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Hormoconis resinae (Amorphotheca resinae)
Hormoconis resinae (Amorphotheca resinae)

Hormoconis resinae (ATCC 22711) is a filamentous fungus capable of producing hydrocarbons. This ascomycete fungus is also known as Cladosporium resinae or Amorphotheca resinae, the latter is the name for the perfect or sexual state of the fungus (Seifert, Hughes et al. 2007). It has been known since the 1960’s that Hormoconis resinae is a common and problematic contaminant of jet fuel (Hendey 1964). Subsequent investigations revealed that it could catabolize hydrocarbons (Walker and Cooney 1971). Furthermore, it can also produce a variety of hydrocarbons when grown on glucose, glutamate or fatty acids (Walker and Cooney 1973). When H. resinae was cultured on glucose, 98% of the hydrocarbon was pristane (C19H40) or hexadecane (Walker and Cooney 1973). With the current interest in biofuels, and especially infrastructure compatible hydrocarbon biofuels, there has been renewed interest in organisms like H. resinae. In addition, given the hydrocarbon rich environment from which H. resinae has most often been cultured, its complement of biomass degrading enzymes may have interesting properties. This aspect of the physiology of H. resinae has not been studied in detail, though one glycoside hydrolase has been isolated (Tsunoda, Sakano et al. 1978). The availability of a genome sequence for this interesting and potentially valuable fungus will facilitate studies of hydrocarbon production, biomass hydrolysis and the biology of fungal growth in environments dominated by hydrophobic carbon sources.

Genome Reference(s)

Hendey, N. I. (1964). "Some observations on Cladosporium resinae as a fuel contaminant and its possible role in the corrosion of aluminium alloy fuel tanks." Transactions of the British Mycological Society 47(7): 467-475.

Seifert, K. A., S. J. Hughes, et al. (2007). "Taxonomy, nomenclature and phylogeny of three cladosporium-like hyphomycetes, Sorocybe resinae, Seifertia azaleae and the Hormoconis anamorph of Amorphotheca resinae." Studies in Mycology(58): 235-245.

Tsunoda, A., Y. Sakano, et al. (1978). "Purification and properties of and exo alpha-1 3 glucanase from Cladosporium resinae." Agricultural and Biological Chemistry 42(5): 1045-1054.

Walker, J. D. and J. J. Cooney (1973). "Aliphatic Hydrocarbons of Cladosporium resinae Cultured on Glucose, Glutamic Acid and Hydrocarbons." Applied Microbiology 26(5): 705-708.

Walker, J. D. J. and J. J. Cooney (1971). "Growth and hydro carbon oxidation by Cladosporium resinae." Bacteriological Proceedings 71: 22.