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In this research, six strains of oleaginous yeasts native to southern Chile were analyzed for their biotechnological potential in lipid accumulation. For this purpose, the six strains, named PP1, PP4, PR4, PR10, PR27 and PR29, were cultivated in a nitrogen-deficient synthetic mineral medium (SMM). Then, two strains were selected and cultivated in an industrial residual "vinasse", under different conditions of temperature (°C), pH and carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio. Finally, under optimized conditions, the growth kinetics and determination of the lipid profile were evaluated. The results of growth in the SMM indicate that yeasts PP1 and PR27 presented biomass concentrations and lipid accumulation percentages of 2.73 and 4.3 g/L of biomass and 36.6% and 45.3% lipids, respectively. Subsequently, for both strains, when cultured in the residual vinasse under optimized environmental conditions, biomass concentrations of 14.8 ± 1.51 g/L (C/N 80) and 15.83 ± 0.57 g/L (C/N 50) and lipid accumulations of 28% and 30% were obtained for PP1 and PR27, respectively. The composition of the triglycerides (TGs), obtained in the culture of the yeasts in a 2 L reactor, presented 64.25% of saturated fatty acids for strain PR27 and 47.18% for strain PP1. The saturated fatty acid compositions in both strains are mainly constituted of fatty acids, myristic C 14:0, heptadecanoic C 17:0, palmitic C 16:0 and stearic C 18:0, and the monounsaturated fatty acids constituted of oleic acid C 18:1 (cis 9) (28–46%), and in smaller amounts, palmitoleic acid and heptadecenoic acid. This work demonstrates that the native yeast strains PP1 and PR27 are promising strains for the production of microbial oils similar to conventional vegetable oils. The potential applications in the energy or food industries, such as aquaculture, are conceivable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helminthosporium is a polyphyletic genus in Massarinaceae (Pleosporales). Species of Helminthosporium are characterized by having septate and erect conidiophores, acro-pleurogenous and distoseptate conidia with a ring-shaped scar at the base. During a survey of fungal diversity in Sichuan Province, China, six Helminthosporium-like isolates were collected from dead branches of unknown trees. Five barcodes, including ITS (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2), SSU, LSU, TEF1, and RPB2 were amplified and sequenced. Morphological examination and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses revealed two new Helminthosporium species (H. chengduense sp. nov., and H. chinense sp. nov.), a new genus (Synhelminthosporium gen. nov.) with a type species Synhelminthosporium synnematoferum sp. nov., and two known species (Helminthosporium submersum and H. velutinum) within Massarinaceae. The new genus Synhelminthosporium differs from the phylogenetically closest genus Helminthosporium by producing synnematous conidiophores. This work expands our understanding of the diversity of Helminthosporium-like taxa in Sichuan Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Ransomnema bravoae from the intestine of the endemic rhinocricid, Anadenobolus putealis , from Mexico, is redescribed. This species was originally described from the spirobolid Hiltonius carpinus from Morelos State, Mexico. A redescription is presented and a neotype proposed due to the loss of the type material. Ransomnema bravoae can be distinguished from all other described species of Ransomnema by the presence of a cervical expansion extending from the base of the buccal cone to approximately the last one-third of the muscular pharynx and is offset by a slight constriction at the termination point, the presence of broad lateral alae beginning at the cervical expansion termination and terminating at the phasmids, the size and distribution of the male caudal papillae, and the size of the spicules, the right spicule being 3-4 times longer than the left. Ransomnema bravoae resembles R. alatum and R. bursatum in the presence of lateral alae but differs markedly in their distribution along the body. The right spicule is within the size range of that of R. longispiculum. Males of R. bravoae possess the usual papillal composition of the genus and are very similar to that of R. christiei in that the last pair of papillae is arranged in tandem. It is similar to species where males possess three precloacal papillae placed on lateral protuberances, showing morphological affinities to Caribbean species R. artigasi and R. habanense from Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A new species of Aporcelinus , collected in a natural habitat of central Mexico, is described and illustrated, including molecular (D2-D3 28 S -rRNA) data. Aporcelinus zapotitlanensis sp. n. is characterised by its 1.19-1.43 mm long body, lip region offset by a deep constriction and 16.5-18.5 μ m broad, odontostyle 19.5-22 long, neck 325-368 μ m long, pharyngeal expansion 150-201 μ m long or 46-55% of the total neck length, uterus 130-167 μ m long and tripartite, V = 54-56, tail conical with finely rounded tip (30-37 μ m, c = 34-43, c′ = 1.2-1.4) lacking a distinct dorsal concavity, spicules 48-51 μ m long, and 11-12 spaced ventromedian supplements with one or two of them located within the range of the spicules. Molecular analyses confirm the monophyly of Aporcelinus and places the new species within a clade shared with A. infundibulicaudatus and A. amazonicus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A molecular hypothesis of the Infraorder Rhigonematomorpha is presented. The phylogeny recovered using combined SSU and LSU markers suggests that the Rhigonematomorpha is nested within a larger clade that includes Ascaridomorpha, Spiruromorpha and Oxyuridomorpha and is strongly supported by maximum likelihood (ML) bootstrap support values (BS) and Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP). SSU and LSU ML and Bayesian analyses recovered Rhigonematomorpha as a paraphyletic clade. In the ML and Bayesian analyses of a combined matrix of complete to partial sequences of SSU and LSU, respectively, Rhigonematomorpha is recovered as a monophyletic clade with moderate BPP but low BS. Highly supported BS and BPP of a combined SSU and LSU matrix support a hypothesis of a monophyletic Superfamily Ransomnematoidea that includes the families Carnoyidae, Hethidae, Ransomnematidae plus a Brumptaemilius, Cattiena, Insulanema clade, and a monophyletic Superfamily Rhigonematoidea that probably includes the paraphyletic families Rhigonematidae and Ichthyocephalidae. It is suggested that the future inclusion of more families and genera might help resolve the monophyly of the Infraorder Rhigonematomorpha as advanced here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil nematode abundance and MOTU diversity were estimated from a geographically broad area of Mexico that included four out of seven recognised vegetation types. Vegetation types were assessed for abundance and diversity of nematode communities and inferred ecological relationships between them. Soils were sampled from tropical rainforest, tropical dry deciduous forest, temperate coniferous forest and xerophytic shrub during 2013, 2014 and 2015. Fourteen sampling sites with ca 10-20 samples per site from 11 localities spread across Central Mexico were assessed. Altitudes sampled ranged from 113 m a.s.l. (tropical coastal plain) to 2400 m a.s.l. (Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt). Samples were drawn from conserved and cultivated plots from each sampling site covering an area of ⩾100 m². A total of 13 263 individuals from 25 identified families of nematodes were collected. Family abundance and complementarity indices between sites revealed to some extent the affinities between vegetation types. Nevertheless, statistical analyses revealed no differences between nematode family abundances between sites, only between families across all sites. Molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) methods were employed as a framework to assess biodiversity. From these, 77 high-quality sequences for taxonomic barcoding were recovered and later identified with morphological traits. Only six sequences matched at a 98-99% level with those reported in GenBank. Sequences amounted to a total of 41MOTU, where 100% of theMOTU from both conserved and disturbed tropical rainforest, tropical dry deciduous forest and xerophytic shrub exhibited a ⩾3% cut-off genetic identity, whilst temperate coniferous forest and disturbed temperate coniferous forest showed 73% and 70% respectively. In addition, 12.2% MOTU were shared among localities and 87.8% exhibited an apparently locality-limited distribution. The potential for a considerable diversity of nematodes, as revealed from a small sample of MOTU diversity, is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the relationships and thus the classification of fungi, has developed rapidly with increasingly widespread use of molecular techniques, over the past 10-15 years, and continues to accelerate. Several genera have been found to be polyphyletic, and their generic concepts have subsequently been emended. New names have thus been introduced for species which are phylogenetically distinct from the type species of particular genera. The ending of the separate naming of morphs of the same species in 2011, has also caused changes in fungal generic names. In order to facilitate access to all important changes, it was desirable to compile these in a single document. The present article provides a list of generic names of Ascomycota (approximately 6500 accepted names published to the end of 2016), including those which are lichen-forming. Notes and summaries of the changes since the last edition of 'Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi' in 2008 are provided. The notes include the number of accepted species, classification, type species (with location of the type material), culture availability, life-styles, distribution, and selected publications that have appeared since 2008. This work is intended to provide the foundation for updating the ascomycete component of the 'Without prejudice list of generic names of Fungi' published in 2013, which will be developed into a list of protected generic names. This will be subjected to the XIXth International Botanical Congress in Shenzhen in July 2017 agreeing to a modification in the rules relating to protected lists, and scrutiny by procedures determined by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF). The previously invalidly published generic names Barriopsis, Collophora (as Collophorina), Cryomyces, Dematiopleospora, Heterospora (as Heterosporicola), Lithophila, Palmomyces (as Palmaria) and Saxomyces are validated, as are two previously invalid family names, Bartaliniaceae and Wiesneriomycetaceae. Four species of Lalaria, which were invalidly published are transferred to Taphrina and validated as new combinations. Catenomycopsis Tibell & Constant. is reduced under Chaenothecopsis Vain., while Dichomera Cooke is reduced under Botryosphaeria Ces. & De Not. (Art. 59). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carnoya cepacapitatus n. sp. and C. mexicana n. sp. from the intestine of Anadenobolus putealis from Mexico are described herein. Specific characters like the number of collars and spines set these species apart from those previously described from the Caribbean and South American regions. Males of C. cepacapitatus n. sp. can be differentiated from those of all other described species of Carnoya from the Americas by the presence of a broader cephalic annule two annules posterior to the lip region, eight transverse rows of spines linearly arranged on cervical region, finely striated regions at the midventral body section and in the region posterior to cloacal aperture, and a pair of double postcloacal papillae, females by a spherical, knob-like annule posterior to lip region, annulated neck region with fourth annule wider than the other six, and 15 spined cervical collars. Males of C. mexicana n. sp. can be differentiated from other described species by the presence of minute and irregularly distributed cervical spines placed on 11 annules, plus an elevated lip region; females bear 15 cervical collars with leaf-like spines. Carnoya cepacapitatus n. sp. closely resembles C. caputbulla, whereas C. mexicana n. sp. resembles several species of Caribbean distribution, mainly C. haiti, but differs from all of them primarily in the number, distribution and size of the cervical spined collars. Females of C. cepacapitatus n. sp. resemble Asian species that possess a knob-like cephalic region. Carnoya mexicana n. sp. resembles more closely the American species of this genus based on the form of the cephalic region in both sexes, but especially the number and distribution of the spined collars in the male. Partial sequences of SSU and LSU are presented for females of both species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Article 59.1, of the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN; Melbourne Code), which addresses the nomenclature of pleomorphic fungi, became effective from 30 July 2011. Since that date, each fungal species can have one nomenclaturally correct name in a particular classification. All other previously used names for this species will be considered as synonyms. The older generic epithet takes priority over the younger name. Any widely used younger names proposed for use, must comply with Art. 57.2 and their usage should be approved by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi (NCF). In this paper, we list all genera currently accepted by us in Dothideomycetes (belonging to 23 orders and 110 families), including pleomorphic and non-pleomorphic genera. In the case of pleomorphic genera, we follow the rulings of the current ICN and propose single generic names for future usage. The taxonomic placements of 1261 genera are listed as an outline. Protected names and suppressed names for 34 pleomorphic genera are listed separately. Notes and justifications are provided for possible proposed names after the list of genera. Notes are also provided on recent advances in our understanding of asexual and sexual morph linkages in Dothideomycetes. A phylogenetic tree based on four gene analyses supported 23 orders and 75 families, while 35 families still lack molecular data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungal genus Pithomyces comprises numerous dematiaceous saprobic species commonly found on dead leaves and stems of a great variety of plants. Occasionally, they have been recovered from clinical specimens. We morphologically and molecularly (rDNA sequences) investigated a set of 42 isolates tentatively identified as Pithomyces recovered from clinical specimens in the United States. The predominant species were P. chartarum and P. sacchari (33.3% each), followed by Pithomyces sp. I (28.6%) and P. maydicus (4.8%). Most of the isolates were obtained from samples of superficial tissue (50%), the respiratory tract (21.4%), and the nasal region (19%). In general, these fungi were highly susceptible in vitro to the eight antifungal agents tested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a proposal formulated by zoologists, disease ecologists, conservation biologists and other experts in the parasitological community for linking human activities with basic evolutionary principles and for providing a framework to enable cooperation among specialists and institutions around the world. Topics covered include the Stockholm Paradigm, the importance of knowledge in systematics, and the importance of documenting discovered species.

Heth gordae n. sp., H. xarochae n. sp. and H. tuxtlensis n. sp. from the intestine of spiroboloids from Mexico are described herein. Females of H. gordae n. sp. and H. xarochae n. sp. can be differentiated from all other described species of Heth from the Americas by the presence of two sets of lateral spines with multiple cusps with a common broad base arranged in a semilunar shape pattern. Heth gordae n. sp. exhibits a narrower pattern that resembles more a comb-like structure, whereas H. xarochae n. sp. exhibits a broader pattern. Both aforementioned species resemble H. hexaspinosum from Panamá, but the latter possesses fewer spines without a common base. Lateral spines with multiple cusps have never been previously described in the genus Heth. Females of H. tuxtlensis n. sp. resemble Asian collar lappet-species but differ from them in possessing a complete uninterrupted collar with indented single lateral lappets. Specific characters described herein set these species apart from the Caribbean Heth species, most South American, and those previously described from Mexico. The present descriptions increase the number of Heth species recorded from Mexico from three to six. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new species of Pseudachorutes is described and illustrated from Nicaragua. Pseudachorutes nica sp. n. is very easy to distinguish from other members of this genus from Central America, because its chaetotaxy consists of macro and microsetae and a postantennal organ with multiple vesicles (close to 20). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed two murine models of disseminated infections by Neoscytalidium dimidiatum, an emerging dematiaceous fungus. Immunosuppressed mice were challenged through the lateral tail vein with 1×105 or 1×106 CFU/ml and immunocompe-tent animals with 1×106 or 1×107 CFU/ml. N. dimidiatum var. dimidiatum was more virulent than the nonpigmented variety, N. dimidiatum var. hyalinum. All mice infected with N. dimidiatum var. dimidiatum died within 8 days while those infected with N. dimidiatum var. hyalinum survived to the end of the experiment. Fungal load in tissue was also higher in animals inoculated with N. dimidiatum var. dimidiatum. In general, of the five organs tested, spleens and kidneys were most affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study evaluated the genetic variability and in vitro susceptibility patterns of isolates of Neoscytalidium dimidiatum and Scytalidium hyalinum from different geographical origins. Partial sequences of four loci (the ITS region and D1/D2 domains of the 28S rRNA gene and the tubulin and chitin synthase genes) were analysed. Among a total of 1970bp sequenced in 24 isolates, 7 polymorphic positions (0.36%) were detected, representing five different sequence types (ST1–ST5), from which two (ST2 and ST3) were detected exclusively in isolates from plants, two (ST1 and ST5) were found only in clinical isolates and one (ST4) was observed in isolates from humans and from a mango tree. We propose subordinating S. hyalinum as a variety of N. dimidiatum. Amphotericin B was the most active drug, but low minimum inhibitory concentrations were also detected for voriconazole, terbinafine and anidulafungin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The in vitro antifungal susceptibility of a set of 99 clinical isolates of Curvularia was tested against 9 drugs using a reference microdilution method. The isolates had been identified previously to species level by comparing their ITS rDNA and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene sequences with those of reference strains. We were able to reliably identify 73.2% of the isolates, the most frequent species being Curvularia aeria, Curvularia geniculata/Curvularia senegalensis, Curvularia lunata, Curvularia inaequalis, Curvularia verruculosa, and Curvularia borreriae. Most of these isolates had been recovered from nasal sinus, which is generally considered one of the most frequent sites of infection by these fungi. In addition, at least 3 phylogenetic species that have not yet been formally described were detected. The most active drugs were the echinocandins, amphotericin B, and posaconazole, whereas voriconazole and itraconazole showed poor activity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]