A New Producer of Echinocandins, Ascomycete Coleophoma sp. Isolated from the Lichen Stereocaulon paschale

Abstract

For the first time, phytopathogenic fungi of the genus Coleophoma were detected in the lichen genus Stereocaulon paschale (L.) Hoffm. On agarised nutrient medium, strain NM10F28209 formed compact, dense colonies with black ingrowing mycelium and ashy-grey aerial mycelium. Morphological characteristics and analysis of the ITS region of the gene cluster encoding ribosomal RNAs allowed us to assign the new strain to the genus Coleophoma; the closest relative was Coleophoma cylindrospora (Desm.) Höhn. (1919) with 98.28% of similarity. On prolonged incubation for 20 days, the culture formed a brown pigment that diffused into the agar. Extraction using a chloroform:acetone (1 : 1) mixture resulted in a multi-component preparation exhibiting fungicidal activity against yeasts from the Yarrowia and Candida genera. A compound belonging to the group of echinocandins, for which fungicidal activity has previously been demonstrated, was detected in the complex preparation by thin layer chromatography.