Abstract
During a collecting trip exploring new habitats and locations for keratinophilic fungi, soil samples were collected from Bohani village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Following isolation using a hair baiting technique, one sample yielded an interesting hyphomycetous fungus. The fungus, which could easily be observed under a dissecting microscope, formed prominently large, dark brown to opaque, fusoid conidia on horse hair after 2 mo of incubation. Single-conidial colonies were cultivated on Sabouraud dextrose agar medium by direct transfer, using a fine needle under a dissecting microscope. Morphologically the fungus resembles genera such as Bahugada, Hadrosporium, Manoharachariella, Pithomyces, and Septosporiopsis, but differs with regard to its conidia and conidiogenous cells. Based on its unique morphology, the present collection is described as a new genus, Matsushimamyces, with M. bohaniensis as type species. Phylogenetic analysis of the LSU region placed Matsushimamyces in Latoruaceae (Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes). Furthermore, based on the morphological and phylogenetic similarity (ITS and LSU rDNA), a second species, Polyschema venustum, is also referred to Matsushimamyces.
Highlights
Tropical regions of the world harbour an enormous biodiversity, including fungi (Hawksworth 1998)
Single conidial colonies were obtained by removing the conidia with the help of a ne needle and plating them on Sabouraud dextrose agar medium (SDA; HiMedia and Merck, Mumbai) and 2 % potato dextrose agar (PDA; Merck, Mumbai)
The extype culture(s) of the fungus were deposited in the Centre for Biodiversity Exploration and Conservation (CBEC), Jabalpur, Microbial Culture Collection (MCC) in Pune, and the Microbial Type Culture Collection (MTCC) in Chandigarh
Summary
Tropical regions of the world harbour an enormous biodiversity, including fungi (Hawksworth 1998). Two biodiversity hotspots were identi ed in India, namely the north-eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats (Myers et al 2000). After this demarcation, there was a marked increase in the number of fungal diversity exploration studies in these two areas, resulting in the discovery of several new fungi. There was a marked increase in the number of fungal diversity exploration studies in these two areas, resulting in the discovery of several new fungi This did, result in a diversion of focus from other regions in India, from which novel fungi still await collection or isolation and description. The present communication is a report of one such study from a village in Central India
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