Amazonian diversity of Penicillium Link (Eurotiomycetes, Ascomycota) in the culture collection of the National Institute of Amazonian Research, with description of a new species

ABSTRACT Penicillium Link is a widely known genus of ascomycetes, with a worldwide distribution, mainly known for its use in the food industry and production of mycotoxins. Considering the importance of culture collections as repositories of microbial biodiversity, we carried out a polyphasic taxonomic review of fungi of the genus Penicillium preserved in the Collection of Microorganisms of Agrosilvicultural Interest at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (CMAI-INPA) in Brazil, which hosts several deposits of Penicillium without specific identification. A total of 150 strains were reactivated for macro and micromorphological analyses and DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing. The strains were represented by nine species distributed among the sessions Citrina (P. citrinum), Charlesia (P. chermesinum), Chrysogena (P. chrysogenum, P. rubens), Aspergilloides (P. glabrum), Sclerotiorum (P. meliponae), Fasciculata (P. palitans, P. polonicum) and Roquefortorum (P. paneum). One strain is herein described as Penicillium carneiroi sp. nov., a new species in the section Exilicaulis. We present images of the new species and compare it with other morphologically close species. The polyphasic taxonomic review carried out in this study showed a previously unknown diversity for the Amazon region, and that microorganism repositories may contain new species or records for the region.