Pestalotiopsis microspora

{{Short description|Species of fungus}}

{{stack begin}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Pestalotiopsis microspora (Speg.) G.C. Zhao & N. Li (517923).jpg

|image_caption = Conidia of Pestalotiopsis microspora

|image_alt = Conidia of Pestalotiopsis microspora

|genus = Pestalotiopsis

|species = microspora

|authority = (Speg.) G.C. Zhao & N. Li

|synonyms =

• Pestalotia dichaeta Speg.
• Pestalotia micheneri Guba
• Pestalotia microspora Speg.
• Pestalotiopsis dichaeta (Speg.) Steyaert

}}

{{mycomorphbox

| name = Pestalotiopsis microspora

| hymeniumType=NA

| capShape = NA

| whichGills = NA

| stipeCharacter=NA

| sporePrintColor=blackish-brown

| ecologicalType=parasitic

| howEdible=unknown

}}

{{stack end}}

Pestalotiopsis microspora is a species of endophytic fungus capable of breaking down and digesting polyurethane.

{{cite journal

|author1=Jonathan R. Russell |author2=Jeffrey Huang |author3=Pria Anand |author4=Kaury Kucera |author5=Amanda G. Sandoval |author6=Kathleen W. Dantzler |author7=DaShawn Hickman |author8=Justin Jee |author9=Farrah M. Kimovec |author10=David Koppstein |author11=Daniel H. Marks |author12=Paul A. Mittermiller |author13=Salvador Joel Núñez |author14=Marina Santiago |author15=Maria A. Townes |author16=Michael Vishnevetsky |author17=Neely E. Williams |author18=Mario Percy Núñez Vargas |author19=Lori-Ann Boulanger |author20=Carol Bascom-Slack |author21=Scott A. Strobel |name-list-style=amp | date = 15 July 2011

| title = Biodegradation of Polyester Polyurethane by Endophytic Fungi

| journal = Applied and Environmental Microbiology

| volume = 77

| issue = 17

| pages = 6076–6084

| issn = 1098-5336

| pmid = 21764951

| url= | doi=10.1128/AEM.00521-11

| pmc=3165411

|bibcode=2011ApEnM..77.6076R }} Originally identified in 1880 in fallen foliage of common ivy (Hedera helix) in Buenos Aires,{{cite book |title=Sylloge fungorum omnium hucusque cognitorum |author=Saccardo, Pier Andrea |ol=7025165M |volume=3 |page=789 |language=Latin |url=https://archive.org/stream/syllogefungorumo03sacc#page/788/mode/2up/search/pestalozzia+microspora |publisher=Patavii, sumptibus auctoris |date=1882–1931 }} it also causes leaf spot in Hypericum 'Hidcote' (Hypericum patulum) shrubs in Japan.{{cite journal |title=First Report of Pestalotiopsis microspora Causing Leaf Spot of Hidcote (Hypericum patulum) in Japan |first1=M. |last1=Zhang |first2=H.Y. |last2=Wu |first3=T. |last3=Tsukiboshi |first4=I. |last4=Okabe |doi=10.1094/PDIS-94-8-1064B |journal=Plant Disease | date=August 2010 |volume=94 |issue=8 |page=1064|pmid=30743469 |doi-access= }}

However, its polyurethane degradation activity was discovered only in the 2010s in two distinct P. microspora strains isolated from plant stems in the Yasuni National Forest within the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest by a group of student researchers led by molecular biochemistry professor Scott Strobel as part of Yale's annual Rainforest Expedition and Laboratory. It is the first fungus species found to be able to subsist on polyurethane in anaerobic conditions. This makes the fungus a potential candidate for bioremediation projects involving large quantities of plastic.{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Stacey |date=December 15, 2014 |title=The Plastic-Eating Fungi That Could Solve Our Garbage Problem |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/12/26/plastic-eating-fungi-could-solve-our-garbage-problem-291694.html |website=Newsweek |access-date=2015-10-26}}

Pestalotiopsis microspora was originally described from Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1880 by mycologist Carlo Luigi Spegazzini, who named it Pestalotia microspora.{{cite journal |last=Spegazzini |first=C.L. |year=1880 |title=Fungi argentini. Pugillus secundus (Continuacion). |journal=Anales de la Sociedad Científica Argentina |volume=10 |pages=5–33 |language=Latin |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32326211}}

In 1996 Julie C. Lee first isolated Torreyanic acid, a dimeric quinone, from P. microspora, and noted that the species is likely the cause of the decline of Florida torreya (Torreya taxifolia), an endangered species of a tree that is related to the paclitaxel-producing yew tree Taxus brevifolia.{{cite journal | author=Lee, Julie C.|title=Torreyanic Acid: A Selectively Cytotoxic Quinone Dimer from the Endophytic Fungus Pestalotiopsis microspora.|journal=The Journal of Organic Chemistry|volume=61|pages=3232–3233|year=1996 | doi=10.1021/jo960471x | issue=10|display-authors=etal}}

Pestalotiopsis microspora is a fungus that is known to be the most effective when it comes to penetrating the exterior of a polymer product or polyurethane and dissolving it through the oxidizing enzymes that it possesses. Although this is an amazing discovery, it has mostly been monitored in laboratory settings and still needs more experimentation to use on a wide scale for landfills and clean-up areas.