New Records of Arcopilus fusiformis and Schizothecium glutinans Isolated from Soil in Korea

To investigate soil-inhabiting fungi, two fungal species were isolated from soil samples collected in Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do provinces and designated as KNUF-20-NI013 and KNUF-21-043. Strain KNUF-20-NI013 exhibited cultural features of the genus Arcopilus, including pinkish-red mycelia, mainly submerged growth, and smooth colony margins. To identify strains at the species level, sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU), β-tubulin (TUB2), and the second-largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) genes were analyzed. For strains KNUF-20-NI013, BLAST results of ITS regions, LSU, TUB2 and RPB2 sequences showed similarities of 99.6, 99.5, 99.5 and 99.0%, respectively with A. fusiformis (CBS 484.85 and CBS 788.71). The phylogenetic analysis based on the combined sequences of these four loci clearly placed KNUF-20-NI013 within A. fusiformis. In the case of KNUF-21-043, cultural characteristics on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and corn meal agar (CMA), size and color of phialide and phialoconidia were similar to previously reported characteristics of Schizothecium glutinans CBS 134.83. Moreover, the sequences of the ITS regions and LSU showed high similarities with several strains of S. glutinans (A620, CBS 113105, CBS 11310, S82 and TB64). The phylogenetic trees constructed based on the ITS regions and LSU genes showed that KNUF-21-043 clustered with S. glutinans (CBS 113105). Based on cultural and morphological characteristics, and phylogenetic analysis, the two strains were identified as Arcopilus fusiformis and Schizothecium glutinas, respectively, that have not been previously reported in Korea.