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Penicillium brevicompactum and other isolates with the compact, complex conidiogenous apparatus typical of the species were sequenced in one ribosomal and two protein coding regions. The aligned DNA sequences were analyzed by maximum parsimony and the data from different loci were tested for compatibility using the partition homogeneity test. Analysis of each of the three loci revealed three clades corresponding to P. brevicompactum, P. olsonii and P. biourgeianum. Using the phylogenetic species concept and the genetic isolation of the clades, P. hagemi, P. patrismei, P. stoloniferum, and P. griseobrunneum are all synonyms of P. brevicompactum. P. volgaense is a synonym of Penicillium olsonii, while P. biourgeianum is a distinct species closely related to P. brevicompactum and P. olsonii. Phenotypic distinctions between the species are mostly based on colony characteristics such as colour. P. bialowiezenze, often treated as a synonym of P. brevicompactum, is most closely related to P. polonicum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field surveys were carried out in coffee plantations in Chiapas, Mexico, to collect and identify fungi associated with the cuticle, gut, faeces and galleries of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei. Insects and coffee berries containing galleries were collected in three coffee farms at different altitudes: Rosario Izapa (425 m), La Alianza (700 m) and Monteperla (950 m). An additional sample consisting of coffee berry borers reared in the laboratory on meridic diets was also included. Results show that there is a great diversity of fungi associated with this insect. 212 cultures, including 40 species distributed in 22 genera, were isolated. The recovery of fungi from the galleries was markedly less than from the borer's body. Three of the isolated species were undescribed; two belonging to the Penicillium and one to Hanseniaspora. Most of the species were collected from the cuticle of the insect, and the presence of fungi was not correlated with altitude. Fusarium, Penicillium, Candida and Aspergillus were the dominant genera with percentage abundance of 26.4, 18.7, 13.4 and 12.5%, respectively. The present study provides a detailed description of the mycobiota associated with H. hampei and represents a significant advance in the understanding of the relationship among this insect and the fungi associated with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]