New Penicillium Species Associated with Bulbs and Root Vegetables

Abstract

Taxa of the Penicillium series Corymbifera are known for their strongly fasciculate growth and association with the rhizosphere of vegetables and flower bulbs. Using micromorphology, colony characteristics on various media and chemotaxonomic profiling, P. albocoremium sensu stricto and two new species, P. radicicola and P. tulipae, are redescribed during a taxonomic survey of P. albocoremium isolates contained within the IBT culture collection. Although these novel taxa are micromorphologically quite similar, their unique secondary metabolite profiles individually distinguish them from isolates of P. albocoremium. Moreover, the following metabolites produced by these species are known mycotoxins: citrinin, penicillic acid and terrestric acid by P. radicicola and terrestric acid and penitrem A by P. tulipae.