Molecular and phenotypic descriptions of Stachybotrys chlorohalonata sp. nov. and two chemotypes of Stachybotrys chartarum found in water-damaged buildings

Abstract

Twenty-five Stachybotrys isolates from two previous studies have been examined and compared, using morphological, chemical and phylogenetic methods. The results show that S. chartarum sensu lato can be segregated into two chemotypes and one new species. The new species, S. chlorohalonata, differs morphologically from S. chartarum by having smooth conidia, being more restricted in growth and producing a green extracellular pigment on the medium CYA. S. chlorohalonata and S. chartarum also have different tri5, chs1 and tub1 gene fragment sequences. The two chemotypes of S. chartarum, chemotype S and chemotype A, have similar morphology but differ in production of metabolites. Chemotype S produces macrocyclic trichothecenes, satratoxins and roridins, while chemotype A produces atranones and dolabellanes. There is no difference between the two chemotypes in the tub1 gene fragment, but there is a one nucleotide difference in each of the tri5 and the chs1 gene fragments.

• atranones
• beta-tubulin
• chemotypes
• chitin synthase
• metabolite profiles
• morphological species
• phylogenetic species
• roridins
• satratoxins
• sick-building syndrome
• trichodiene synthase

This study is a part of the Danish “Mold in Buildings” research program partly supported by the Danish government and private companies through the Danish Research Agency. The analytical work was supported by the Danish Technical Research Council under Program for Predictive Biotechnology: “Functional biodiversity in Penicillium and Aspergillus” (Grant No. 9901295). The phylogenetic work was supported by grants from the NIH and NSF to JWT.