Description of new micro-colonial fungi speciesNeophaeococcomyces mojavensis,Coniosporium tulheliwenetii, and Taxawa tesnikishiicultured from biological soil crusts

Abstract

AbstractBlack yeasts and relatives comprise Micro-Colonial Fungi (MCFs) which are slow-growing stress-tolerant micro-eukaryotes that specialize in extreme environments. MCFs are paraphyletic and found in the OrdersChaetothyriales(Eurotiomycetes) andDothideales(Dothidiomycetes). We have isolated and described three new MCFs species from desert biological soil crusts (BSCs) collected from two arid land regions: Joshua Tree National Park (Mojave Desert) and UC Natural Reserve at Boyd Deep Canyon (confluence of Mojave and Sonoran Deserts). BSCs are composite assemblages of cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes embedded into the surface of desert soils, providing a protective buffer against the harsh desert environment. Our work focused on one type of desert BSC, the cyanolichen crust dominated byCollema sp.Using culture-dependent protocols, three MCFs were axenically isolated from their respective samples along with the extracted DNA. Their genomes were sequenced using Illumina and Nanopore, and finally assembled and annotated using hybrid assembly approaches and established bioinformatics pipelines to conduct final taxonomic phylogenetic analysis and placement. The three species described here are unique specimen from desert BSCs, here we introduce,Neophaeococcomyces mojavensis(Chaetothyriales),Cladosporium tulheliwenetii(Dothideales), andTaxawa tesnikishii(Dothideales).