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

Abstract

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 conidiophores. Phylogenetic analysis using three loci shows that P. coffeae forms a strongly supported clade with P. fellutanum, P. charlesii, P. chermesinum, P. indicum, P. phoeniceum and P. brocae. Phenotypic ally these species are quite similar but can be distinguished. The EF-1alpha gene from P. fellutanum, P. charlesii, P. chermesinum and P. indicum lack introns, P. coffeae and P. phoeniceum 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.