Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #196683

Title: PENICILLIUM ASTROLABIUM AND PENICILLIUM NEOCRASSUM, TWO NEW SPECIES ISOLATED FROM GRAPES AND THEIR PHYLOGENETIC PLACEMENT IN THE P. OLSONII AND P. BREVICOMPACTUM CLADE

Author
item SERRA, RITA - UNIV OF MINHO, PORTUGAL
item Peterson, Stephen

Submitted to: Mycologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2006
Publication Date: 1/15/2007
Citation: Serra, R., Peterson, S.W. 2007. Penicillium astrolabium and Penicillium neocrassum, two new species isolated from grapes and their phylogenetic placement in the P. olsonii and P. brevicompactum clade. Mycologia. 99(1):78-87.

Interpretive Summary: It was recently recognized that certains wines can contain ochratoxin-A, a naturally occurring toxin produced by fungi growing on the grapes. During a survey to find out what species of fungi are making ochratoxin-A on grapes, we found two types of fungi that had never been described and named. We describe and name these new fungi as Penicillium neocrassum and Penicillium astrolabium. These new species are currently being examined to determine whether they are capable of ochratoxin-A production. A comprehensive knowledge of the mycobiota on wine grapes will aid development of strategies to prevent the accumulation of ochratoxin-A in wine.

Technical Abstract: We describe two new terverticillate Penicillium species isolated from grapes on the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic differences from known species. The strains were isolated in the course of a study to establish the mycobiota of grapes in Portugal. Penicillium astrolabium is phenotypically similar to P. olsonii but differs from it by two cultural characters, growth rates and the colony reverse color. P. neocrassum is similar to P. brevicompactum but is readily distinguished by sclerotia production. Phylogenetically P. astrolabium and P. neocrassum are placed in the P. olsonii and P. brevicompactum clade, respectively. Multilocus DNA sequence analysis confirmed the genetic distinctiveness of both species. The parsimony trees obtained for ITS-lsu rDNA region and two protein coding genes, calmodulin and B-tubulin, show congruence for all the species in the Olsonii series: P. brevicompactum, P. bialowiezense, P. olsonii, P. astrolabium and P. neocrassum, indicating that these taxa are genetically well isolated.