Gabriel Castillo

Lyngbyapeptin A, a modified tetrapeptide from Lyngbya bouillonii (Cyanophyceae)

Abstract Lyngbyapeptin A 1 , a novel tetrapeptide containing the rate 3-methoxy-2-butenoyl moiety was isolated from the cyanobacterium Lyngbya bouillonii , collected in Papua New Guinea. Its structure (without stereochemistry) was established by mass spectral- and two-dimensional NMR studies.

Perenniporiella chaquenia sp nov and further notes on Perenniporiella and its relationships with Perenniporia (Poriales, Basidiomycota)

Perenniporiella chaquenia sp. nov. is described from Argentina. New records of P. pendula and P. micropora are discussed. A key to Perenniporiella species is presented. Preliminary phylogenetic relationships of Perenniporiella are inferred from parsimony and Bayesian analysis of a combined set of DNA sequence data (nuclear ribosomal partial LSU and ITS). It demonstrated that Perenniporiella forms a well resolved monophyletic clade distantly related to Perenniporia s.s. It also clearly showed that within Perenniporia as usually conceived other morphologically homogeneous group of taxa, such as the P. ochroleuca or P. vicina alliances, form well resolved clades, which could be recognized as distinct genera. The differentiation of the hyphal system and the basidiospores morphology are outlined as critical features for the definition of genera in the Perenniporia complex.

NaCl salinity and temperature effects on growth of three wood-rotting basidiomycetes from a Papua New Guinea coastal forest

The growth of three wood inhabiting basidiomycetes ( Microporus xanthopus, Pycnoporus sanguineus and Schizophyllum commune ) isolated from a tropical coastal forest of Papua New Guinea is characterized in relation to temperature and NaCl salinity. P. sanguineus and M. xanthopus present a very similar response to NaCl salinity, but P. sanguineus has a wider tolerance for temperature variations. S. commune withstands wide temperature variations, but it is the only one to present a marked salt resistance. This correlates with its abundance along the sea. The presence of P. sanguineus in the same habitat is rather unexpected since it is very sensitive to NaCl salinity. Its high growth rate probably allows it to take advantage of periods of high rains that limit salt accumulation.

Two undescribed species of Phylloporia from Mexico based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence

Phylloporia rzedowskii and Phylloporia ulloai, both collected in tropical forests of the Sierra of the Huasteca Potosina, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, are described as new species. The main critical morphological features that characterize them are the pileus shape, the pore diameter, the basidiospores shape and size, and, possibly, their ecology, such as the host relationships (specificity/preference). Both species also form distinct clades in phylogenetic analysis based on partial DNA sequences data from the nuclear ribosomal LSU. An identification key for 10 species reported from the Americas is proposed.

Phylloporia nouraguensis, an undescribed species on Myrtaceae from French Guiana

Abstract Phylloporia nouraguensis sp. nov. is described on the basis of several collections made in French Guiana. The species was found growing on living (or occasionally dead), small apical twigs of a species of Myrcia (Myrtaceae), in the so-called “low forest” covering the upper slopes of the Nouragues inselberg.

Multilocus, DNA-based phylogenetic analyses reveal three new species lineages in the Phellinus gabonensis–P. caribaeo-quercicola species complex, including P. amazonicus sp. nov.

Species complexes in the poroid Hymenochaetaceae are well documented in the temperate areas. Potential species complexes are less known in tropical areas, however. In the last ten years, four phylogenetically and morphologically closely related species of Phellinus (Hymenochaetaceae) were described from various tropical/subtropical areas viz. P. caribaeo-quercicola, P. gabonensis, P. ellipsoideus, and P. castanopsidis. They are characterized by cushion-shaped basidiomata, ventricose, commonly hamate hymenial setae, and broadly ellipsoid, thick-walled, pale yellowish basidiospores. Pursuing the studies of this complex, a phylogenetic approach based on DNA sequence data from the nuc rDNA regions ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS) and partial 28S (including the domains D1, D2, D3) and on part of the translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1, region between exons 4 and 8) revealed three new lineages or phylogenetic species. Two of these phylogenetic species are composed of exclusively on Neotropical specimens. One of them, described below as Phellinus amazonicus sp. nov., is represented by multiple collections originating from Neotropical, lowland, dense, moist forest at the western edge of the Amazon Basin in Ecuador, the Guiana Shield in French Guiana and (more likely) Trinidad. The second Neotropical phylogenetic species is represented in our phylogenetic analyses by a single collection from northeastern Argentina. It is also potentially known from two herbarium specimens originating from southern Brazil, for which no sequence data is available. It is left for now as Phellinus sp. 1, waiting to gather more specimens and DNA sequences data. The third new phylogenetic species is known by a single collection (pure culture) of uncertain origin. It is thought to represent Phellinus setulosus, a Southeast Asian taxa. From an evolutionary perspective, tree species occurring in the Neotropics (P. amazonicus, P. caribaeo-quercicola, and Phellinus sp. 1) have a closely related genetic background and form a well supported Neotropical lineage.