doi: 10.4489/KJM.2026.54.2.5 Citation BibTeX RIS Mendeley

Isolation and Characterization of Humicola phialophoroides from Red Pepper in Korea

Isolation and Characterization of Humicola phialophoroides from Red Pepper in Korea

• Hae-Dam Kim (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Che-Yeon Park (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Sashini Subodha (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Seo-Ryeong Lee (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Seong-Keun Lim (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Seung-Yeol Lee (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea & Institute of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)
• Hee-Young Jung (Department of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea & Institute of Plant Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea)

The fungal strain KNUF-25-YP1 was isolated from the root collar of wilted red pepper in Gyeongbuk Province, Korea. The strain was characterized by the production of Phialophora-like conidiophores and Humicola-like aleuriospores. Its initial classification was based on its observable characteristics, including morphological and cultural characteristics. To confirm its identification and elucidate its evolutionary relationships, molecular phylogenetic analyses were conducted using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions and partial sequences of the large subunit 28S rRNA (LSU) gene. The results revealed that the strain belongs to the genus Humicola. Its ITS regions and LSU gene exhibited 99.81% and 99.75% similarities, respectively, to Humicola phialophoroides CBS 125784T. Integrated analysis of morphological and phylogenetic data led to the identification of strain KNUF-25-YP1 as Humicola phialophoroides. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first report of H. phialophoroides, a previously unrecorded species in Korea, thereby enhancing our understanding of its taxonomy.