A new species of Paratritirachium isolated from flare pit soils and the addition of a teleomorph to the generic concept
H. D. T. NGUYEN (1), J. Tanney (1), D. Chabot (1), N. L. Nickerson (2), K. A. Seifert (1). (1) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada; (2) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Port Williams, NS, Canada
<i>Paratritirachium</i> is a basidiomycete genus in the class <i>Tritirachiomycetes</i>. Only one strain of one anamorph species was previously described (<i>P. cylindroconium</i>), which was isolated from coal spoil tips in Staffordshire, England. In mining, a coal spoil tip is a pile of dirt composed of soil, rock and low-grade coal. Three strains of a new species of <i>Paratritirachium</i> were isolated from flare pit soils in Alberta, Canada using a heat treatment method. In the oil and gas industry, a flare pit is an earthen containment area where waste gases and liquids are combusted. The strains in our study are heat resistant, xerotolerant and produce both the anamorph and teleomorph. The sexual state produce two-celled curved auricularioid basidia with dark brown, thick-walled, oval basidiospores assumed to be the heat-resistant structures; while the asexual stage produced hyaline, unbranched or sparingly branched conidiophores, sympodial and slightly vesicular conidiogenous cells with inconspicuous denticles, and dry aseptate conidia. Phylogenetic analysis using rDNA loci (SSU and LSU) and the ITS barcode region suggest these isolates are an unidentified species of <i>Paratritirachium</i>. Because <i>Paratritirachium</i> species are isolated from hydrocarbon rich environments, the bioremediation potential of these fungi will be discussed.
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