Molecular identification of species of family Chaetomiaceae (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota) from soil, dung and water in Sudan

Abstract

Species of Chaetomiaceae family are ubiquitous filamentous fungi, that responsible for a wide range of opportunistic human infections. To date, it encompasses more than 300 species have been described in genus Chaetomium. It have been globally reported as being are capable of colonizing various substrates. Due to the lack of genetic studies on the species belonging to this genus in Sudan, This work aimed to investigate the environmental fungal occurrence within the family Chaetomiaceae by using morphological characters and molecular sequencing. A total of 260 environmental samples from soil, animal dung and water were collected from six different states in Sudan in two ecozones: .desert or semis desert ecozones (Dongola in Northern sudan, El-Obeid in western sudan); a low rainfall woodland savanna ecozone (Gazira, El Geteina and Khartoum from central Sudan and AlQadarif in eastern Sudan). During a study of environmental fungi in Sudan, 119 isolates were identified as members of Chaetomiaceae after the ITS sequencing combined with an examination of the macro- and micromorphology. Out of 63 Chaetomium strains obtained from soil, animal dung and water samples, 25 were obtained from soil, 22 from animal dung and 16 from water. 56 additional strains isolated from other genus within the Chaetomiaceae family, such as (Amesia, Collariella, Ovatospora, Subramaniula and Thielavia) were recorded for the first time in Sudan. In conclusion: Sequence-based identification of fungal isolates is often considered to be the most reliable and accurate identification method.