Novel Alternaria spp. from Qatar sea water. Novel Alternaria spp. from Qatar sea water

A total of 177 isolates belonging to genus Alternaria were isolated during a survey of the mycobiota of the coastal marine environment surrounding Qatar. The majority of isolates belonged to Alternaria sect. Alternaria 134/177 (75.7%), followed by Alternaria sect. Ulocladioides 25/177 (14.1 %) and the rest of the 18 isolates belonging to Alternaria spp. Of these 18 isolates, nine isolates belonging to three species, for which we propose the following names: Alternaria halotolerans sp. nov. (4 isolates), Alternaria qatarensis sp. nov. (4 isolates), Alternaria simaisma sp. nov. (1 isolate). The taxonomic novelty of these strains was determined with a polyphasic approach, combining phenotypic, molecular (ITS, LSU and two protein-coding genes gapdh and tef1) and morphological characteristics and phenotypic characteristics. Phylogenetic analysis showed that each novel species formed a unique clade for 4 loci analyzed and that the species were most closely related to Alternaria. Each of the novel species had unique morphology and could be distinguished by macro- and microscopical characteristics.