title: Penicillium species endophytic in coffee plants and ochratoxin A production.
abstract: Tissues from Coffea arabica, C. congensis, C. dewevrei and C. liberica collected in Colombia, Hawaii and at a local plant nursery in Maryland were sampled for the presence of fungal endophytes. Surface sterilized tissues including roots, leaves, stems and various berry parts were plated on yeast-malt agar. DNA was extracted from a set of isolates visually recognized as Penicillium, and the internal transcribed spacer region and partial LSU-rDNA was amplified and sequenced. Comparison of DNA sequences with GenBank and unpublished sequences revealed the presence of 11 known Penicillium species: P. brevicompactum, P. brocae, P. cecidicola, P. citrinum, P. coffeae, P. crustosum, P. janthinellum, P. olsonii, P. oxalicum, P. sclerotiorum and P. steckii as well as two possibly undescribed species near P. diversum and P. roseopurpureum. Ochratoxin A was produced by only four isolates, one isolate each of P. brevicompactum, P. crustosum, P. olsonii and P. oxalicum. The role these endophytes play in the biology of the coffee plant remains enigmatic.
authors.affiliation: Insect Biocontrol Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, BARC-W, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA. vegaf@ba.ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: Fernando E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Posada
authors.forename: Stephen W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Gianfagna
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chaves
mesh_terms: D040503:Coffea / Q000382:microbiology*; D003105:Colombia; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006254:Hawaii; D008396:Maryland; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009793:Ochratoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D010407:Penicillium / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018514:Plant Structures / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D009793:Ochratoxins; C025589:ochratoxin A