Coiled Hyphae Research Articles

Cover: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 8/2019

Journal of Basic MicrobiologyVolume 59, Issue 8 p. 765-765 COVER PICTUREFree Access Cover: Journal of Basic Microbiology. 8/2019 First published: 01 August 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/jobm.201970019AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Graphical Abstract Cover illustration: Hyphal coil: a vertical side view of coiled hyphae formed during mycorrhizal ontogenesis in axenically developed coculture of transformed root of Daucus carota and Rhizophagus irregularis. (Photo: Shikha Chaudhary, TERI-Deakin Nanobiotechnology Centre, TERI Gram, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, Haryana, India) Volume59, Issue8August 2019Pages 765-765 RelatedInformation

Blastomyces helicus, a New Dimorphic Fungus Causing Fatal Pulmonary and Systemic Disease in Humans and Animals in Western Canada and the United States

Blastomyces helicus (formerly Emmonsia helica) is a dimorphic fungus first isolated from a man with fungal encephalitis in Alberta, Canada. The geographic range, epidemiology, and clinical features of disease are unknown. We reviewed human and veterinary isolates of B. helicus identified among Blastomyces and Emmonsia isolates at the University of Alberta Microfungus Collection and Herbarium, University of Texas Health San Antonio's Fungus Testing Laboratory, and Associated Regional and University Pathologists Laboratories. Isolates were selected based on low Blastomyces dermatitidis DNA probe values and/or atypical morphology. Species identification was confirmed for most isolates by DNA sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer with or without D1/D2 ribosomal RNA regions. Epidemiological and clinical data were analyzed. We identified isolates from 10 human and 5 veterinary cases of B. helicus infection; all were referred from western regions of Canada and the United States. Isolates remained sterile in culture, producing neither conidia nor sexual spores in the mycelial phase, but often producing coiled hyphae. Isolates were most frequently cultured from blood and bronchoalveolar lavage in humans and lungs in animals. Most infected persons were immunocompromised. Histopathological findings included pleomorphic, small or variably sized yeast-like cells, with single or multiple budding, sometimes proliferating to form short, branching, hyphal-like elements. Disease carried a high case-fatality rate. Blastomyces helicus causes fatal pulmonary and systemic disease in humans and companion animals. It differs from B. dermatitidis in morphological presentation in culture and in histopathology, by primarily affecting immunocompromised persons, and in a geographic range that includes western regions of North America.

Talaromyces pinophilus strain AUN-1 as a novel mycoparasite of Botrytis cinerea, the pathogen of onion scape and umbel blights

This study aimed to investigate the mycoparasitism of Botrytis cinerea, the pathogen of scape and umbel blights of onion seed crops, by endophytic Talaromyces pinophilus. The dual culture test showed that the antagonistic potentiality of T. pinophilus against B. cinerea depend on the mycoparasitism that was morphologically detected by the formation of mycelial overgrowth. Moreover, the light micrograph of the mycelia at the contact zone exhibited that the hyphae of T. pinophilus penetrated and grew intracellularly inside the hyphae of B. cinerea. A more illustrative figure of the establishment of coiled hyphae as well as the conformation of the penetration process was assayed by SEM and TEM analyses. SEM micrograph revealed that the hyphae of T. pinophilus grew along hyphae of B. cinerea, attached, coiled around the host hypha and generated pseudoappressorium. A clear disintegration of cell wall of the host hypha was observed at the penetration site. The micrographs of TEM exhibited the ability of T. pinophilus to produce pseudoappressorium, penetrate and then entere a hypha of B. cinerea causing distinct cytoplasmic disorganization. High activities of cell wall degrading enzymes (chitinase, lipase and protease) involved in the mycoparasitism were evaluated by the endophytic T. pinophilus. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the endophytic T. pinophilus may be a promising biocontrol agent against phytopathogenic fungi instead of chemical fungicides.

Occurrence of symbiotic fungi and rhizospheric phosphate solubilization in weeds

Studies on the ecology of the organisms involved in the production process are necessary for the development of sustainable agriculture, and sustainability is currently closely linked to the profitability of production. The objective of this study was to verify the occurrence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in weeds infesting Brazilian crops and to evaluate the inorganic phosphate solubilization potential of the associated microbiota. A total of 36 weed species were evaluated for the occurrence of mycorrhizae; of these, 11 were selected to evaluate their potential for total and relative phosphate solubilization. All of the species demonstrated mycorrhizal colonization, including a member of the Brassicaceae family, which is usually assumed to be non-mycorrhizal. In most of the species, morphological types of arbuscular and coiled hyphae were observed, with the coiled hyphae being the most common in the grasses. Dark septate endophytic fungi were observed in most of the plants. The weeds presented different potentials for P solubilization in the rhizosphere; Amaranthus retroflexus, Bidens pilosa and Leonotis nepetaefolia showed high values of relative phosphate solubilization. This is the first report on the mycorrhizae and phosphate solubilization activity in weeds in Brazil.

Molecular and Morphological Data Support the Existence of a Sexual Cycle in Species of the Genus Paracoccidioides

The genus Paracoccidioides includes the thermodimorphic species Paracoccidioides brasiliensis and P. lutzii, both of which are etiologic agents of paracoccidioidomycosis, a systemic mycosis that affects humans in Latin America. Despite the common occurrence of a sexual stage among closely related fungi, this has not been observed with Paracoccidioides species, which have thus been considered asexual. Molecular evolutionary studies revealed recombination events within isolated populations of the genus Paracoccidioides, suggesting the possible existence of a sexual cycle. Comparative genomic analysis of all dimorphic fungi and Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrated the presence of conserved genes involved in sexual reproduction, including those encoding mating regulators such as MAT, pheromone receptors, pheromone-processing enzymes, and mating signaling regulators. The expression of sex-related genes in the yeast and mycelial phases of both Paracoccidioides species was also detected by real-time PCR, with nearly all of these genes being expressed preferentially in the filamentous form of the pathogens. In addition, the expression of sex-related genes was responsive to the putative presence of pheromone in the supernatants obtained from previous cocultures of strains of two different mating types. In vitro crossing of isolates of different mating types, discriminated by phylogenetic analysis of the α-box (MAT1-1) and the high-mobility-group (HMG) domain (MAT1-2), led to the identification of the formation of young ascocarps with constricted coiled hyphae related to the initial stage of mating. These genomic and morphological analyses strongly support the existence of a sexual cycle in species of the genus Paracoccidioides.

The mycorrhiza of Schizocodon soldanelloides var. magnus (Diapensiaceae) is regarded as ericoid mycorrhiza from its structure and fungal identities

Structure and fungal identities were examined in the mycorrhizal roots of Schizocodon soldanelloides var. magnus (Diapensiaceae) to determine the mycorrhizal category. Previous studies had suggested the mycorrhizae of Diapensiaceae could be categorized as ericoid, but the mycorrhizal fungi have never been identified. The diameter of the fine lateral roots, in which coiled hyphae were found in epidermal cells, was mostly less than 100μm. Molecular analyses identified the fungal isolates to be Helotiales and Oidiodendron. From the structure and fungal identities, we confirmed that the mycorrhiza of S. soldanelloides is an ericoid mycorrhiza.

The mycorrhiza of <i>Schizocodon soldanelloides</i> var. <i>magnus</i> (Diapensiaceae) is regarded as ericoid mycorrhiza from its structure and fungal identities

Structure and fungal identities were examined in the mycorrhizal roots of Schizocodon soldanelloides var. magnus (Diapensiaceae) to determine the mycorrhizal category. Previous studies had suggested the mycorrhizae of Diapensiaceae could be categorized as ericoid, but the mycorrhizal fungi have never been identified. The diameter of the fine lateral roots, in which coiled hyphae were found in epidermal cells, was mostly less than 100 μm. Molecular analyses identified the fungal isolates to be Helotiales and Oidiodendron. From the structure and fungal identities, we confirmed that the mycorrhiza of S. soldanelloides is an ericoid mycorrhiza.

Identification and Characterization of a Novel Etiological Agent of Mango Malformation Disease in Mexico, Fusarium mexicanum sp. nov.

The primary objective of this study was to characterize Fusarium spp. associated with the economically devastating mango malformation disease (MMD) in Mexico. In all, 142 Fusarium strains were isolated from symptomatic mango inflorescences and vegetative tissues in eight geographically diverse Mexican states from 2002 through 2007. Initially, all the Mexican isolates were screened for genetic diversity using appolymerase chain reaction and random amplified polymorphic DNA markers and were grouped into seven distinct genotypes. Based on results of these analyses, evolutionary relationships and species limits of the genetically diverse MMD-associated Fusarium spp. were investigated using multilocus DNA sequence data and phylogenetic species recognition. Maximum parsimony analyses of a five-locus data set comprising 5.8 kb of aligned DNA sequence data indicated that at least nine phylogenetically distinct Fusarium spp. within the Gibberella fujikuroi species complex are associated with MMD, including one species within the African clade (Fusarium pseudocircinatum), two species within the Asian clade (F. mangiferae and F. proliferatum), and at least six species within the American clade (F. sterilihyphosum and five undescribed Fusarium spp.). Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that a novel genealogically exclusive lineage within the American clade was the predominant MMD associate in Mexico. This new Fusarium sp. caused MMD and could be distinguished from all other known species morphologically by the production of mostly sterile, coiled hyphae which are typically associated with sporodochial conidiophores together with unbranched or sparsely branched aerial conidiophores. Koch's postulates were completed for isolates of the new species on nucellar seedlings of mango cv. Ataulfo. This pathogen is formally described herein as F. mexicanum.

First Report of Pitch Canker on Pines Caused by Fusarium circinatum in Portugal.

In November of 2007, dieback symptoms (basal needle dieback, wilting, and dieback of terminal shoot) were observed on plant groups of Pinus radiata and P. pinaster in a tree nursery located in Anadia in the central region of Portugal (40°26'N, 08°23'W). Two containers with a total of 112 plants per pine species (with and without symptoms) were collected. Small pieces (5 mm long; two from the roots, stem at the soil level, and the aerial part, totaling six pieces) of 20 symptomatic plants were sterilized with 3% sodium hypochlorite, and isolations were performed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) supplemented with 0.5 mg/ml of streptomycin sulfate. A species of Fusarium was isolated from all infected tissues and pure cultures were obtained by single hyphal tip transfers on PDA and Spezieller Nährstoffarmer agar and incubated at 25°C for 10 days with a 12-h photoperiod. The species was identified as Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O'Donnell (= F. subglutinans Wollenweb & Reinking) on the basis of morphological and cultural characteristics (2). They produced white, aerial mycelia, violet pigment, typically three-septate macroconidia with slightly curved walls, single-celled microconidia, and characteristic sterile, coiled hyphae. Microconidia were ovoid or allantoid and born in false heads on aerial polyphialides. The identification was confirmed by PCR with specific primers CIRC1A/CIRC4A, resulting in a 360-bp DNA fragment of the two nuclear ribosomal intergenic spacer regions (3). Pathogenicity tests were performed by inoculating 5- and 9-month-old P. pinaster and P. radiata seedlings, respectively. Plants belonging to P. pinea species (8-month-old), the second most important pine in the country, were also included in the tests. Small strips of bark (10 × 1 mm) were cut from the stems and similar-sized pieces of PDA colonized by two isolates of F. circinatum were placed in contact with the open wounds and covered with Parafilm. Ten seedlings for each pine species, isolate, and control (with sterile PDA) were provided in a total of 90 plants. First symptoms, basal needle and shoot dieback, were observed in P. radiata 8 days after inoculation. One month later, all P. radiata and 70% of the P. pinaster plants were dead. In all P. pinea plants, needles turned red along the main stem, from center to periphery, but only 2% of these plants presented wilting of the terminal shoot after 1 month. No symptoms were observed on control seedlings. F. circinatum was reisolated from symptomatic plants of the three species tested. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. circinatum in Portugal. Pitch canker, caused by Gibberella circinata (anamorph F. circinatum), is one of the most aggressive pathogens on several pine species in the world (1). In 2005, the fungus was detected in the European continent affecting P. radiata and P. pinaster in northern Spain.

Identification of mangrove endophytic fungus 1403 (Fusarium proliferatum) based on morphological and molecular evidence

A mangrove endophytic fungus 1403 isolated from the South China Sea Coast, which is able to produce griseofulvin and anthra-cenediones under submerged fermentation, was compared with Fusarium genus with the similar morphological characters such as elongated, microconidium-producing conidiophores, ovoid microconidia and straight to slightly curved macroconidia. It was found that the fungus 1403 resembles pathogenic F. verticillioides (teleomophy Gibberella moniliforme) in the production of false head or chains and abundant microconidia on the aerial mycelium, but different in the occasional formation of polyphialides with relatively long as well as short monophialides, in its typical coiled hyphae and mycelia fusion. Through maximum Parsimony and Bayesian analyses, the fungus 1403 was further compared with some similar Fusarium species. The results indicated that this endophyte was identified as Fusarium proliferatum based on the analyses of partial 1 8S and 28S rDNA genes, ITS region, and EF-1α gene.

Two distinct fungi colonize roots and rhizomes of the myco-heterotrophic Afrothismia gesnerioides (Burmanniaceae)

The subterranean organs of Afrothismia gesnerioides H. Maas consist of short rhizomes densely covered with ovoid root tubercles, each of which may extend into a short filiform root extension. Serial sections revealed the presence of two distinct fungi occupying different niches within the plant tissues. Rhizomes and roots are divided into separate compartments hosting different morphotypes of the aseptate, exclusively intracellular hyphae of fungus A: (i) straight and persistent hyphae in the root epidermis, root extension, and outer rhizome cortex, (ii) coiled but still persistent hyphae in the third root layer, (iii) coiled hyphae undergoing degeneration in the root cortical parenchyma, (iv) starch depositions in the inner rhizome cortex and no colonization by fungus A, and (v) a partly collapsed root hypodermis serving as compartment barrier. The colonization by fungus A is interpreted as an aberrant arbuscular mycorrhiza of the Paris type. The compartmentation allows the separation of tissues where the hyphae stay functional from those in which the fungal material is digested. This pattern may represent a complex but efficient strategy for a sustained benefit from the few fungal penetrations that occur. Comparison with earlier work on Afrothismia winkleri (Engl.) Schltr. revealed considerable differences between the mycorrhizae that are interpreted as evolutionary steps. There are signs that these changes even may have improved the mycorrhizal benefit for the plant. The monomorphic hyphae of fungus B are smaller in diameter, septate, grow inter- as well as intra-cellularly, but are always characteristically appressed to the inner cell walls. It does not change its appearance within the root/rhizome compartments as does fungus A. Neither hyphal degeneration nor interferences with fungus A, starch depositions, or alterations in the development of A. gesnerioides could be noticed. Fungus B possibly is a commensal, but relevance to the symbiosis cannot be ruled out.

Pitch Canker Caused by Fusarium circinatum Identified on Spruce Pine in Alabama.

A dieback associated with resinous branch and main stem cankers was observed on two spruce pine (Pinus glabra Walt.) trees in Lee County, Alabama in July 2002. Xylem tissues beneath the cankers were resinsoaked as is characteristic of pitch canker on other southern pine species. Surface-sterilized stem pieces from the canker margins were transferred to acidified potato dextrose agar and incubated at 22°C for 5 days. Mycelium from these plates was transferred to low nutrient agar where polyphialides and sterile, coiled hyphae characteristic of F. circinatum Nirenberg & O'Donnell (= F. subglutinans Wollenweb. & Reinking) developed (1). Ten 5-month-old loblolly (Pinus taeda L.) and spruce pine seedlings inoculated with a spruce pine isolate of F. circinatum (NRL 32523, deposited in the USDA, ARS Culture Collection in Peoria, IL) developed cankers and produced resin along seedling stems. Isolates recovered from the symptomatic seedlings were again identified as F. circinatum. Spruce pine, while seldom abundant, is found scattered among hardwoods along riparian zones through the southern Gulf States to South Carolina. Although pitch canker was first described on Virginia pine (P. virginiana Mill.) in 1946 and has since been reported in California, South Africa, Spain, and Chile on 25 other pine species (2), to our knowledge, this is the first report of F. circinatum causing pitch canker on spruce pine.

Two new species of Fusarium section Liseola associated with mango malformation

Mango malformation is an economically important disease of Mangifera indica globally. A recent DNA-based study indicated that two distinct, phylogenetic lineages previously identified as Fusarium subglutinans are associated with this disease in South Africa. The objective of this study was to characterize Fusarium isolates associated with mango malformation, including the two different F. subglutinans groups, based on morphological characteristics. For this purpose we examined Fusarium strains isolated from diseased mango inflorescences from diverse geographical origins. We also used sexual compatibility tests to determine whether sexual reproduction among the strains was possible. The morphological characters considered were shape of the conidia, presence of mono- and/or polyphialides, origin of the conidiophores from the substrate, presence of chlamydospores and the presence of sterile coiled hyphae. Three unique Fusarium spp. were identified. In this paper, we provide formal descriptions for the two new taxa in the section Liseola that we have named F. mangiferae and F. sterilihyphosum. Fusarium mangiferae is conspecific with strains that were previously identified as F. subglutinans and reported to be the causal agent of malformation in mango growing areas throughout the world. Fusarium sterilihyphosum, on the other hand, has been isolated only from malformed mango tissue in South Africa.

Mycorrhizal association of the extinct conifer Metasequoia milleri

Vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhizas are described from anatomically preserved roots of the Middle Eocene taxodiaceous conifer Metasequoia milleri and compared to those of the living species M. glyptostroboides. Virtually identical VA mycorrhizal structures occur in the root cortex of both species, where they conform to the Paris-type. Coiled hyphae are most common within cells of the inner cortical region, and these produce numerous, highly branched arbuscules. Close similarity of fungal position and structure within roots of the living and fossil Metasequoia species demonstrates that modern Paris-type VA mycorrhizal associations characterized taxodiaceous conifers by the early Tertiary.

Tinea Barbae: Man and Beast

Figure 1. A 23-year-old brick mason presented with a three-month history of a boggy, crusted nodule on his upper lip (Panel A). Areas of alopecia and pustules were noted within the lesion. The man owned a bull mastiff, which also had alopecia on his snout that had begun approximately five months previously (Panel B). The patient recalled being nipped on the upper lip by his dog about five months earlier. Culture of the man's lesion revealed a buff-colored powdery colony, with growth within 7 to 10 days (Panel C). Microscopical examination revealed spiral, coiled hyphae and microconidia that were arranged . . .

Ultrastructural and cytochemical changes in the wall of a vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus during symbiosis

During the various stages of the symbiotic association of the vesicular–arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungus Glomus fasciculatus (Thaxter) Gerd, et Trappe with the roots of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Barbera, the hyphal wall undergoes marked modifications as follows: (i) a gradual thinning out, from the extraradical hyphae to the intraradical hyphae; (ii) changes in its ultrastructural architecture, in that the wall consists of stacked lamellae in both the extraradical and coiled hyphae occurring in the outer layers of the cortical parenchyma, whereas it is monostratified in the intercellular and arbuscular hyphae occurring in the inner parenchymal layers; and (iii) different responses to cytochemical reactions. The protein and polysaccharide components, though consistently present in the fungal wall at all stages, vary in their staining characteristics after the PATAg and Swift procedure and in their responses to alkali extraction, suggesting a gradual simplification of the wall components from the extraradical hyphae to the intraradical ones.