Two new root endophyte and nematode cyst parasite species of the widely distributed genus Laburnicola

Fungal root endophytes, including the common form group of dark septate endophytes (DSEs), represent different taxonomic groups with potentially diverse life strategies. During surveys of DSE communities and of nematode cysts colonizing fungi, isolates representing Laburnicola (Didymosphaeriaceae, Pleosporales) lineages were discovered. Here we carried out a comprehensive study of the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of fungi collected from plant roots in Hungary, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan and from eggs of the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera filipjevi in Turkey. In addition to the study of the morphology and culture characteristics of the strains, four loci (internal transcribed spacer, partial large and small subunit regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha) were used to infer the molecular phylogenetic relationships of the strains within Laburnicola. The isolates were found to represent two distinct lineages, which are described here as novel species, Laburnicola nematophila and L. radiciphila. The interaction of the strains with plants and nematodes was examined using in vitro bioassays, which revealed endophytic interactions with the plant roots and parasitic interactions with the nematode eggs. Analyses of similar ITS sequences found in public databases revealed that members of the genus Laburnicola are widely distributed characteristic members of the plant microbiome, and they are reported as parasites of plant parasitic cyst nematodes here for the first time.