Multi-Gene Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Hypoxylon (Hypoxylaceae, Ascomycota) from China

The Hypoxylon species play an important ecological role in tropical rainforest as wood-decomposers, and some might have benefical effects on their hosts as endophytes. The present work concerns a survey of the genus Hypoxylon from Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park of China. Four new species: H. wuzhishanense, H. hainanense, H.chrysalidosporum, and H.cyclobalanopsidis, were discovered based on a combination of morphological characteristics and molecular data. Hypoxylon wuzhishanense is characterized by Rust pulvinate stromata, amyloid apical apparatus and brown ascospores, with most of the perispore being indehiscent in 10% KOH. Hypoxylon hainanense has effused–pulvinate and Violet stromata, amyloid apical apparatus, light-brown to brown ascospores with straight germ slit and dehiscent perispore. Hypoxylonchrysalidosporum is distinguished by glomerate to pulvinate stromata, highly reduced or absent inamyloid apical apparatus, and light-brown to brown ascospores with very conspicuous coil-like ornamentation. Hypoxyloncyclobalanopsidis has Livid Purple pulvinate stromata, highly reduced amyloid apical apparatus, faint bluing, brown ascospores and dehiscent perispore, and it grows on dead branches of Cyclobalanopsis. Detailed descriptions, illustrations, and contrasts with morphologically similar species are provided. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from ITS, RPB2, LSU, and β-tubulin sequences confirmed that the four new species are distinct within the genus Hypoxylon.

Tylocinum is no longer monotypic: Tylocinum brevisporum sp. nov. (Boletales, Boletaceae) from northern Thailand

Tylocinum Y.C. Li & Zhu L. Yang 2016 is a Boletaceae genus belonging in subfamily Leccinoideae. It was described in 2016 from China and, prior to this study, it contained only one species, T. griseolum Y.C. Li & Zhu L. Yang 2016. During our survey of Boletaceae from Thailand, we collected some specimens that could be identified as a Tylocinum species, different from T. griseolum. The bolete specimens, collected in forests dominated by Dipterocarpaceae and Fagaceae in northern Thailand, are described as Tylocinum brevisporum Raghoonundon & Raspé sp. nov. Macroscopic and microscopic descriptions with illustrations are provided, as well as a 3-gene phylogeny, which confirms the new taxon’s position in Tylocinum. Tylocinum brevisporum differs from the only other known Tylocinum species (T. griseolum) by its brownish-grey colour, greyish-orange to brownish-orange colour change in the hymenophore when bruised, smaller pores (≤ 0.5 mm), longer tubes (up to 6 mm long), shorter and narrower basidiospores, longer and broader basidia and longer pleurocystidia relative to cheilocystidia. T. brevisporum is the second species from the genus Tylocinum and the only one to be found outside China thus far.

Genomic analysis of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli colonising adults in Blantyre, Malawi reveals previously undescribed diversity.

Escherichia coli is a ubiquitous bacterial species, associated with drug resistant infections; hundreds of thousands of genomes are now available, but are biased towards high-income countries and clinical isolates. Data from sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) are underrepresented in global sequencing efforts and may represent a major source of genetic diversity with respect to transmissible antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We carried out a genomic investigation of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. coli colonising adults in Blantyre, Malawi to assess the diversity and AMR determinants and to place these isolates in the context of globally available genomes. We carried out short-read whole-genome sequencing of 473 colonising ESBL E. coli isolated from stool and placed them in the context of a previous curated species wide collection of 10,146 isolates using the popPUNK clustering algorithm and by constructing a core gene phylogeny. The most frequently identified STs in Malawian isolates were the globally successful ST131 and ST410, and blaCTX-M were the dominant ESBL genes, mirroring global trends. However, 37% of Malawian isolates did not cluster with any isolates in the global collection, and the core gene phylogeny was consistent with local subclades including in ST410 and several phylogroup A lineages. Apparent undescribed diversity in Malawian E. coli could be due to local selection pressures or sampling biases in global E. coli collections. Taking a one health approach to further sampling of E. coli from Malawi and sSA, and principled incorporation into unbiased global collections is necessary to understand local, regional and global transmission of both E. coli and priority AMR genes.

Jinshanibacter allomyrinae sp. nov., isolated from larvae of Allomyrina dichotoma, proposal of Insectihabitans xujianqingii gen. nov., comb. nov. and emended descriptions of the genera Jinshanibacter, Limnobaculum and Pragia

Taxonomic positions of four Gram-negative bacterial strains, which were isolated from larvae of two insects in Jeju, Republic of Korea, were determined by a polyphasic approach. Strains CWB-B4, CWB-B41 and CWB-B43 were recovered from larvae of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis, whereas strain BWR-B9T was from larvae of Allomyrina dichotoma. All the isolates grew at 10–37 °C, at pH 5.0–9.0 and in the presence of 4 % (w/v) NaCl. The 16S rRNA gene phylogeny showed that the four isolates formed two distinct sublines within the order Enterobacteriales and closely associated with members of the genus Jinshanibacter . The first group represented by strain CWB-B4 formed a tight cluster with Jinshanibacter xujianqingii CF-1111T (99.3 % sequence similarity), whereas strain BWR-B9T was most closely related to Jinshanibacter zhutongyuii CF-458T (99.5 % sequence similarity). The 92 core gene analysis showed that the isolates belonged to the family Budviciaceae and supported the clustering shown in 16S rRNA gene phylogeny. The genomic DNA G+C content of the isolates was 45.2 mol%. A combination of overall genomic relatedness and phenotypic distinctness supported that three isolates from Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis are different strains of Jinshanibacter xujianqingii , whereas one isolate from Allomyrina dichotoma represents a new species of the genus Jinshanibacter . On the basis of results obtained here, Jinshanibacter allomyrinae sp. nov. (type strain BWR-B9T=KACC 22153T=NBRC 114879T) and Insectihabitans xujianqingii gen. nov., comb. nov. are proposed, with the emended descriptions of the genera Jinshanibacter , Limnobaculum and Pragia .

New species in Aspergillus section Usti and an overview of Aspergillus section Cavernicolarum

Aspergillus sections Usti and Cavernicolarum are accommodated in the subgenus Nidulantes. In the present study, a polyphasic approach using morphology and multi-gene phylogeny was applied to investigate the taxonomy of these two sections. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, Aspergillus section Usti includes 25 species, which can be assigned to four series: Calidousti, Deflecti, Monodiorum and Usti. Aspergillus sigarelli is newly described in this section and this species was isolated from a cigarette from PR China and belongs to series Calidousti. It is clearly distinct from other members in this series based on ITS, BenA, CaM and RPB2 sequences. Aspergillus section Usti members like A. calidoustus and A. granulosus are important opportunistic pathogens, it is speculative that more pathogenetic species will be found by using polyphasic taxonomy approaches. Aspergillus section Cavernicolarum includes five species, the growth rates on agar media and size and ornamentation of conidia are important characters for differentiating species in section Cavernicolarum.