Phylogenetic analysis of<i>Monascus</i>and new species from honey, pollen and nests of stingless bees

Abstract

The genus <i>Monascus</i> was described by van Tieghem (1884) to accommodate <i>M. ruber</i> and <i>M. mucoroides</i>, two species with non-ostiolate ascomata. Species delimitation in the genus is still mainly based on phenotypic characters, and taxonomic studies that include sequence data are limited. The genus is of economic importance. Species are used in fermented Asian foods as food colourants (e.g. 'red rice' (ang-kak, angka)) and found as spoilage organisms, and recently <i>Monascus</i> was found to be essential in the lifecycle of stingless bees. In this study, a polyphasic approach was applied combining morphological characters, ITS, LSU, β-tubulin, calmodulin and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit sequences and extrolite data, to delimit species and to study phylogenetic relationships in <i>Monascus</i>. Furthermore, 30 <i>Monascus</i> isolates from honey, pollen and nests of stingless bees in Brazil were included. Based on this polyphasic approach, the genus <i>Monascus</i> is resolved in nine species, including three new species associated with stingless bees (<i>M. flavipigmentosus</i> sp. nov., <i>M. mellicola</i> sp. nov., <i>M. recifensis</i> sp. nov., <i>M. argentinensis</i>, <i>M. floridanus</i>, <i>M. lunisporas</i>, <i>M. pallens</i>, <i>M. purpureus</i>, <i>M. ruber</i>), and split in two new sections (section <i>Floridani</i> sect. nov., section <i>Rubri</i> sect. nov.). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the xerophile <i>Monascus eremophilus</i> does not belong in <i>Monascus</i> and monophyly in <i>Monascus</i> is restored with the transfer of <i>M. eremophilus</i> to <i>Penicillium</i> (<i>P. eremophilum</i> comb. nov.). A list of accepted and excluded <i>Monascus</i> and <i>Basipetospora</i> species is given, together with information on (ex-)types cultures and barcode sequence data.