Penicillium amapaense sp. nov., section Exilicaulis , and new records of Penicillium labradorum in Brazil isolated from Amazon River sediments with potential applications in agriculture and biotechnology

Species of Penicillium sect. Exilicaulis are responsible for the production of antimicrobial compounds, but they can also produce genotoxic compounds that affect commercial mushroom production or cause disease in immunosuppressed animals. In the present study, based on morphological characters such as the length of the conidia, phialides, and stipes, as well as sequence analysis of the ITS region and partial sequence of CAM , and RPB2 loci, we describe Penicillium amapaense as new fungal species and report for the first time the occurrence of Penicillium labrodorum in Brazil, both of which were isolated from sediments of the Amazon River. The isolates obtained in this study for each species were submitted to antibiosis assays against 12 phytopathogenic fungi that affect important agricultural crops in Brazil and showed inhibition of 11 out of 12 of them. The production of amylase, cellulase, and siderophore as well as phosphate solubilization was also detected. Metabolomic analysis indicates the ability of P. labrodorum and P. amapaense sp. nov. to produce polyketides such as known curvularins and anthraquinones. In addition to these, unknown compounds were also detected. These results indicate the biotechnological and agricultural potential of P. labradorum and P. amapaense increasing our knowledge on Penicillium biodiversity in the aquatic environment of the amazon biome.