herein: F. campestre, F. kazakhstanicum, F. rhizicola, and F. steppicola.

KEYWORDS:

• CaM
• genealogical concordance phylogenetic species recognition (GCPSR)
• morphology
• RPB1
• RPB2
• sporodochial conidia
• TEF1
• 4 new taxa

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the A. I. Barayev “Scientific Production Centre for Grain Farming” for the official permission to collect samples from the fields and to conduct this research. Sampling in the Karaganda and Almaty provinces was supported by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with assistance from Rauan Zhapayev (CIMMYT-Kazakhstan) and Abdelfattah A. S. Dababat (CIMMYT-Turkey). The authors thank Andras Molnár for preparing the photographic plates.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00275514.2022.2119761.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported partly by the ELTE Thematic Excellence Programme 2020 supported by National Research, Development and Innovation Office (TKP2020-IKA-05), the Hungarian-Chinese industrial research and development cooperation tender (2017-2.3.6-TÉT-CN-2018-00025), the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary (OTKA KH-130401 and K-139026), and the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme. D.G.K. was supported by a János Bolyai Research Scholarship from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Bolyai+ New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology. This research was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National Program for Food Safety and the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-1655980). I.L. was supported in part by an appointment to the ARS Research Participation Program administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). ORISE is managed by ORAU under DOE contract number DE-SC0014664. All opinions expressed in this paper are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the policies and views of USDA, DOE, or ORAU/ORISE. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.