Repository series · ncbi-prjeb31670

Isolation of Toxicocladosporium aquimarinum sp. nov. and Toxicocladosporium qatarense sp. nov. from marine waters of the Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar

The Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar is distinct from other marine ecosystems due to its high salinity (39-57 PSU) and extreme water temperature fluctuations (18-39°C). Furthermore, in the last decade, Qatar has been witnessing an industrial boom as well as extensive infrastructure construction activities. Marine microorganism, including fungi remain largely unexplored in the Arabian Gulf ,. During a 3-year study, we investigated the diversity of marine fungi in coastal waters around Qatar. Water samples were collected during two 2 seasons in 2 years from 14 different sites along the coast of the Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar. Fungal isolates were identified by sequence analyses of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1/ITS2) and D1/D2 domains of the large subunit (LSU) of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA). As a result, two new Toxicocladosporium species were isolated from the Qatari marine.. Molecular and phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences of five loci, namely the internal transcribed spacer 1 and 2 regions and the D1/D2 domains of the large subunit rDNA; the actin, RNA polymerase second largest subunit and beta-tubuline genes, were used to confirm the identity of the novel species for which we propose the names Toxicocladosporium aquamarinum sp. nov. and Toxicocladosporium halotolerans sp. nov. are proposed.