313 research outputs found
Il colore blu degli spinelli a cobalto: distribuzione cationica e assorbimento UV-VIS-NIR in cristalli (Mg,Co)Al2O4 di sintesi
No full text40A) D'Ippolito V., Andreozzi G.B. (2010). Il colore blu negli spinelli a cobalto: distribuzione cationica e assorbimento UV-VIS-NIR in cristalli di (Mg,Co)Al2O4 di sintesi. Rivista Gemmologica Italiana, 5, 120-123
Bioresources for a sustainable agriculture: potentialities of Minimedusa polyspora and Chaetomium globosum as plant growth promoting fungi
No full textFeeding a constantly growing global population, while facing global change, without further impairing the environment is probably the greatest challenge our society is facing nowadays. Modern agriculture mostly depends on the use of agrochemicals, including chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, due to their determinant role in enhancing efficiently and economically crop production, to meet the constantly increasing food demand. However, modern agriculture pressures determine major detrimental impacts on the environment at different spatial and temporal scales, on all the natural matrices: air, soil, and water. Consequently, mitigating agriculture’s impacts on the environment represents an urgent need and a key strategy towards sustainability. Furthermore, this challenge is also concomitant with two other major challenges: increasing food production up to 60% by 2050 due to the world population growth, and adapting to a rapidly evolving climate change. In fact, due to climate change effects, plants are already more frequently subjected to severe abiotic (e.g. drought, flooding, extreme temperature) and biotic (e.g. pathogens and pest outbreaks) stresses, while future scenarios foresee these phenomena to become even more severe. In this context, plant growth promotion represents an interesting sustainable solution that may play a key role in increasing crop resilience and productivity in adverse environmental conditions, minimizing agrochemicals applications and tackling climate change effects. Indeed, in healthy ecosystems soil microorganisms, through the wide array of ecosystem services they provide, express a multifunctionality that support soil productivity and plant growth. In particular, microbial strains with high soil colonization potential and multiple plant growth promoting traits — such as the ability to stimulate the plant, increase nutrient availability, exert biocontrol activity against detrimental microorganisms, and biodegrade organic pollutant and detoxifying inorganic pollutants — present a higher efficacy due to their multipurpose applicability. In this context, fungi as multifunctional microorganisms, perfectly adapted to soil microhabitats, thanks to their functional traits, metabolic plasticity and highly potent and relatively non-specific enzymes, represent valuable and effective potential bioresources.
This thesis aimed to characterize Minimedusa polyspora (Hotson) Weresub & P. M. LeClair and Chaetomium globosum Kunze, two strains of soil saprotrophic fungi, for multiple activities — including biostimulation, biocontrol and bioremediation — that may contribute to plant growth promotion, to assess their potential as multifunctional bioresources for biotechnological application aimed at promoting a more sustainable agriculture. Therefore, following a general introduction and literature review on the topic, three chapters, each one addressing these species characterization for a specific activity that may contribute to plant growth promotion, are reported.
The first study presented in this thesis focused on assessing the efficacy of M. polyspora and C. globosum culture filtrates as biostimulant for the cultivation Cichorium intybus (L.), a plant of agricultural and medicinal interest. In a pot experiment set up in walk-in chambers, chicory plants, one month after the transfer of the seedlings in pots, were stimulated by soil drenching with 8 ml/pot (30 ml/kg of soil) of the culture filtrates obtained by a 14-days incubation of the fungal strains in Malt Extract Broth (MEB), or the same amount of uninoculated MEB in the control group. Fourteen days after the stimulation, plant biomasses were recovered to estimate several growth parameters and analyze the metabolomic variations occurred in roots and leaves through 1H-NMR 600 MHz.
We observed for the first time that M. polyspora culture filtrate promotes an increase of biomass, both in shoots and roots, and of the leaf area, while no increase was observed in plants treated with C. globosum culture filtrate. Based on 1H-NMR metabolomics data, differential metabolites and their related metabolic pathways were highlighted. A common response in C. intybus roots involving the synthesis of 3-OH-butyrate through the decrease of the synthesis of fatty acids and sterols, as a mechanism balancing the NADPH/NADP+ ratio, was observed in both the treatments with C. globosum and M. polyspora culture filtrates. The phenylpropanoid pathway was differently triggered by the fungal culture filtrates. C. globosum culture filtrate increased phenylalanine and chicoric acid in the roots. Chicoric acid, whose biosynthetic pathway in chicory plant is putative and still not well known, is a very promising natural compound playing an important role in plant defense. Instead, M. polyspora culture filtrate interestingly stimulated an increase of 4-OH benzoate, being benzoic acids precursors for a wide variety of essential compounds playing crucial roles in plant fitness and defense response activation. Therefore, both C. globosum and M. polyspora culture filtrates affected C. intybus metabolome and, based on the findings of this study, could be considered as promising fungal bioresources for further studies aimed the development of new biostimulants.
Moving on, in the second study presented in this thesis, M. polyspora and C. globosum biocontrol potential against the phytopathogenic fungi Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl., Berkeleyomyces basicola (Berk. & Broome) W.J. Nel, Z.W. de Beer, T.A. Duong & M.J. Wingf. and Botrytis cinerea Pers. was investigated.
Plant diseases, resulting in an annual estimated loss of 10–15% of world's major crops, represent a major threat to global crops production and social and political stability of nations. 70–80% of these diseases are caused by pathogenic fungi, numbers that are expected to increase in future years due to the effect of climate change on plant-pathogens interactions. In the effort to transition to a more sustainable and resilient agriculture, the application of biological control agents and their secondary metabolites represent a promising option to support the achievement of food security, without further compromise ecosystems’ health. Therefore, it is important deepening the potential of known fungal biocontrol agents against the existing fungal pathogens, shedding further light on their action mechanisms and discovering new efficient fungal strains suitable for biotechnological applications. In vitro screenings, despite presenting several limitations, constitute valuable methods for the identification of potential biocontrol agents. Therefore, through an array of in vitro plate assays M. polyspora and C. globosum were assessed for their ability to inhibit A. alternata, B. basicola and B. cinerea growth, aiming also to gain insight on possible antimicriobial mechanism/s involved in their biological control action. More specifically, a dual culture assay, a dual culture for volatile antimicrobial compounds (performed in two different conditions), and a culture filtrate antifungal activity assay were designed to try to discriminate the impact of direct and indirect biological control mechanisms. This study results show that both M. polyspora and C. globosum were able to inhibit, to a different extent, all the pathogens’ growth in the dual culture assay, suggesting a mechanism of biocontrol involving competition for nutrients and space. M. polyspora, based on the culture filtrate antifungal activity assay, was found to exert its inhibition on all the pathogens thanks also to an antibiosis mechanism through the release of diffusible compounds. Moreover, M. polyspora culture filtrate resulted to be particularly effective especially against B. basicola whose growth was completely inhibited; furthermore, its high inhibition effect against this species was also observed in the dual culture for volatile antimicrobial compounds assay, suggesting that M. polyspora antagonism against B. basicola occurs through multiple or mixed mechanisms. Therefore, based on this preliminary study’s results M. polyspora and C. globosum are promising biocontrol agents of three fungal phytopathogens of economical and agronomical relevance, and consequently species of interest for further studies in this area aimed at validating their potential as antagonists in in vivo conditions.
Finally, the last study focused on evaluating M. polyspora and C. globosum bioremediation potentialities towards glyphosate. Addressing, in particular, their ability to tolerate and utilize glyphosate as a nutritional source and eventually degrade it. Indeed, glyphosate is the most commonly used herbicide worldwide. Its improper use during recent decades has resulted in glyphosate contamination of soils and waters. Fungal bioremediation is an environmentally friendly, cost effective, and feasible solution to glyphosate contamination in soils. In this study, M. polyspora and C. globosum together with other 16 saprotrophic fungal strains were screened in vitro for their ability to tolerate and eventually utilize Roundup at two different concentrations (1 mM and 10 mM) in different cultural conditions as a nutritional source. M. polyspora and C. globosum were found to be tolerant to RoundUp, a glyphosate-based herbicide, only at the concentration of 1 mM, while a concentration of 10 mM completely inhibited their growth. Moreover, Purpureocillium lilacinum was further screened to evaluate the ability to break down and utilize glyphosate as a P source in a liquid medium. The dose-response effect for Roundup, and the difference in toxicity between pure glyphosate and Roundup were also studied. This study’s results highlight the ability of several strains to tolerate 1 mM and 10 mM Roundup and to utilize it as a nutritional source. P. lilacinum was reported for the first time for its ability to degrade glyphosate to a considerable extent (80%) and to utilize it as a P source, without showing dose-dependent negative effects on growth. Pure glyphosate was found to be more toxic than Roundup for P. lilacinum. Our results showed that pure glyphosate toxicity can be only partially addressed by the pH decrease determined in the culture medium. In conclusion, despite the strains studied in this thesis were not able to degrade glyphosate, experimental results emphasized the in vitro noteworthy potential in glyphosate degradation of P. lilacinum, another fungal strain of biotechnological interest.
In conclusion, based on this thesis’ results M. polyspora and C. globosum showed promising potentialities as plant growth promoting fungi and should be further studied as bioresources for eventual biotechnological applications towards a sustainable agriculture.
This thesis, in addition to the studies addressing its aim, includes also an additional section composed of three published papers dealing with topics regarding fungal species conservation applying IUCN red-listing criteria and the biotechnological potentialities of strains preserved in the culture collection of the Fungal Biodiversity Laboratory of the Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome
Fungi as bioresources for remediation of HCH-contaminated soils: from microbial community-level physiological profile to selective isolation in enrichment
No full textThe interaction between human activities and global change (including persistent chemicals
pollution) poses severe threats for the soil microbiota thus reducing the provision of ecosystem
services1. In this context -, -, and -hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) are highly persistent organic
pollutants ofglobal concern, and a severe risk for human health and ecosystem functioning.
Soil fungi, thanksto the ability to tolerate, bioaccumulate and biodegrade HCH, are important
bioresources as biobased solutions for HCH-contaminated soil remediation. The study area
was selected within the National Priority Site “Bacino del Fiume Sacco” in the Metropolitan
City of Rome (Italy). Soil cores, up to 1 m of depth, were collected from 2 plots and later
divided in topsoil (TS: 0-10 cm) and subsoil (SS: 10-100 cm) samples. The first goal was to
characterize the microbial community level physiological profile, so the soil samples were
analysed by the Biolog EcoPlateTM Technique2 to compare metabolic activities of the
communities at different depths (TS and SS). Moving on, the project focused on the fungal
fraction of the microbial community, evaluating the fungal loaddifferences between TS and
SS, through the count of the colony forming units (CFUs/dry soil weight). The CFUs results
show a higher fungal load in topsoil than that in subsoil by one order of magnitude. To isolate
fungal bioresources suitable for HCH degradation, a selective enrichment procedure with a high
concentration HCH mixture as the only carbon source, was carried out. At the end of the
procedure several species, mainly belonging to Fusarium and Alternaria genera,were isolated
and are currently preserved in the Culture Collection of the Fungal Biodiversity Laboratory
(FBL) of the Department of Environmental Biology of Sapienza University of Rome. The
isolated fungi represent useful bioresources for further studies aimed at the development of
mycoremediation application for HCH contaminated soil remediation
A fungal solution to a fungal problem: Chaetomium globosum and Minimedusa polyspora potential in the biocontrol of plant pathogenic fungi
No full textPlant diseases, resulting in an annual estimated loss of 10–15% of world's major crops, represent a major threat to global crops production and social and political stability of nations [1]. About 70–80% of these diseases are caused by pathogenic fungi, numbers that are expected to increase in future years due to the effect of climate change on plant-pathogens interactions [2,3]. In the effort to transition to a more sustainable and resilient agriculture, the application of biological control agents and their secondary metabolites represent a promising option to support the achievement of food security, without further compromise ecosystems’ health [4,5]. Therefore, it is important deepening the potential of known fungal biocontrol agents against the existing fungal pathogens, shedding further light on their action mechanisms and discovering new efficient fungal strains suitable for biotechnological applications. In vitro screenings, despite presenting several limitations, constitute valuable methods for the identification of potential biocontrol agents [6].
Therefore, this study, through an array of in vitro plate assays, aimed at evaluating Minimedusa polyspora (Hotson) Weresub & P. M. LeClair and Chaetomium globosum Kunze ability to inhibit the growth of Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keissl., Berkeleyomyces basicola (Berk. & Broome) W.J. Nel, Z.W. de Beer, and Botrytis cinerea Pers.. Furthermore, this study aimed also at gaining insights on possible antimicrobial mechanism/s involved in their biological control action. More specifically, a dual culture assay, a dual culture for volatile antimicrobial compounds (performed in two different conditions), and a culture filtrate antifungal activity assay were designed to try to discriminate the impact of direct and indirect biological control mechanisms. This study’s results show that both M. polyspora and C. globosum were able to inhibit, to a different extent, all the pathogens’ growth in the dual culture assay, suggesting a mechanism of biocontrol involving competition for nutrients and space. M. polyspora, based on the culture filtrate antifungal activity assay, was found to exert its inhibition on all the pathogens thanks also to an antibiosis mechanism through the release of diffusible compounds. Moreover, M. polyspora culture filtrate resulted to be particularly effective especially against B. basicola whose growth was completely inhibited; furthermore, its high inhibition effect against this species was also observed in the dual culture for volatile antimicrobial compounds assay, suggesting that M. polyspora antagonism against B. basicola occurs through multiple or mixed mechanisms.
Therefore, based on this preliminary study’s results M. polyspora and C. globosum are promising biocontrol agents of three fungal phytopathogens of economical and agronomical relevance, and consequently species of interest for further studies in this area aimed at validating their potential as antagonists in in vivo conditions.
1) J.B. Ristaino, P.K. Anderson, D.P. Bebber, K.A. Brauman, N.J.Cunniffe, N.V. Fedoroff, C. Finegold, K.A. Garrett, C.A. Gilligan, C.M. Jones, et al. (2021). PNAS 118, 23 e2022239118.
2) A.C. Velásquez, C.D.M. Castroverde, S.Y. He (2018) Current Biology 28, 619–634.
3) S. Sarrocco, G. Vannacci (2018) Crop Protection 110, 160–170.
4) R.A.A. Khan, S. Najeeb, S. Hussain, B. Xie, Y. Li (2020) Microorganisms 8, 817.
5) Y. Peng, S.J. Li, J. Yan, Y. Tang, J.P. Cheng, A.J. Gao, X. Yao, J.J. Ruan, B.L. Xu (2021) Frontiers in Microbiology 12, 670135.
6) K. Raymaekers, L. Ponet, D. Holtappels, B. Berckmans, B.P.A. Cammue (2020) Biological Control 144, 104240
Fungi in action against hexachlorocyclohexane: a focus on biosurfactants from fungal biodiversity
No full textHexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) is a highly persistent organic pollutant of global concern, involving severe
risks for human health and ecosystem functioning. Mycoremediation represents a feasible nature-based
solution for the restoration of soils polluted by HCH thanks to the ability of fungi to tolerate, bioaccumulate
and degrade it. Known for its insecticidal properties of one of its isomers (γ-HCH), it has been used for a long
time in European soils and despite the ban in the Stockholm Convention, high concentrations exceeding the
threshold values have been found in many areas. One of this is the National Priority Site “Bacino del Fiume
Sacco” within the Metropolitan City of Rome that has been selected as study area. Soil cores up to 1m of depth,
divided in topsoil and subsoil samples, were collected from 2 plots. To isolate fungi able to utilize HCH as the
sole C-source, an isolation in enrichment conditions was carried out providing an high concentration of
isomers’ mixture (α-, β-, γ- and δ-HCH). A total of 49 fungal strains was isolated, mostly belonging to
Fusarium and Alternaria genera. To evaluate the ability of these fungi to produce biosurfactants, metabolites
that enhance HCH biodegradability, three tests were carried out: oil emulsification activity test, oil
displacement test and drop collapse assay. The results of the assays showed the ability of some strains to
produce biosurfactants, making them suitable candidates for further investigation
Fungi sniffing fungi: a working expansion of the Phenotype MicroArraysTM system to assess the effects of fungal volatile organic compounds between co-occurring species.
No full textRecommended from our members
The Postpartum Depression and Maternal Mental Health Oral History Project
No full textInterview with Margaret Spinelli, an author and psychiatrist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. Spinelli discusses her background in nursing, founding the women's mental heath program at Columbia, her research on antepartum and postpartum depression and psychotherapy, her experience with neonaticide cases, and her book
Fungal diversity for bioremediation: Tackling co-contaminations in a decomissioned military site
No full textMilitary sites, both active and decommissioned, represent a unique situation in which both biodiversity loss
and protection may occur, depending on how those sites are managed. Exclusion zones and good practices
such those provided in Natura 2000 report for military sites — can maintain or even increase the detected
biodiversity. However, potential and identified contaminations in military zones are soil threats of increasing
interest, especially when co-contaminations by organic and inorganic pollutants are established. Remediating
such complex contaminations through conventional techniques is not only economically unsustainable but
can also impact soil biodiversity. Novel methods to tackle co-contaminations may be found in
biotechnological applications of the bioresources isolated from those same contaminated sites, even though
there is a knowledge gap to be filled regarding the potentialities of autochthonous microbial communities.
Therefore, this study aimed at gaining insight on the culturable fungal community of a decommissioned
military site in Italy and the potentialities in fungal bioremediation. To reach the aims of the study, soil
samples were collected in six sampling plots and the fungal communities were isolated. Furthermore, the
fungal community associated with the rhizosphere of a specimen of Plantago lanceolata L., a wild herb
largely distributed in the site, was similarly studied for the same purposes. The results showed high
differences in species' abundances among samples with Penicillium, Aspergillus and Trichoderma as the
most abundant genera. The analysis of alpha diversity and evenness revealed that the samples with the
lowest abundance in Colony Forming Units (CFUs) showed the highest values of Shannon’s Diversity Index
(H’) and Simpson Diversity Index (D1), pointing to a lack of a dominant species among the isolates from
those samples, while in samples with higher CFU values a more varied situation arises. In fact, sample S28
had the lowest diversity indexes but also the second highest CFU abundance, pointing to a dominance of few
species, especially Penicillium S28A5, which was the most abundant species isolated from all samples. The
analysis of genera alpha diversity revealed a similar situation, except for sample S22, whose diversity of
genera showed to be the lowest among all samples, with a clear dominance of the Penicillium genus.
Focusing on the rhizosphere sample, the results of alpha revealed a highly diverse community of culturable
fungi, in both species and genera. The analysis of beta diversity, using Sørensen’s index, showed that while
the samples shared few common species, the isolated genera mostly overlapped. To evaluate the
potentialities of the isolated species, a set of screenings were performed on a selected group of 30 species,
which included the most abundant species and a species for each genus isolated. The assays performed in
this study were the Remazol Brilliant Blue R (RBBR) and Fe-Chromeazurol S (Fe-CAS) decolorization
assay, which are reported in literature as proxy test to investigate the ability to degrade complex organic
compounds and to produce siderophores in response to metallic and non-metallic elements. The species
showing the best performances were further tested to assess their tolerance to zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), Polycyclic
Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mixtures of organic and inorganic pollutants (Zn-PAH and Pb-PAH) in
in-vitro assays. The results of the screenings pointed to Gliomastix S28RE2 and Westerdykella S28RA1
having high capacities of degrading RBBR, while Acremonium S76A16, Aspergillus S56C4 and the
aforementioned Gliomastix species showed to be able to produce high quantities of siderophores. Eleven
species were chosen to be tested in the tolerance tests on Zn and PAHs, while four strains isolated from a Pb contaminated sample were exposed to Pb and PAHs. Overall, Penicillium S56C6 showed the best results in
both test conditions, retaining more than 70% of its growth rate when compared with control, while Mucor
S56E4 showed no change in growth rate, but suffered a loss in mycelium density. To conclude, several
strains isolated from this decommissioned military site showed promising potentialities for possible
application in bioremediation and further studies are currently underway to develop microbial consortia to
enhance their performance
Altiero Spinelli and the Idea of the US Constitution as a Model for Europe: The Promises and Pitfalls of an Analogy
No full textAltiero Spinelli believed European integration needed to draw inspiration from the US constitutional founding. The article uses Spinelli's analogy to assess how useful it is to compare the predicament of European integration with US constitutional politics. The analysis reveals both how Spinelli exaggerated the extent to which the US Constitution established and delimited federal political authority once and for all as well the way in which, despite its functionalist non-constitutional origins, the EU has experienced its own brand of constitutional politics. The analogy is thus most useful in showing how both polities faced similar tensions over the process of constitutionalism, restraining unit sovereignty and the institutionalization of popular sovereignty at the federal level. Copyright (c) 2009 The Author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Bezzia (Bezzia) trujilloi Huerta & Spinelli & Grogan Jr 2023, sp. nov.
No full text<i>Bezzia (Bezzia) trujilloi</i> sp. nov. <p>(Figs. 2A–J)</p> <p> <b>Diagnosis</b>. The only species in the gibbera species group with the following combination of characters: scutal vestiture with setae arising from raised tubercles; 4 large stout prealar setae arising from raised tubercles; fore and mid femora and fore and mid tibiae brown with subapical narrow pale rings; hind femur and tibia dark brown; male sternite 9 with deep, rounded, caudo-median excavation; aedeagus with a pair of membranous lateral lobes on medial portion; parameres with anterolateral plates rounded, distal portion elongate, tip pointed. Female unknown.</p> <p>Head (Fig. 2A). Dark brown, wider than long. Eyes separated by diameter of three ommatidia. Antennal flagellum with proximal 1/3 of flagellomeres 3–13 pale yellow, distal 2/3 darker brown; flagellomeres 2–8 short, vasiform, 9–13 elongated; 10 twice as long as 11; antennal ratio (AR) 1.10; length 1.0 mm. Palpus brown; segment 3 slender, elongate with capitate sensilla, palpal ratio (PR) 2.5; segment 5 slightly stout.</p> <p>Thorax. Dark brown. Scutum densely covered with setae arising from raised tubercles, without anterior tubercle, with 4 elongated stout prealar setae arising from raised tubercles (Fig. 2C); scutellum dark brown, with 4 stout setae (two mesal, two lateral) arising from raised tubercles. Pleura covered with minute setae; anepisternum setose. Legs (Fig. 2D–F): fore and mid femora and fore and mid tibiae brown with subapical, narrow pale bands; hind femur and tibia dark brown; tarsomeres of all legs pale brown; tarsomeres 1 of mid leg and 1–3 of hind legs with row of ventral palisade setae; tarsomeres 5 without ventrolateral setae; claws small, equal size on all legs, slightly curved with basal inner teeth. Wing (Fig. 2B) length 1.42 mm, width 0.40 mm; costal ratio 0.64; membrane pale, anterior veins brown; vein M barely sessile. Halter dark brown.</p> <p>Abdomen. Tergites dark brown, sternites lightly sclerotized. Genitalia (Fig. 2G–J). Tergite 9 short with subapical row of setae; sternite 9 short with very deep, rounded, caudomedian excavation. Gonocoxite stout, globose, 1.3X longer than greatest breadth, with short mesally directed setae. Gonostylus slightly shorter than gonocoxite, curved, with pointed apex. Parameres triangular, long, produced beyond apex of gonocoxite; anterolateral plates heavily sclerotized, rounded, distal portion elongate, tip pointed. Aedeagus triangular, basal arch low; basal arms slender, bilobed, heavily sclerotized anteriorly; median portion with a pair of membranous lateral lobes; distal portion membranous, rounded. Cerci setose, long, extending beyond midportion of gonocoxite.</p> <p> <b>Female</b>. Unknown.</p> <p> <b>HOLOTYPE</b>. Male. <b>MEXICO</b>, <i>Veracruz</i>, Teocelo, Texin, cafetal, 2-sep-2008, CDC trap, CAIM.</p> <p> <b>Distribution</b>. Neotropical. Mexico, Veracruz (Fig. 6).</p> <p> <b>Etymology</b>. This new species is dedicated in memory to Dr. Rafael Trujillo López. He was a great friend of the senior author, shared many life lessons that are deeply appreciated.</p> <p> <b>Discussion</b>. <i>Bezzia trujilloi</i> is related to <i>Bezzia gibbera</i>. Characters distinguishing both species are included in the key. This new species is similar to the primarily Nearctic species <i>Bezzia bivittata</i> (Coquillett), which also ranges south to Panama, as well as two Neotropical species: <i>Bezzia globulosa</i> Spinelli & Wirth from Puerto Rico and <i>Bezzia jubata</i> Spinelli & Wirth from Colombia, which the same pattern of pale bands on the fore and middle legs. However, the hind femur with subapical pale band is present in <i>B. bivittata</i> and <i>B. jubata, B. globulosa</i> and <i>trujilloi</i> without pale subapical band. The male genitalia differ in sternite 9 with a deep caudo-median excavation in <i>B</i>. <i>trujilloi</i> and <i>B. globulosa</i>, while in <i>B. bivittata</i> and <i>B. jubata</i> with slight excavation. The parameres with anterolateral plates rounded and lateral portion pointed tip only present in <i>B. trujilloi</i>, in <i>B. bivittata</i>, <i>B. globulosa</i> and <i>B. jubata</i> an irregular shape. In addition, the aedeagus of <i>B</i>. <i>trujilloi</i> with lateral membranous-like lobes in median section, absent in the other species. Another similar species is <i>Bezzia grogani</i> Spinelli & Wirth from Colombia, Mexico and Panama, which has a distinctive setose, dorsomesal lobe on the gonocoxite, which is absent in <i>B. trujilloi</i>.</p>Published as part of <i>Huerta, Herón, Spinelli, Gustavo R. & Grogan Jr, William L., 2023, New records of predaceous midges in Bezzia Kieffer and Phaenobezzia Haeselbarth from Mexico with description of two new species of Bezzia (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), pp. 535-552 in Zootaxa 5323 (4)</i> on pages 540-542, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5323.4.5, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/8212446">http://zenodo.org/record/8212446</a>
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