Pleosporales » Astrosphaeriellaceae » Pithomyces

Pithomyces flavus

Pithomyces flavus Berk. & Broome, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 14(no. 74): 100 (1873) [1875].

Index Fungorum number: IF 224189; Facesoffungi number: FoF 11464, Fig. 1

Description: see Pratibha and Prabhugaonkar (2015).

Material examined: see Pratibha and Prabhugaonkar (2015).

Fig. 1 Pithomyces flavus (HCIO 51811, epitype, re-drawn from Fig. 2 in Pratibha and Prabhugaonkar 2015). a Appearance of ascomata on host substrate. b Ascus c Ascospores. d Conidia. Scale bars: a = 20 μm, b, c = 10 μm, d = 20 μm.

Importance and distribution

Pithomyces comprises dematiaceous saprobic species that are involved in decomposition of organic matter and are usually found on dead leaves and stems on wide range of plants. Sometimes they have been recovered from clinical samples (da Cunha et al. 2014). Some taxa are also pathogenic on leaves causing leaf blights and spots (Ahonsi et al. 2010; Vu et al. 2013). There are 50 Pithomyces epithets in Index Fungorum (2022), but several species have been transferred to Astrosphaeriella and Pseudopithomyces. Pithomyces comprises 43 species known on many host plants such as Acacia koa (Fabaceae), Ananas bracteatus (Bromeliaceae), Arecastrum romanzoffianum (Arecaceae), Artocarpus integra (Moraceae), Asparagus falcatus (Asparagaceae), Atriplex muelleri (Chenopodiaceae), Borassus aethiopum (Arecaceae), Ficus elastica (Moraceae), Hyphaene thebaica (Arecaceae), Juncus roemerianus (on leaves) (Juncaceae), Lolium spp. (Poaceae), Musa balbisiana (Musaceae), Ophiopogon japonicus (Asparagaceae), Prunus communis (Rosaceae), Restionaceae and Wisteria sinensis (Fabaceae). Pithomyces has wide distribution including Africa (Ghana, Kenya), Asia (China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Myanmar), North America (Mexico), Oceania (New Zealand), South America (Brazil, Venezuela) and The United States (Hawaii).

Industrial relevance and applications

Pithomyces also cause upper respiratory tract inflammation in horses (Schoeniger et al. 2016).

Biochemical importance of the genus, chemical diversity or applications

Pithomyces produces various chemicals such as endo-1,4-beta-xylanase which helps in xylan degradation (Wang et al. 2017), Fusaristatin C, a Cyclic Lipodepsipeptide (MacIntyre et al. 2018), Pimaydolide, a cyclodepsipeptide metabolite (Russell et al. 2011), Pithohirolide, an antimicrobial tetradepsipeptide (Zhang et al. 2021), Pithomycolide (Briggs et al. 1964), Sporidesmin and Sporidesmolides (Dingley et al. 1962) or similar compounds which comprise residues of erythro-isoleucine and α-hydroxyisocaproic acid.

References

Ahonsi M, Agindotan B, Williams D, Arundale R, Gray M, Voigt T, Bradley C. 2010 – First Report of Pithomyces chartarum Causing a Leaf Blight of Miscanthus × giganteus in Kentucky. Plant Disease 94, 480–480.

Briggs LH, Colebrook LD, Davis BR, Le Quesne PW. 1964 – Chemistry of fungi. Part I. Pithomycolide, a novel depsipeptide from Pithomyces chartarum. Journal of the Chemical Society (resumed) 5626–5633.

da Cunha K, Sutton D, Gené J, Cano J et al. 2014 – Pithomyces species (Montagnulaceae) from clinical specimens: Identification and antifungal susceptibility profiles. Medical Mycology 52, 748–757.

Dingley J, Done J, Taylor A, Russell DW. 1962 – The Production of Sporidesmin and Sporidesmolides by Wild Isolates of Pithomyces chartarum in Surface and in Submerged Culture. Microbiology 29, 1.

MacIntyre LW, Marchbank DH, Correa H, Kerr RG. 2018 – Fusaristatin C, a Cyclic Lipodepsipeptide from Pithomyces sp. RKDO 1698. Journal of Natural Products 81, 2768–2772.

Phookamsak R, Liu JK, Chukeatirote E, McKenzie EHC, Hyde KD. 2013 – Phylogeny and morphology of Leptosphaerulina saccharicola sp. nov. and Pleosphaerulina oryzae and relationships with Pithomyces. Cryptogamie Mycologie 34, 303–319.

Pratibha J, Prabhugaonkar A. 2015 – Multi-gene phylogeny of Pithomyces with the sexual morph of P. flavus Berk. & Broome. Phytotaxa 218, 084–090.

Russell D, Jamieson W, Taylor A, Das B. 2011 – Isolation and structure of pimaydolide, a cyclodepsipeptide metabolite of Pithomyces maydicus. Canadian Journal of Chemistry 54, 1355–1359.

Schöniger S, Roschanski N, Rösler U, Vidovic A et al. 2016 – Prototheca species and Pithomyces chartarum as Causative Agents of Rhinitis and/or Sinusitis in Horses. Journal of comparative pathology 155, 121–125.

Seifert K, Morgan-Jones G, Gams W, Kendrick B. 2011 – The genera of hyphomycetes. CBS Biodiversity Series no. 9, 1–997. CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Vu AL, Gwinn KD, Ownley BH. 2013 – First Report of Leaf Spot on Switchgrass Caused by Pithomyces chartarum in the United States. Plant disease 97, 1655.