Taxonomic characterization of Shiraia-like fungi isolated from bamboos in Japan

The molecular phylogeny of nuclear LSU rDNA sequences (D1/D2 domain), ITS regions, and beta-tubulin gene (tub2) showed that the seven strains of Shiraia-like fungi obtained from fresh bamboo tissues as endophytes were closely related to Shiraia bambusicola and had three distinctive lineages (groups A-C). The closest group (group A) to S. bambusicola produced distinctive prawn-shaped conidioma-like structures that differed from conidiomata in the anamorph of S. bambusicola. Currently, none of the morphological structures and molecular database records were compatible with our Shiraia-like fungi. These results reveal that Shiraia-like fungi group A is supposed to be a new species that should be assigned into a novel genus/species related to S. bambusicola.     

Molecular diversity of bamboo-associated fungi isolated from Japan

Bamboos are common and useful plants in Japan but little information is available about their endophytes. In this study, 257 fungal strains were isolated from bamboo tissues, and 71 representative strains were characterized by 18S rRNA gene and internal transcriber spacer region sequence analysis. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the fungal isolates were located in Sordariomycetes and Dothideomycetes. Xylariales was the dominant group within bamboos. Several rRNA gene sequences were not similar to any current sequence in the database and might be a novel species or genera that could represent sources of novel biological compounds. These findings reveal that bamboos are a huge reservoir of microorganisms that should be extensively investigated.