Rambellisea a new genus of biotic marine fungi
Author(s)
Date Issued
2025
Type
conferenceObject
Abstract
The oceans cover more than 70% of the surface of our planet hosting a substantial
proportion of Earth’s biodiversity and a large amount of unknown biological and
chemical diversity. Today, the sea represents a limitless resource of unexploited
substrata and new microorganisms of great potential interest for scientific discovery
and technological innovation. Despite the recent improvements in marine mycology,
several taxonomical and ecological issues still need to be addressed. Among them,
the main topics are: a deeper knowledge of fungal diversity and a formal description
of new taxa. It is worth noting that biodiversity conservation, in situ and ex situ, is
one of the main actions to contrast global change.
In this study a new genus, Rambellisea, along with two new species, R. halocynthiae
and R. gigliensis, was proposed to accommodate 15 strains of Lulworthiales, which
were isolated from the marine tunicate Halocynthia papillosa (Central Tyrrhenian
Sea). The strains exhibit only mycelia sterilia, despite the fact that multiple
experiments were conducted to promote their reproduction, and they can only be
taxonomically assigned using molecular techniques. This approach, while
fundamentally different from traditional taxonomy, is now widely accepted in the
scientific community. In recent years, several new species and genera have emerged
in the absence of sexual or asexual structures.
The multi-locus phylogenetic analysis, based on nrITS1-nr5.8S-nrITS2, nrLSU, and
nrSSU regions, provided strong evidences supporting the establishment of these new
taxa. The phylogenetic analysis, carried out using both the Maximum Likelihood and
the Bayesian Inference methods, clearly demonstrates that Rambellisea represents a
distinct clade within the Lulworthiales order. Furthermore, the two newly described
species were placed into separate, well-supported subclades. This study represents
the first documented isolation of Lulworthiales species from animal hosts, expanding
the ecological understanding of these fungi.
The genus was named in honour of the important Italian mycologist Prof. Angelo
Rambelli (1932-2014). He was the first dean of the Tuscia University's faculty of
Biological Sciences, as well as the founder and first head of the Tuscia University's
Botanical Garden, which now bears his name.
Conference(s)
1st International Workshop on “Marine Fungi: Diversity and Applications” - MARIFUNDIVE2025