Revision of agents of black-grain eumycetoma in the order Pleosporales.
Eumycetoma is a chronic fungal infection characterised by large subcutaneous masses and the presence of sinuses discharging coloured grains. The causative agents of black-grain eumycetoma mostly belong to the orders Sordariales and Pleosporales. The aim of the present study was to clarify the phylogeny and taxonomy of pleosporalean agents, viz. Madurella grisea, Medicopsis romeroi (syn.: Pyrenochaeta romeroi), Nigrograna mackinnonii (syn. Pyrenochaeta mackinnonii), Leptosphaeria senegalensis, L. tompkinsii, and Pseudochaetosphaeronema larense. A phylogenetic analysis based on five loci was performed: the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS), large (LSU) and small (SSU) subunit ribosomal RNA, the second largest RNA polymerase subunit (RPB2), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) gene. In addition, the morphological and physiological characteristics were determined. Three species were well-resolved at the family and genus level. Madurella grisea, L. senegalensis, and L. tompkinsii were found to belong to the family Trematospheriaceae and are reclassified as Trematosphaeria grisea comb. nov., Falciformispora senegalensis comb. nov., and F. tompkinsii comb. nov. Medicopsis romeroi and Pseudochaetosphaeronema larense were phylogenetically distant and both names are accepted. The genus Nigrograna is reduced to synonymy of Biatriospora and therefore N. mackinnonii is reclassified as B. mackinnonii comb. Nov. Mycetoma agents in Pleosporales were phylogenetically quite diverse despite their morphological similarity in the formation of pycnidia, except for the ascosporulating genus Falciformispora (formerly in Leptosphaeria). Most of the species diagnosed from human mycetoma were found to be related to waterborne or marine fungi, suggesting an association of the virulence factors with oligotrophism or halotolerance.
Faculty of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan; ; CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands. ; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Ahmed
Erasmus MC, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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van de Sande
California Institute for Medical Research, San Jose, California.
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Stevens
Mycetoma Research Centre, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan.
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Fahal
CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands.
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van Diepeningen
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Menken
CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands. ; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ; Peking University Health Science Center, Research Center for Medical Mycology, Beijing, China; Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China; Shanghai Institute of Medical Mycology, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China; Basic Pathology Department, Federal University of Paraná State, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil; King Abdulassiz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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de Hoog
Madurella; Pleosporales; Trematosphaeriaceae; mycetoma; taxonomy