Trichoderma from Brazilian garlic and onion crop soils and description of two new species: Trichoderma azevedoi and...

Fifty four Trichoderma strains were isolated from soil samples collected from garlic and onion crops in eight different sites in Brazil and were identified using phylogenetic analysis based on combined ITS region, tef1-α, cal, act and rpb2 sequences. The genetic variability of the recovered Trichoderma species was analysed by AFLP and their phenotypic variability determined using MALDI-TOF. The strain clusters from both typing techniques coincided with the taxonomic determinations made from phylogenetic analysis. The phylogenetic analysis showed the occurrence of Trichoderma asperellum, Trichoderma asperelloides, Trichoderma afroharzianum, Trichoderma hamatum, Trichoderma lentiforme, Trichoderma koningiopsis, Trichoderma longibrachiatum and Trichoderma erinaceum, in the soil samples. We also identified and describe two new Trichoderma species, both in the harzianum clade of section Pachybasium, which we have named Trichoderma azevedoi sp. nov. and Trichoderma peberdyi sp. nov. The examined strains of both T. azevedoi (three strains) and T. peberdyi (12 strains) display significant genotypic and phenotypic variability, but form monophyletic clades with strong bootstrap and posterior probability support and are morphologically distinct from their respective most closely related species.