Find in Library

The genus <i>Coniochaeta</i> belongs to the class Ascomycota and the family Coniochaetaceae. Some of the <i>Coniochaeta</i> species are plant and animal pathogens, while others are known to be primarily involved in human diseases. In the last few decades, case reports of human infections with <i>Coniochaeta</i> have increased, mainly in immunocompromised hosts. We have described and characterised a new species in the genus <i>Coniochaeta</i>, here named <i>Coniochaeta massiliensis</i> (PMML0158), which was isolated from a clinical sample. Species identification and thorough description were based on apposite and reliable phylogenetic and phenotypic approaches. The phylogenetic methods included multilocus phylogenetic analyses of four genomic regions: ITS (rRNA Internal Transcribed Spacers 1 and 2), TEF-1α (Translation Elongation Factor-1alpha), B-tub2 (β-tubulin2), and D1/D2 domains (28S large subunit rRNA). The phenotypic characterisation consisted, first, of a physiological analysis using both EDX (energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) and Biolog^TM advanced phenotypic technology for fixing the chemical mapping and carbon-source oxidation/assimilation profiles. Afterwards, morphological characteristics were highlighted by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The in vitro antifungal susceptibility profile was characterised using the E-test^TM exponential gradient method. The molecular analysis revealed the genetic distance between the novel species <i>Coniochaeta massiliensis</i> (PMML0158) and other known taxa, and the phenotypic analysis confirmed its unique chemical and physiological profile when compared with all other species of this genus.