Penicillium coffeae, a new endophytic species isolated from a coffee plant and its phylogenetic relationship to P fellutanum, P thiersii and P brocae based on parsimony analysis of multilocus DNA sequences

摘要

Penicillium coffeae is described as a novel endophyte isolated from a Coffea arabica L. plant in Hawaii. The species is slow growing with short, vesiculate, monoverticillate conidophores. Phylogenetic analysis using three loci shows that P coffeae forms a strongly supported clade with P fellulanum, P charlesii, P chermesinum, P indicum, P phoeniceum and R brocae. Phenotypic ally these species are quite similar but can be distinguished. The EF-1 alpha gene from P fellutanum, P charlesii, P chermesinum and P indicum lack introns, P coffeae and P phocniceum have a previously unknown intron at codon 20 and P brocae and P thiersii isolates have a single intron at codon 26. The most parsimonious interpretation of intron changes on the strongly supported phylogenetic tree requires the gain of a novel intron at position 20 and loss of intron 26 to arrive at the current distribution of introns in this gene. This is one of only a few examples of intron gain in genes.