and -like Species from European Indoor Environments Include sp. nov.

The genus is a frequently occurring fungal taxon world-wide. and -like species occur in indoor environments, where they can degrade cellulose-based building materials, thereby causing structural damage. Furthermore, several species of this genus may also cause adverse effects on human health. The aims of this research were to identify and -like strains isolated from indoor environments in Hungary and Finland, two geographically distant regions of Europe with drier and wetter continental climates, respectively, and to study their morphological and physiological properties, as well as their extracellular enzyme activities, thereby comparing the and -like species isolated from these two different regions of Europe and their properties. and -like strains were isolated from flats and offices in Hungary, as well as from schools, flats, and offices in Finland. Fragments of the translation elongation factor 1α (), the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II () and β-tubulin () genes, as well as the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal RNA gene cluster were sequenced, and phylogenetic analysis of the sequences performed. Morphological examinations were performed by stereomicroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Thirty-one sp. strains (15 from Hungary and 16 from Finland) were examined during the study. The most abundant species was in both countries. In Hungary, 13 strains were identified as , 1 as and 1 as . In Finland, 10 strains were 2 strains were , 2 were , and 2 isolates (SZMC 26527, SZMC 26529) proved to be representatives of a yet undescribed phylogenetic species from the closely related genus , which we formally describe here as the new species . Growth of the isolates was examined at different temperatures (4, 15, 20, 25, 30, 37, 35, 40, and 45 °C), while their extracellular enzyme production was determined spectrophotometrically.