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Issue: Vol. 289 No. 1: 20 December 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-12-20
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.289.1.4
Page range: 59–68
Abstract views: 19
PDF downloaded: 1

Description of Backusella constricta sp. nov. (Mucorales, ex Zygomycota) from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest, including a key to species of Backusella

Post-graduate course in the Biology of Fungi. Department of Mycology. Federal University of Pernambuco. Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil Jena Microbial Resource Collection, strain collection of the University of Jena and the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology. Adolf-Reichwein-Strasse 23, 07745 Jena, Germany
Jena Microbial Resource Collection, strain collection of the University of Jena and the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology. Adolf-Reichwein-Strasse 23, 07745 Jena, Germany
Post-graduate course in the Biology of Fungi. Department of Mycology. Federal University of Pernambuco. Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
Post-graduate course in the Biology of Fungi. Department of Mycology. Federal University of Pernambuco. Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
Post-graduate course in the Biology of Fungi. Department of Mycology. Federal University of Pernambuco. Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
Post-graduate course in the Biology of Fungi. Department of Mycology. Federal University of Pernambuco. Av. Prof. Nelson Chaves, s/n, 50670-420, Recife, PE, Brazil
Fungi Backusellaceae soil taxonomy molecular phylogeny ribosomal DNA (rDNA)

Abstract

The Backusella genus comprises mucoralean saprobes that inhabit in mainly soil and form transitorily curved (when young, erect at maturity) sporangiophores arising directly from the substratum, with simultaneous production of both sporangia and sporangiola. During a study of Mucorales in soil from an Atlantic Rainforest in Pernambuco, Brazil, one specimen of Backusella was isolated and characterized based on morphological, physiological and molecular data (ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and LSU rDNA sequences). The phylogenetic analyses of the isolate revealed that it belongs to the Backusellaceae and is closely related to species of Backusella. The specimen grew better at 25ºC, with no development at 40ºC, and presented conical and cylindrical columellae possessing a central constriction as well as subglobose sporangiospores 7.5–15 × 5.5–10 µm. Based on the evidences of the analyzed datasets, a new species of Backusella is proposed and a taxonomic key for the species of this genus is provided.