New Coelomycetous Fungi from Freshwater in Spain

Abstract

Coelomycetous fungi are ubiquitous in soil, sewage, and sea- and freshwater environments. However, freshwater coelomycetous fungi have been very rarely reported in the literature. Knowledge of coelomycetous fungi in freshwater habitats in Spain is poor. The incubation of plant debris, from freshwater in various places in Spain into wet chambers, allowed us to detect and isolate in pure culture several pycnidia-producing fungi. Fungal strains were phenotypically characterized, and a phylogenetic study was carried out based on the analysis of concatenated nucleotide sequences of the D1–D2 domains of the 28S nrRNA gene (LSU), the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) of the nrDNA, and fragments of the RNA polymerase II subunit 2 (rpb2) and beta tubulin (tub2) genes. As a result of these, we report the finding of two novel species of Neocucurbitaria, three of Neopyrenochaeta, and one of Pyrenochaetopsis. Based on the phylogenetic study, we also transferred Neocucurbitaria prunicola to the genus Allocucurbitaria. This work makes an important contribution to the knowledge of the mycobiota of plant debris in freshwater habitats.