Research Article |
Corresponding author: Qiu-Hong Niu ( qiuhongniu723@163.com ) Corresponding author: Feng-Li Hui ( fenglihui@yeah.net ) Academic editor: Mahajabeen Padamsee
© 2025 Chun-Yue Chai, Zhi-Wen Xi, Qiu-Hong Niu, Feng-Li Hui.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Chai C-Y, Xi Z-W, Niu Q-H, Hui F-L (2025) Phylogeny and phenotype of Filobasidium revealing three new species (Filobasidiaceae, Filobasidiales) from China. MycoKeys 114: 49-65. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.114.142438
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The genus Filobasidium, a member of the family Filobasidiaceae in the order Filobasidiales, is a group of basidiomycetes with many representative species. To date, 14 species have been described and accepted in Filobasidium. Although some newfound species from China have recently been published, the species diversity of Filobasidium remains incompletely understood. Samples from various areas of China were obtained and examined to investigate the species diversity of the genus. Three new species, namely F. pseudomali sp. nov., F. castaneae sp. nov., and F. qingyuanense sp. nov., were introduced based on phylogenetic analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the D1/D2 domain of the large subunit (LSU) rRNA gene and the ITS sequence alone coupled with phenotypic characteristics. Full descriptions, illustrations, comparisons with similar species, and phylogenetic analyses are provided. Findings from this study substantially enrich the biodiversity of Filobasidium in China.
Basidiomycetes, phylogenetic analysis, phylloplane, taxonomy
The genus Filobasidium was first characterized by
Filobasidium species can reproduce both asexually and sexually. Through asexual reproduction, the species reproduce by budding, and some species produce pseudohyphae and/or true hyphae with clamp connections and haustorial branches (
Members of the genus Filobasidium have been investigated for various biotechnological applications and pathology. Most previous studies have focused on the most widely distributed species, F. magnum (
Currently, 14 species in the genus Filobasidium have been recorded in Mycobank [https://www.mycobank.org (accessed on 20 November 2024)]. In China, 13 Filobasidium species have been reported, encompassing six species initially described in China (
A total of 25 leaf samples were obtained from the Guangdong, Guizhou, and Henan Provinces of China. Leaf samples were stored in sterile plastic bags and kept in an icebox for 6–12 h during transfer to the laboratory. Yeast strains were isolated from leaf surfaces using the improved ballistospore-fall method, as described previously (
Strain | Source | Location | Date |
---|---|---|---|
Filobasidium pseudomali sp. nov. | |||
NYNU 228108T | Leaf of Photinia sp. | Guiyang Medicinal Botanical Garden, Guiyang, Guizhou, China | August 2022 |
NYNU 22986 | Leaf of Litsea cubeba | Guiyang Medicinal Botanical Garden, Guiyang, Guizhou, China | August 2022 |
Filobasidium castaneae sp. nov. | |||
NYNU 2111105T | Leaf of Castanea mollissima | Baotianman Nature Reserve, Nanyang, Henan, China | November 2021 |
NYNU 23230 | Leaf of Mussaenda pubescens | Pingtang county, Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qian Nan, Guizhou, China | February 2023 |
NYNU 23245 | Leaf of Mussaenda pubescens | Pingtang county, Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qian Nan, Guizhou, China | February 2023 |
Filobasidium qingyuanense sp. nov. | |||
NYNU 223211T | Leaf of Lespedeza formosa | Qingyuan Mountain, Quanzhou, Guangdong, China | March 2022 |
NYNU 23239 | Leaf of Mussaenda pubescens | Pingtang county, Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qian Nan, Guizhou, China | February 2023 |
Morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics were assessed based on methods established by
Genomic DNA was extracted from yeast strains using the Ezup Column Yeast Genomic DNA Purification Kit following the manufacturer’s instructions (Sangon Biotech Co., Shanghai, China). The ITS region, the D1/D2 domain of the LSU rRNA gene, the largest subunit of RNA polymerase I (RPB1) gene, and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (RPB2) gene were amplified using primers ITS1/ITS4 (
Sequences generated in this study and those obtained from GenBank (Table
Taxa included in molecular phylogenetic analyses and their GenBank accession numbers. Entries in bold were newly generated for this study.
Taxa name | Sample | GenBank accession numbers | |
---|---|---|---|
ITS | LSU D1/D2 | ||
Filobasidium castaneae sp. nov. | NYNU 2111105T | OM049430 | OM049431 |
Filobasidium castaneae sp. nov. | NYNU 23230 | PP114094 | PP114092 |
Filobasidium castaneae sp. nov. | NYNU 23245 | PP114096 | PP114097 |
Filobasidium chaidanensis | CGMCC 2.6796T | OM417191 | OM417191 |
Filobasidium chernovii | CBS 8679T | NR_073223 | NG_068965 |
Filobasidium dingjieense | CGMCC 2.5649T | NR_174759 | MK050342 |
Filobasidium elegans | CBS 7640T | AF190006 | AF181548 |
Filobasidium floriforme | CBS 6241T | NR_119429 | NG_069409 |
Filobasidium globisporum | CBS 7642T | NR_119453 | NG_070553 |
Filobasidium globosum | CGMCC 2.5680T | NR_174760 | MK050344 |
Filobasidium magnum | CBS 140T | NR_130655 | NG_069409 |
Filobasidium mali | CGMCC 2.4012T | NR_174761 | MK050346 |
Filobasidium mucilaginum | CGMCC 2.3463T | NR_174762 | MK050349 |
Filobasidium oeirensis | CBS 8681T | NR_077106 | NG_070508 |
Filobasidium pseudomali sp. nov. | NYNU 228108T | OP581930 | OP566876 |
Filobasidium pseudomali sp. nov. | NYNU 22986 | PP108743 | PP108744 |
Filobasidium qingyuanense sp. nov. | NYNU 223211T | OP278683 | OP278680 |
Filobasidium qingyuanense sp. nov. | NYNU 23239 | PP114093 | PP114095 |
Filobasidium stepposum | CBS 10265T | NR_111207 | KY107724 |
Filobasidium uniguttulatum | CBS 1730T | NR_111070 | NG_056269 |
Filobasidium wieringae | CBS 1937T | NR_077105 | NG_067314 |
Filobasidium sp. | KBP Y-5548 | MH697755 | MH697755 |
Filobasidium sp. | UFMG-CM-Y6635 | OM480729 | OM321340 |
‘Cryptococcus’ sp. | 2 IA06 | KM246189 | KM246106 |
‘Cryptococcus’ sp. | 2 MG34 | KM246229 | KM246145 |
‘Cryptococcus’ sp. | 11-1115 | KM986117 | KM206723 |
‘Cryptococcus’ sp. | RP419_8 | KX067803 | KX067803 |
Goffeauzyma aciditolerans | CBS 10872T | NR_137808 | NG_058295 |
Goffeauzyma gastrica | CBS 2288T | NR_111048 | NG_058296 |
Uncultured fungus clone | OTU_812 | MH365273 | – |
Uncultured fungus clone | – | LR880016 | – |
Uncultured fungus clone | – | LR136377 | – |
Uncultured fungus clone | – | LT995797 | – |
Maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods were utilized for phylogenetic analyses. The ML method was conducted with RAxML v. 8.2.3 using the GTRGAMMA model (
During this study, 106 yeast strains were isolated from 25 leaf samples collected in the Guangdong, Guizhou, and Henan Provinces of China. All strains were identified to the species level based on the threshold of >99% sequence identity with the type strain of a described species in the D1/D2 domain or ITS region (
Seven specimens preliminarily identified as Filobasidium were studied further. ITS and LSU regions were newly generated from all these specimens (Table
The combined dataset of ITS and LSU regions consisted of 29 sequences from 24 taxa, including 14 newly generated sequences (seven for ITS and seven for LSU). The final alignment included 1,124 characters (486 characters from ITS and 637 characters from LSU), of which 752 were constant, 372 were variable, 279 were parsimony-informative, and 93 were singletons. Both ML and BI methods produced similar topologies in the main lineages. The ML-derived topology, along with MLBS and BPP values above 50% and 0.95, respectively, is presented (Fig.
Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree of Filobasidium derived from combined ITS and LSU sequence data. The tree is rooted with Goffeauzyma gastrica
The ITS dataset consisted of 33 sequences from 24 taxa, including seven newly generated sequences. The final alignment included 486 characters, of which 267 were constant, 219 were variable, 195 were parsimony-informative, and 26 were singletons. The ML and BI methods yielded similar topologies in the main lineages. The ML-derived topology, with MLBS and BPP values above 50% and 0.95, respectively, is shown (Fig.
Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree of Filobasidium derived from ITS sequence data. The tree is rooted with Goffeauzyma gastrica
Strains NYNU 228108 and NYNU 22986 had identical sequences in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region, indicating their conspecificity. In the phylogenetic tree, two strains formed a well-supported clade grouped with F. mali with moderate support (Figs
Strains NYNU 2111105, NYNU 23230, and NYNU 23245 with identical sequences in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region formed a separate clade, clustering alongside F. globosum, F. mali, F. pseudomali sp. nov., and five unpublished strains, Filobasidium sp. KBP Y-5548, Filobasidium sp. UFMG-CM-Y6635, ‘Cryptococcus’ sp. RP419_8, ‘Cryptococcus’ sp. 2 IA06, and ‘Cryptococcus’ sp. 2 MG34, with high support (Figs
Strains NYNU 223211 and NYNU 23239 possessed identical sequences in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region, forming a subclade with four uncultured fungus clones (MH365273, LR880016, LR136377, and LT995797) in the tree of the ITS dataset (Fig.
The specific epithet pseudomali refers to similar colony morphological and physiological characteristics to that of Filobasidium mali.
China • Guizhou Province, Guiyang City, Guiyang Medicinal Botanical Garden, in the phylloplane of Photinia sp., August 2022, L. Zhang and F.L. Hui, NYNU 228108 (holotype GDMCC 2.305T preserved in a metabolically inactive state in Guangdong Microbial Culture Collection Center, culture ex-type PYCC 9928 deposited in the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection).
On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, the streak culture is gray-cream, mucoid, smooth, and glossy. The margin is entire. On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, cells are globosal and ellipsoidal, 3.8–6.4 × 5.2–8.4 μm, and single, budding is polar. After 1 month at 20 °C, a ring and sediment are present. In Dalmau plate culture on corn meal agar, pseudohyphae are not formed. Sexual structures are not observed on PDA, CM agar, and YCBS agar for two months. Ballistoconidia are not produced. Glucose fermentation is absent. Glucose, inulin, sucrose, raffinose, melibiose, galactose, lactose, trehalose, maltose, melezitose, methyl-α-D-glucoside, cellobiose, L-sorbose, L-rhamnose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-arabinose, 5-keto-D-gluconate, ethanol, ribitol, galactitol, D-mannitol, D-glucitol, myo-inositol, succinate, citrate, D-gluconate, 2-keto-D-gluconate, D-glucuronate, and glucono-1,5-lactone are assimilated as sole carbon sources. Salicin, D-ribose, methanol, glycerol, erythritol, DL-lactate, D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine are not assimilated. Nitrate, nitrite, ethylamine, and L-lysine (weak) are assimilated as sole nitrogen sources. Cadaverine is not assimilated. Maximum growth temperature is 30 °C. Growth in vitamin-free medium is positive. Growth on 50% (w/w) glucose-yeast extract agar is negative. Starch-like substances are not produced. Urease activity is positive. Diazonium Blue B reaction is positive.
China • Guizhou Province, Guiyang City, Guiyang Medicinal Botanical Garden, in the phylloplane of Litsea cubeba, August 2022, L. Zhang and F.L. Hui, NYNU 22986.
Filobasidium pseudomali sp. nov. can be physiologically distinguished from its closest known species, F. mali, by its ability to assimilate inulin and citrate and its inability to assimilate salicin and cadaverine. Additionally, F. pseudomali nov. can grow in a vitamin-free medium, while F. mali cannot (Table
Physiological and biochemical features differing between the new species and closely related species.
Characteristics | 1 | 2* | 3* | 4 | 5 | 6* |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Carbon assimilation | ||||||
Inulin | + | – | + | + | + | – |
Salicin | – | +/w | – | + | + | – |
L-Sorbose | + | + | – | + | – | – |
L-Rhamnose | + | +/d/w | d/w | + | + | – |
D-Arabinose | + | v | – | - | + | – |
D-Ribose | – | – | – | + | – | – |
Glycerol | – | – | – | + | w | d/w |
Ethanol | + | +/w | – | – | – | d/w |
Ribitol | + | + | – | + | + | – |
Galactitol | + | + | – | + | – | – |
D-Mannitol | + | + | + | + | + | – |
D-Glucitol | + | v | – | + | + | – |
Citrate | + | – | – | + | + | + |
Nitrogen assimilation | ||||||
Nitrite | + | – | – | + | + | + |
Cadaverine | – | + | + | – | – | d/w |
L-Lysine | d | – | + | n | n | n |
Growth tests | ||||||
Growth in vitamin-free medium | + | – | + | + | + | n |
Growth at 25 °C | + | + | + | + | + | – |
Growth at 30 °C | + | + | – | – | + | – |
The specific epithet castaneae refers to Castanea, the plant genus from which the type strain was isolated.
China • Henan Province, Nanyang City, Baotianman Nature Reserve, in the phylloplane of Castanea mollissima, November 2021, R.R. Jia and W.T. Hu, NYNU 2111105 (holotype CICC 33541T preserved in a metabolically inactive state in the China Centre of Industrial Culture Collection, culture ex-type JCM 35729 deposited in the Japan Collection of Microorganisms).
On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, the streak culture is gray-cream, mucoid, smooth, and glossy. The margin is entire. On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, cells are globosal and ellipsoidal, 3.6–5.8 × 4.2–7.1 μm, and single, budding is polar. After 1 month at 20 °C, a ring and sediment are present. In Dalmau plate culture on corn meal agar, pseudohyphae are not formed. Sexual structures are not observed on PDA, CM agar, and YCBS agar for two months. Ballistoconidia are not produced. Glucose fermentation is absent. Glucose, inulin, sucrose, raffinose, melibiose, galactose, lactose, trehalose, maltose, melezitose, methyl-α-D-glucoside, cellobiose, salicin, L-sorbose, L-rhamnose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, 5-keto-D-gluconate, D-ribose, glycerol, ribitol, galactitol, D-mannitol, D-glucitol, myo-inositol, succinate, citrate, D-gluconate, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, 2-keto-D-gluconate, D-glucuronate, and glucono-1,5-lactone are assimilated as sole carbon sources. D-Arabinose, methanol, ethanol, erythritol, DL-lactate, and D-glucosamine are not assimilated. Nitrate, nitrite, ethylamine, and L-lysine are assimilated as sole nitrogen sources. Cadaverine is not assimilated. Maximum growth temperature is 25 °C. Growth in vitamin-free medium is positive. Growth on 50% (w/w) glucose-yeast extract agar is negative. Starch-like substances are not produced. Urease activity is positive. Diazonium Blue B reaction is positive.
China • Guizhou Province, Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Qian Nan, Pingtang County, in the phylloplane of Mussaenda pubescens, February 2023, D. Lu, NYNU 23230 and NYNU 23245.
Filobasidium castaneae sp. nov. can be physiologically distinguished from its closely related species F. globosum, F. mali, and F. pseudomali sp. nov. through its ability to assimilate D-ribose and glycerol (Table
The specific epithet qingyuanense refers to the geographic origin of the type strain, Qingyuan Mountain, Quanzhou City, Guangdong Province.
China • Guangdong Province, Quanzhou City, Qingyuan Mountain, in the phylloplane of Lespedeza formosa, March 2022, W.T. Hu and S.B. Chu, NYNU 223211 (holotype GDMCC 2.309T preserved as a metabolically inactive state in the Guangdong Microbial Culture Collection Center, culture ex-type PYCC 9927 deposited in the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection).
On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, the streak culture is gray-cream, mucoid, smooth, and glossy. The margin is entire. On YM agar, after 7 days at 20 °C, cells are globosal and ellipsoidal, 6.7–10.2 × 7.6–10.4 μm and single, budding is polar. After 1 month at 20 °C, a ring and sediment are present. In Dalmau plate culture on corn meal agar, pseudohyphae are not formed. Sexual structures are not observed on PDA, CM agar, and YCBS agar for two months. Ballistoconidia are not produced. Glucose fermentation is absent. Glucose, inulin, sucrose, raffinose, melibiose, galactose, lactose, trehalose, maltose, melezitose, methyl-α-D-glucoside, cellobiose, salicin, L-rhamnose, D-xylose, L-arabinose, D-arabinose, 5-keto-D-gluconate, glycerol (weak), ribitol, D-mannitol, D-glucitol, myo-inositol, succinate, citrate, D-gluconate, 2-keto-D-gluconate, D-glucuronate, and glucono-1,5-lactone are assimilated as sole carbon sources. L-Sorbose, D-ribose, methanol, ethanol, erythritol, galactitol, DL-lactate, D-glucosamine, and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine are not assimilated. Nitrate, nitrite, ethylamine, and L-lysine are assimilated as sole nitrogen sources. Cadaverine is not assimilated. Maximum growth temperature is 30 °C. Growth in vitamin-free medium is positive. Growth on 50% (w/w) glucose-yeast extract agar is negative. Starch-like substances are not produced. Urease activity is positive. Diazonium Blue B reaction is positive.
China • Guizhou Province, Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Pingtang County, in the phylloplane of Mussaenda pubescens, February 2023, D. Lu, NYNU 23239.
Filobasidium qingyuanense sp. nov. can be physiologically distinguished from its closest known species, F. dingjieense, by its ability to assimilate inulin, raffinose, melibiose, lactose, salicin, L-rhamnose, ribitol, D-mannitol, and D-glucitol, as well as an inability to assimilate ethanol. Additionally, F. qingyuanense nov. can grow at 25 °C, while F. dingjieense cannot (Table
The present study described three new species (F. pseudomali sp. nov., F. castaneae sp. nov., and F. qingyuanense sp. nov.) based on phylogenetic analyses and phenotypic characteristics. Phylogenetically, these three species fell within the Filobasidium clade and were separated from other known species of Filobasidium and each other (Figs
Since the inception of Filobasidium in 1968, several Filobasidium species have been described based on phenotype (
Members of the genus Filobasidium have been found in diverse substrates, especially plant materials, including flowers, leaves, and fruit. More than 50% of the described Filobasidium species are associated with plant materials (
The authors are very grateful to their colleagues at the School of Life Science and Agricultural Engineering, Nanyang Normal University. Special thanks to Dr. Lin Zhang and Dan Lu for providing specimens and Wen-Ting Hu for assistance with morphological observations.
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
No ethical statement was reported.
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31570021) and the Program for the Outstanding Youth Science Fund Project of Henan Province (Project No. 222300420014).
Data curation: CYC; Methodology: CYC; Molecular phylogeny: ZWX. and CYC; Writing – original draft: CYC; Writing – review and editing: QHN., FLH. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Chun-Yue Chai https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0284-5560
Zhi-Wen Xi https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5814-5283
Qiu-Hong Niu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1695-7117
Feng-Li Hui https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7928-3055
All of the data that support the findings of this study are available in the main text.