Identification of Rhizopus arrhizus associated with some dried fruits and the traditional food Terkhêna in Mahabad, western Iran

In a study on the taxonomy of mycotoxigenic fungi associated with raisins and other dried fruits including apricots, apples, and white mulberries, and the traditional food Terkhêna in Mahabad, western Iran, 33 isolates resembling members of the genus Rhizopus were collected. Using ISSR technique, based on DNA fingerprinting patterns generated by primer (GTG)5, all isolates were placed in two distinct clusters. A representative isolate from each cluster was selected for phylogenetic analysis. Based on ITS phylogeny, two representative isolates IRAN 5249C and CJA OGh31 were identified as Rhizopus arrhizus which has previously been reported from soil and clinical samples in Iran. To our knowledge, it is the first report of R. arrhizus on dried fruits apricot and white mulberry and the traditional food Terkhêna around the globe. To clarify the taxonomy of R. arrhizus, we recommend more investigation on the phylogeny of this species using multigene phylogenetic analyses.