Abstract:
During a study of indoor fungi, 145 isolates belonging to Chaetomiaceae were cultured from air, swab and dust samples from 19 countries. Based on the
phylogenetic analyses of DNA-directed RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2), β-tubulin (tub2), ITS and 28S large subunit (LSU) nrDNA sequences, together
with morphological comparisons with related genera and species, 30 indoor taxa are recognised, of which 22 represent known species, seven are described as new, and
one remains to be identified to species level. In our collection, 69 % of the indoor isolates with six species cluster with members of the Chaetomium globosum species
complex, representing Chaetomium sensu stricto. The other indoor species fall into nine lineages that are separated from each other with several known chaetomiaceous
genera occurring among them. No generic names are available for five of those lineages, and the following new genera are introduced here: Amesia with three indoor
species, Arcopilus with one indoor species, Collariella with four indoor species, Dichotomopilus with seven indoor species and Ovatospora with two indoor species. The
generic concept of Botryotrichum is expanded to include Emilmuelleria and the chaetomium-like species B. muromum (= Ch. murorum) in which two indoor species are
included. The generic concept of Subramaniula is expanded to include several chaetomium-like taxa as well as one indoor species. Humicola is recognised as a distinct
genus including two indoor taxa. According to this study, Ch. globosum is the most abundant Chaetomiaceae indoor species (74/145), followed by Ch. cochliodes (17/
145), Ch. elatum (6/145) and B. piluliferum (5/145). The morphological diversity of indoor Chaetomiaceae as well as the morphological characteristics of the new genera
are described and illustrated. This taxonomic study redefines the generic concept of Chaetomium and provides new insight into the phylogenetic relationships among
different genera within Chaetomiaceae.
