Talaromyces columbinus sp. nov., and Genealogical Concordance Analysis in Talaromyces Clade 2a

During the course of mold surveys, a set of Talaromyces isolates were obtained that did not fit any described species. Phenotypic examination of these isolates showed that they were similar to T. piceus but differed in some growth characteristics. Multilocus DNA sequence data were obtained for the new isolates and some related species in the broader, more inclusive clade, and the data were analyzed using genealogical concordance. The new isolates are described as Talaromyces columbinus. From analysis of the related species, Penicillium rugulosum var. atricolum is given species status in Talaromyces as T. atricola. Penicillium tardum and P. chrysitis were showed to be synonyms of T. rugulosus. Penicillium scorteum and T. phialosporus were showed to be conspecific and under the rule of priority T. scorteus is the proper name for isolates previously known as T. phialosporus. Talaromyces wortmanii was showed to be distinct from Penicillium concavorugulosum and T. variabilis but the relationship of the latter two species remains unresolved. Examination of ITS sequences from GenBank showed that T. columbinus has previously been reported from human lung infections under the name Penicillium piceum.