Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The genus Meira: phylogenetic placement and description of a new species

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The genus Meira currently contains three recently described species of mite-associated basidiomycete yeasts from Israel and Japan and is placed in the Exobasidiomycetes (Ustilaginomycotina) Incertae sedis. A previously undescribed species of Meira was isolated from the phylloplane of a magnolia leaf in Louisiana, USA. Herein, we describe Meira miltonrushii sp. nov. and include phylogenetic analyses from three rDNA loci to resolve the placement of Meira. This study provides evidence that Meira belongs to the family Brachybasidiaceae in the Exobasidiales and supports the placement of another mite-associated yeast genus, Acaromyces, within Cryptobasidiaceae (Exobasidiales). We also examine sequences produced by numerous environmental studies that suggest Meira species can be found as endophytes of many plant species. To our knowledge, this is the first record of a member of the genus Meira in North America.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Begerow D, Stoll M, Bauer R (2006) A phylogenetic hypothesis of Ustilaginomycotina based on multiple gene analyses and morphological data. Mycologia 98:906–916

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boekhout T (2011a) Acaromyces Boekhout, Scorzetti, Gerson & Sztejnberg (2003). In: Kurtzman CP, Fell JW, Boekhout T (eds) The yeasts, a taxonomic study, 5th edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1603–1605

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Boekhout T (2011b) Meira Boekhout, Scorzetti, Gerson & Sztejnberg (2003). In: Kurtzman CP, Fell JW, Boekhout T (eds) The yeasts, a taxonomic study, 5th edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1833–1836

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Boekhout T, Theelen B, Houbraken J, Robert V, Scorzetti G, Gafni A, Gerson U, Sztejnberg A (2003) Novel anamorphic mite-associated fungi belonging to the Ustilaginomycetes: Meira geulakonigii gen. nov., sp. nov., Meira argovae sp. nov. and Acaromyces ingoldii gen. nov., sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 53:1655–1664

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Esteve-Zarzoso B, Belloch C, Uruburu F, Quero A (1999) Identification of yeast by RFLP analysis of the 5.8S rRNA gene and the two ribosomal internal transcribed spacers. Int J Syst Bacteriol 49:329–337

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fell JW, Boekhout T, Fonseca A, Scorzetti G, Statzell-Tallman A (2000) Biodiversity and systematics of basidiomycetous yeasts as determined by large-subunit rDNA D1/D2 domain sequence analysis. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50:1351–1371

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gardes M, Bruns TD (1993) ITS primers with enhanced specificity for basidiomycetes—application to the identification of mycorrhizae and rusts. Mol Ecol 2:113–118

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gerson U, Gafni A, Paz Z, Sztejnberg A (2008) A tale of three acaropathogenic fungi in Israel: Hirsutella, Meira, and Acaromyces. Exp Appl Acarol 46:183–194

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Katoh K, Toh H (2010) Parallelization of the MAFFT multiple sequence alignment program. Bioinformatics 26:1899–1900

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kolarík M, Sláviková E, Pazutová S (2006) The taxonomic and ecological characterization of the clinically important heterobasidiomycete Fugomyces cyanescens and its association with bark beetles. Czech Mycol 58:81–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornerup A, Wanscher JH (1978) Methuen handbook of colour, 3rd edn. Eyre Methuen, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurtzman CP, Fell JW, Boekhout T, Robert V (2011) Methods for isolation, phenotypic characterization and maintenance of yeasts. In: Kurtzman CP, Fell JW, Boekhout T (eds) The yeasts, a taxonomic study, 5th edn. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 87–110

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lane DJ, Pace B, Olsen GJ, Stahl DA, Sogin ML, Pace NR (1985) Rapid determination of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences for phylogenetic analyses. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82:6955–6959

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Miller MA, Pfeiffer W, Schwartz T (2010) Creating the CIPRES science gateway for inference of large phylogenetic trees. In: Proceedings of the gateway computing environments workshop (GCE), New Orleans, 14 November 2010, pp 1–8

  • Oberwinkler F, Bandoni RJ, Blanz P, Demlo G, Kisimova-Horowitz L (1982) Graphiolales: basidiomycetes parasitic on palms. Plant Syst Evol 140:251–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paz Z, Burdman S, Gerson U, Sztejnberg A (2007a) Antagonistic effects of the endophytic fungus Meira geulakonigii on the citrus rust mite Phyloocoptruta oleivora. J Appl Microbiol 103:2570–2579

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Paz Z, Gerson U, Sztejnberg A (2007b) Assaying three new fungi against citrus mites in the laboratory, and a field trial. Biocontrol 52:855–862

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scorzetti G, Fell JW, Fonseca Á, Statzell-Tallman A (2002) Systematic of basidiomyceteous yeasts: a comparison of large subunit D1/D2 and internal transcribed spacer rDNA regions. FEMS Yeast Res 2:245–517

    Google Scholar 

  • Stamatakis A (2006) RAxML-VI-HPC: maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic analyses with thousands of taxa and mixed models. Bioinformatics 22:2688–2690

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swann EC, Taylor JW (1995) Phylogenetic perspectives on basidiomycete systematics: evidence from the 18S rRNA gene. Can J Bot 73:S862–S868

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL (2002) PAUP* phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods), 4th edn. Sinauer, Sunderland

    Google Scholar 

  • Sztejnberg A, Paz Z, Boekhout T, Gafni A, Gerson U (2004) A new fungus with dual biocontrol capabilities: reducing the numbers of phytophagous mites and powdery mildew disease damage. Crop Prot 23:1125–1129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tanaka E, Shimizu K, Imanishi Y, Yasuda F, Tanaka C (2008) Isolation of basidiomycetous anamorphic yeast-like fungus Meira argovae found on Japanese bamboo. Mycoscience 49:329–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vega FE, Simpkins A, Aime MC, Posada F, Peterson SW, Rehner SA, Infante F, Castillo A, Arnold AE (2010) Fungal endophyte diversity in coffee plants from Colombia, Hawai’i, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Fungal Ecol 3:122–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilgalys R, Hester M (1990) Rapid genetic identification and mapping of enzymatically amplified ribosomal DNA from several Cryptococcus species. J Bacteriol 172:4238–4246

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor JW (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic Press Inc, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Yasuda F, Yamagishi D, Akamatsu H, Izawa H, Kodama M, Otani H (2006) Meira nashicola sp. nov., a novel basidiomycetous, anamorphic yeastlike fungus isolated from Japanese pear fruit with reddish stain. Mycoscience 47:36–40

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life grant (NSF DEB 0732968). We would like to thank the LSU Socolofsky Microscopy Center, specifically M. Brown and Y. Xiao, for assistance with brightfield microscopy. We would like to thank L. Urbano, M. Urbano S. Albu, A. Rodriguez, A. McTaggart, G. Heller, M. Toome, R. Kaur, M. Padamsee and especially Dr. M. Blackwell and Dr. M. Broome and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript; S. Gross and H. Urbina for assimilation advice; and J. Diaz, B. Kennedy, A. Smith and K. Stephenson for culture maintenance.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M. Catherine Aime

    Present address: Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, 915 W. State Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Tomas Allen Rush & M. Catherine Aime

Authors
  1. Tomas Allen Rush
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Catherine Aime
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Catherine Aime.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 31 kb)

Supplementary material 2 (PDF 2 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rush, T.A., Aime, M.C. The genus Meira: phylogenetic placement and description of a new species. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 103, 1097–1106 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-013-9889-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-013-9889-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation