PENICILLIUM RADICUM SP-NOV FROM THE RHIZOSPHERE OF AUSTRALIAN WHEAT

A new species of Penicillium, Subgenus Biverticillium, was isolated fr om the root of a wheat seedling during a survey of the ability of rhiz osphere fungi to solubilize phosphate. The species, described here as Penicillium radicum, has affinities with P, variabile, P. allahabadens e and Talaromyces wortmannii, but can be distinguished by differences in morphology, secondary metabolite profiles and unique DNA banding pa tterns obtained using RAPD PCR.