Aspergillus caninus (Syn: Phialosimplex caninus): a New Isolate from Field Soils in Korea

During the study of indigenous fungal communities in soil samples collected from various field soils in Sancheong, Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea in 2017, several species of Aspergillus were discovered. Aspergillus caninus (KNU17-7) was isolated, identified, and described based on the results from macro and micro morphological characteristics and molecular characterization. Morphologically, it was identified using five different growth media: potato dextrose agar, oatmeal agar, yeast extract sucrose agar, czapek yeast extract agar, and malt extract agar. For the molecular identification, sequencing of internal transcribed spacer, β-tubulin, and calmodulin genes was performed. Based on this characterization, our study isolate was identified as Aspergillus caninus. This fungal species has not been officially reported in Korea before, and we report here with its morphological and molecular phylogenetic characterization. KCI Citation Count: 1