Syncephalastrum contaminatum, a new species in the Mucorales from Australia

doi:10.1016/j.myc.2020.02.003

Mycoscience

Volume 61, Issue 3, May 2020, Pages 111-115

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.myc.2020.02.003 Get rights and content

Highlights

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New species Syncephalastrum contaminatum was isolated as a laboratory contaminant.
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A draft whole genome sequence was generated for this zygomycete.
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The species differs from others in Syncephalastrum based on DNA sequence.

Abstract

A new species is described in the Mucorales family Syncephalastraceae: Syncephalastrum contaminatum, isolated as an in vitro culture from a laboratory contaminant. The species has variable copies of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions, requiring cloning of these regions prior to Sanger sequencing before subsequent use in phylogenetic comparisons with other fungi. The genome of the strain was sequenced using short paired-reads to yield a draft genome of 28.6 Mb. Syncephalastrum contaminatum is distinguished by diverse DNA sequences at several loci from the other species of Syncephalastrum, including only 81% sequence identity with its ITS regions to that of S. racemosum. Its merosporangium produces four or more asexual spores and the genome sequencing information suggests that the species is heterothallic. The identification of this species highlights the limited knowledge about the early lineages of fungi both in Australia and globally.

Section snippets

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The fungal material was collected under permit number 10007429 issued by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (State Government of Victoria).

Acknowledgments

We thank Travis Heafield and Allison Van de Meene for assistance with the electron microscopy. This research was supported financially by the Australasian Mycological Society and the University of Melbourne.

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Cited by (5)

Mucormycosis caused by Syncephalastrum spp.: Clinical profile, molecular characterization, antifungal susceptibility and review of literature
2021, Clinical Infection in Practice
Citation Excerpt :
The genus Syncephalastrum consists of 3 species viz. S. racemosum; S. monosporum (including 3 varieties, S. monosporum var. cristatum, pluriproliferum and monosporum) and S. contaminatum (Urquhart and Idnurm, 2020). The rare occurrence of this pathogen is evident by sparse reports of human infections due to Syncephalastrum species in world literature.
The clinical profile, molecular characteristics and antifungal susceptibility patterns of the Mucoraceous mould, Syncephalastrum spp are poorly characterized. The present study provides a comprehensive overview of these aspects of this rare fungus.
We characterized 8 clinical isolates of Syncephalestrum spp by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF), 28S rDNA sequencing, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP, n = 7) and in-vitro antifungal susceptibility testing. Clinical details of these eight cases were reviewed with all cases of Syncephalestrum infections reported in the literature till August 2020.
S. racemosum (n = 4) and S. monosporum (n = 4) were identified by MALDI-TOF, sequencing and AFLP also clearly differentiated the two. All isolates were uniformly susceptible to amphotericin B and terbinafine. Analysis of clinical details in our eight patients with 43 more cases reported in the literature revealed that most of the reports were (78.4%) from India and cutaneous mucormycosis was the most common (37.3%) presentation followed by rhino-orbito-cerebral (23.5%) and pulmonary(17.6%) infection. Association of trauma with skin infection (p:0.042); immunosuppression/steroid use (p:0.005) and neutropenia (p:0.000) with pulmonary infection was seen.
S. racemosum, S. monosporum give rise to human infections. The improved database of MALDI-TOF could distinguish the two species. Such rare and emerging infections merit careful consideration and clinical attention.
Species diversity, updated classification and divergence times of the phylum Mucoromycota
2023, Fungal Diversity
First report of rhino-orbital mucormycosis caused by Syncephalastrum racemosum in a diabetic patient with COVID-19 in Iran and review of recent literature
2022, Current Medical Mycology
Diversity of backusella (Mucoromycotina) in south-eastern australia revealed through polyphasic taxonomy
2021, Persoonia: Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi
Absidia healeyae: A new species of Absidia (Mucorales) isolated from Victoria, Australia
2021, Mycoscience

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Short communicationSyncephalastrum contaminatum, a new species in the Mucorales from Australia

Highlights

Abstract

Section snippets

Declaration of competing interest

Acknowledgments

Current Biology

Studies in Mycology

The merosporangiferous Mucorales

Aliso

An integrated genomic and transcriptomic survey of mucormycosis-causing fungi

Nature Communications

Muscle: Multiple sequence alignment with high accuracy and high throughput

Nucleic Acids Research

MycoCosm portal: Gearing up for 1000 fungal genomes

Nucleic Acids Research

Fungal diversity revisited: 2.2 to 3.8 million species

Microbiology Spectrum

The family structure of the Mucorales: A synoptic revision based on comprehensive multigene-genealogies

Persoonia

Diversity, genotypic identification, ultrastructural and phylogenetic characterization of zygomycetes from different ecological habitats and climatic regions: Limitations and utility of nuclear ribosomal DNA barcode markers

MrBayes: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees

Bioinformatics

Geneious basic: An integrated and extendable desktop software platform for the organization and analysis of sequence data

Bioinformatics

Lipid metabolic changes in an early divergent fungus govern the establishment of a mutualistic symbiosis with endobacteria

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA

Genomic analysis of the basal lineage fungus Rhizopus oryzae reveals a whole-genome duplication

PLoS Genetics

A new species of Syncephalastrum

Mycotaxon

Short communication
Syncephalastrum contaminatum, a new species in the Mucorales from Australia