The diversity of Trichoderma (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) colonizing leaf litter as well as the rhizosphere of Garcinia macrophylla (Clusiaceae) was investigated in primary and secondary rain forests in Colombian Amazonia. DNA barcoding of 107 strains based on the internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2 (ITS1 and 2) of the ribosomal RNA gene cluster and the partial sequence of the translation elongation factor 1 alpha (tef1) gene revealed that the diversity of Trichoderma was dominated (71 %) by three common cosmopolitan species, namely Trichoderma harzianum sensu lato (41 %), Trichoderma spirale (17 %) and Trichoderma koningiopsis (13 %). Four ITS 1 and 2 phylotypes (13 strains) could not be identified with certainty. Multigene phylogenetic analysis and phenotype profiling of four strains with an ITS1 and 2 phylotype similar to Trichoderma strigosum revealed a new sister species of the latter that is described here as Trichoderma strigosellum sp. nov. Sequence similarity searches revealed that this species also occurs in soils of Malaysia and Cameroon, suggesting a pantropical distribution.
Defective interfering (DI) particles of the flavivirus West Nile (WN) were generated after as few as two high multiplicity serial passages in Vero and LLC-MK2 cells. Six cell lines (Vero, LLC-MK2, L929, HeLa, BHK-21 and SW13) were used to assay interference by DI particles in a yield reduction assay. Interference was found to vary depending on the cell type used. The highest levels of interference were obtained in LLC-MK2 cells, whereas no detectable effect was observed in BHK-21 and SW13 cells. The ability of DI virus to be propagated varied depending on the cell line used; no detectable propagation of DI virus was observed in SW13 cells. Optimum interference was obtained following co-infection of cells with DI virus and standard virus at a multiplicity of 5. Interference between DI and standard viruses occurred only when they were co-infected or when cells were infected with DI virus 1 h before standard virus. Investigation of heterotypic interference by DI particles of WN virus strains from Sarawak, India and Egypt revealed that interference was dependent on the strain of WN virus or flavivirus used as standard virus. A measure of the similarity between five strains of WN virus and other flaviviruses was made on the basis of interference by DI viruses, and was found to be similar to that based on haemagglutination inhibition tests using a panel of monoclonal antibodies.
The number of new fungal pathogens is increasing due to growing population of immunocompromised patients and advanced identification techniques. Fereydounia khargensis is a yeast and was first described in 2014 from environmental samples. As far as we know, this is the first report of human infections associated with F. khargensis. The yeasts were isolated from blood of a HIV-positive patient and pleural fluid of chronic renal failure patient. Amplification and sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer and the large subunit regions confirmed the identity of the isolates. Both isolates showed multi-drug resistance to antifungal agents tested.
An 11-year-old girl presented with multiple blisters on her the right foot complicated with cellulitis. The conventional and molecular identification were performed on the culture. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region in rRNA gene of the isolate was amplified by PCR. The sequence of the amplified ITS region matched 99 % with that of Chaetomium globosum in the GenBank. This is the first report describing C. globosum causing cutaneous infection in Malaysia.