Identification of Hortaea werneckii Isolated from mangrove plant Aegiceras comiculatum based on morphology and rDNA sequences.

Hortaea werneckii is a black yeast-like ascomycetous fungi associated with the human superficial infection tinea nigra, which commonly occurs in tropical and subtropical countries. Now, this fungus has been found in the halophilic environment all over the world and recognized as a new model organism in exploring the mechanisms of salt tolerance in eukaryotes. During a survey of endophytic fungi of mangrove forest at South China Sea, two isolates of H. werneckii were recovered from medicinal plant of Aegiceras comiculatum. The isolates were identified by morphological characters and phylogenetic analyses (e.g., ITS rDNA, LSU rDNA and translation elongation factor EF1α). Some physiological tests such as thermotolerance, acid tolerance (pH) and NaCl tolerance as well as pathogenicity test in vitro for the strains of Hortaea were performed. It is the first report that H. werneckii was isolated from medicinal plant of A. comiculatum in south sea of China as the endophytic fungi.