568
Views
5
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Systematics

Along the footpath of Penicillium discovery: Six new species from the Woodville Big Tree Forest Trail

ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 87-106 | Received 25 May 2022, Accepted 11 Oct 2022, Published online: 28 Nov 2022
 

ABSTRACT

In this study, we studied the diversity of Penicillium occurring in soil collected along the Woodville Big Tree Forest Trail situated close to the coastal town of Wilderness in South Africa. Strains were accessioned into a collection and then identified to species based on β-tubulin DNA sequences, which is the recommended DNA barcode for the genus. The 74 strains were found to represent 18 species, including six we consider undescribed. Here, we introduce them as Penicillium claroviride, P. kalander, P. mattheeae, P. outeniquaense, P. subfuscum, and P. umkhoba. Phylogenetic comparisons were made, and genealogical concordance was demonstrated for these new species using DNA sequences from nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS barcode), β-tubulin, calmodulin, and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit. Notes on morphological characters distinguishing the new species from their close relatives are provided.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to acknowledge the DNA Sanger Sequencing Facility, Faculty Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, where sequencing for this project was done. We are grateful to Mike and Brenda Wingfield who collected soil for this project, to Nombulelo Qikani who provided Xhosa assistance, and to Konstanze Bensch who provided nomenclatural and Latin assistance.

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/10.1080/00275514.2022.2135915

Additional information

Funding

We acknowledge the National Research Foundation (NRF) in South Africa and the Future Leaders—African Independent Research fellowship program (FLAIR, FLR\R1\201831), which funded this work. The FLAIR fellowship program is a partnership between the African Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society funded by the UK Government’s Global Challenges Research Fund. C.M.V. acknowledges Plant Health and Protection, Agricultural Research Council (ARC-PHP), where initial isolations were made while employed there.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.