Exploring ascomycete diversity in Yunnan, China I: resolving ambiguous taxa in Phaeothecoidiellaceae and investigating conservation implications of fungi

Yunnan, located in southwestern China, is known for its high fungal diversity, and many of which are endemic to the region. As part of our ongoing studies on fungi in Yunnan, we introduce two new genera in Phaeothecoidiellaceae (Mycosphaerellales), to accommodate one Repetophragma-like and another Stomiopeltis-like taxa. Pseudorepetophragma gen. nov. is introduced herein as a monotypic genus to accommodate P. zygopetali comb. nov.(≡ Repetophragma zygopetali), whereas Pseudostomiopeltis gen. nov. is introduced to accommodate Ps. xishuangbannaensis gen. et sp. nov. and Ps. phyllanthi comb. nov.(≡ Stomiopeltis phyllanthi), based on a new collection from Yunnan. In addition, Stomiopeltis sinensis is transferred to Exopassalora as E. sinensis comb. nov. due to its phylogenetic affinity and grouped with E. zambiae, the generic type of Exopassalora. This study provides new insights into the biodiversity of fungal species in this region and adds to our understanding of their ecological roles, as well as the resolution to ambiguous taxa in Phaeothecoidiellaceae

Fungal diversity notes 929–1035: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungi

This article is the ninth in the series of Fungal Diversity Notes, where 107 taxa distributed in three phyla, nine classes, 31 orders and 57 families are described and illustrated. Taxa described in the present study include 12 new genera, 74 new species, three new combinations, two reference specimens, a re-circumscription of the epitype, and 15 records of sexualasexual morph connections, new hosts and new geographical distributions. Twelve new genera comprise Brunneofusispora, Brunneomurispora, Liua, Lonicericola, Neoeutypella, Paratrimmatostroma, Parazalerion, Proliferophorum, Pseudoastrosphaeriellopsis, Septomelanconiella, Velebitea and Vicosamyces. Seventy-four new species are Agaricus memnonius, A. langensis, Aleurodiscus patagonicus, Amanita flavoalba, A. subtropicana, Amphisphaeria mangrovei, Baorangia major, Bartalinia kunmingensis, Brunneofusispora sinensis, Brunneomurispora lonicerae, Capronia camelliaeyunnanensis, Clavulina thindii, Coniochaeta simbalensis, Conlarium thailandense, Coprinus trigonosporus, Liua muriformis, Cyphellophora filicis, Cytospora ulmicola, Dacrymyces invisibilis, Dictyocheirospora metroxylonis, Distoseptispora thysanolaenae, Emericellopsis koreana, Galiicola baoshanensis, Hygrocybe lucida, Hypoxylon teeravasati, Hyweljonesia indica, Keissleriella caraganae, Lactarius olivaceopallidus, Lactifluus midnapurensis, Lembosia brigadeirensis, Leptosphaeria urticae, Lonicericola hyaloseptispora, Lophiotrema mucilaginosis, Marasmiellus bicoloripes, Marasmius indojasminodorus, Micropeltis phetchaburiensis, Mucor orantomantidis, Murilentithecium lonicerae, Neobambusicola brunnea, Neoeutypella baoshanensis, Neoroussoella heveae, Neosetophoma lonicerae, Ophiobolus malleolus, Parabambusicola thysanolaenae, Paratrimmatostroma kunmingensis, Parazalerion indica, Penicillium dokdoense, Peroneutypa mangrovei, Phaeosphaeria cycadis, Phanerochaete australosanguinea, Plectosphaerella kunmingensis, Plenodomus artemisiae, P. lijiangensis, Proliferophorum thailandicum, Pseudoastrosphaeriellopsis kaveriana, Pseudohelicomyces menglunicus, Pseudoplagiostoma mangiferae, Robillarda mangiferae, Roussoella elaeicola, Russula choptae, R. uttarakhandia, Septomelanconiella thailandica, Spencermartinsia acericola, Sphaerellopsis isthmospora, Thozetella lithocarpi, Trechispora echinospora, Tremellochaete atlantica, Trichoderma koreanum, T. pinicola, T. rugulosum, Velebitea chrysotexta, Vicosamyces venturisporus, Wojnowiciella kunmingensis and Zopfiella indica. Three new combinations are Baorangia rufomaculata, Lanmaoa pallidorosea and Wojnowiciella rosicola. The reference specimens of Canalisporium kenyense and Tamsiniella labiosa are designated. The epitype of Sarcopeziza sicula is re-circumscribed based on cyto- and histochemical analyses. The sexual-asexual morph connection of Plenodomus sinensis is reported from ferns and Cirsium for the first time. In addition, the new host records and country records are Amanita altipes, A. melleialba, Amarenomyces dactylidis, Chaetosphaeria panamensis, Coniella vitis, Coprinopsis kubickae, Dothiorella sarmentorum, Leptobacillium leptobactrum var. calidus, Muyocopron lithocarpi, Neoroussoella solani, Periconia cortaderiae, Phragmocamarosporium hederae, Sphaerellopsis paraphysata and Sphaeropsis eucalypticola

Integrative Taxonomy of Novel <i>Diaporthe</i> Species Associated with Medicinal Plants in Thailand

During our investigations of the microfungi on medicinal plants in Thailand, five isolates of Diaporthe were obtained. These isolates were identified and described using a multiproxy approach, viz. morphology, cultural characteristics, host association, the multiloci phylogeny of ITS, tef1-α, tub2, cal, and his3, and DNA comparisons. Five new species, Diaporthe afzeliae, D. bombacis, D. careyae, D. globoostiolata, and D. samaneae, are introduced as saprobes from the plant hosts, viz. Afzelia xylocarpa, Bombax ceiba, Careya sphaerica, a member of Fagaceae, and Samanea saman. Interestingly, this is the first report of Diaporthe species on these plants, except on the Fagaceae member. The morphological comparison, updated molecular phylogeny, and pairwise homoplasy index (PHI) analysis strongly support the establishment of novel species. Our phylogeny also revealed the close relationship between D. zhaoqingensis and D. chiangmaiensis; however, the evidence from the PHI test and DNA comparison indicated that they are distinct species. These findings improve the existing knowledge of taxonomy and host diversity of Diaporthe species as well as highlight the untapped potential of these medicinal plants for searching for new fungi

Addition to Micropeltidaceae: Micropeltis goniothalamicola sp. nov. and new record of Scolecopeltidium menglaense from Chiang Rai, Thailand

Marasinghe, Diana S., Hongsanan, Sinang, Boonmee, Saranyaphat, Xie, Ning (2021): Addition to Micropeltidaceae: Micropeltis goniothalamicola sp. nov. and new record of Scolecopeltidium menglaense from Chiang Rai, Thailand. Phytotaxa 487 (1): 56-64, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.487.1.4, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.487.1.

Paramicrothyrium bambusae Tennakoon, S. Hongsanan & S. Lumyong 2023, sp. nov.

Paramicrothyrium bambusae Tennakoon, S. Hongsanan & S. Lumyong sp. nov. (FIGURE 2) Index Fungorum Number: IF559725; Facesoffungi number: FoF11795 Etymology:—Name reflects the host genus Bambusa. Holotype:— MFLU 19-2729 Epiphytic on the upper surface of dead leaves of Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. (Poaceae), visible as small black dots. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Thyriothecia 90–120 × 100–130 μm (x = 110 × 112 µm, n = 10), solitary, scattered, superficial, flattened, circular, dark brown to black, easily be removed from the substrate, poorly developed basal layer, with irregular, central ostiole, dark brown, irregularly rounded at the margin. Upper wall comprises brown cells of textura angularis, radiating in irregular, parallel lines from center to the outer rim. Conidiogenous cells evanescent. Conidia 3–4 × 1–2 µm (x = 3.7 × 1.2 μm, n = 30), hyaline, cylindrical with obtuse ends, unicellular, minute guttulate, straight or slightly curved, smooth-walled. Culture characteristics:— Colonies on PDA, 10–12 mm diam. after 4 weeks at 25 °C, colonies from above: medium dense, circular, raised, cottony, surface smooth, entire margin, white to cream at margin, white at center; reverse: white to yellowish at margin, light brown at center. Mycelium white to cream with tufting. Material examined:— Thailand, Chiang Mai, dead leaves of Bambusa vulgaris (Poaceae), 28 September 2018, D.S. Tennakoon, ADS046A (MFLU 19-2729, holotype); ex-type living culture, SDBR-CMU436. ibid. 29 September 2019, ADS046B (NCYU 19-0085, paratype); ex-paratype living culture, SDBR-CMU437. GenBank numbers:—MFLU 19-2729: ITS: ON751741; NCYU 19-0085: ITS: ON751742. Notes:—The phylogeny indicates that Paramicrothyrium bambusae (MFLU 19-2729 and NCYU 19-0085) forms a distinct lineage sister to P. chinensis isolates (IFRDCC2258 and IA20) with robust statistical support (100% ML, 99% MP, 1.00 BYPP, FIGURE 1). The morphology of P. bambusae fits well with the type species in having circular, dark brown to black thyriothecia with an irregular ostiole, without a darkened ring (Wu et al. 2011). However, we were unable to compare P. chinensis to the asexual morph of P. bambusae, since only the sexual morph was available for that species (Wu et al. 2011). Therefore, we compared the base pair differences between P. bambusae and P. chinensis and there were 25 base pair differences (4.14%) across 603 nucleotides across the ITS (+ 5.8S) gene region. In addition, P. bambusae has smaller thyriothecia (90–120 × 100–130 μm), whereas P. chinensis has significantly larger thyriothecia (420–590 μm diam.) (Wu et al. 2011). However, further collections are needed to clarify the sexual and asexual connection of Paramicrothyrium species.Published as part of Tennakoon, Danushka S., Hongsanan, Sinang, De Silva, Nimali I., Suwannarach, Nakarin & Lumyong, Saisamorn, 2023, Molecular phylogeny and morphological characterization of Paramicrothyrium bambusae sp. nov. and Tumidispora thailandica sp. nov. from leaf litter, pp. 112-124 in Phytotaxa 578 (1) on page 117, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.578.1.6, http://zenodo.org/record/751773

Additions to Chaetothyriaceae (Chaetothyriales): Longihyalospora gen. nov. and Ceramothyrium longivolcaniforme, a new host record from decaying leaves of Ficus ampelas

A novel ascomycete genus, Longihyalospora, occurring on leaf litter of Ficus ampelas in Dahu Forest Area in Chiayi, Taiwan is described and illustrated. Longihyalospora is characterized by dark mycelium covering the upper leaf surface, elongate mycelial pellicle with ring of setae, pale brown to brown peridium, broadly obovoid, short pedicellate asci and hyaline, fusiform, elongated (tapering ends) and multi-septate ascospores with a thin mucilaginous sheath. Phylogenetic analyses of combined ITS, LSU and SSU sequence data revealed Longihyalospora as a distinct genus within the Chaetothyriaceae with high bootstrap support. Moreover, based on morphological similarities, Chaetothyrium vermisporum transferred to the new genus. In addition, Ceramothyrium longivolcaniforme is reported for the first time on Ficus ampelas. Newly added species are compared with other similar species and comprehensive descriptions and micrographs are provided

Two novel species of (Parabambusicolaceae, Pleosporales) with their phoma-like asexual morphs.

The monotypic genu

Multigene phylogenetic analyses to establish new Valsaria species and taxonomic significance of spore ornamentation.

During our studies on fungal diversity from plant substrates, a new species of Valsaria was isolated from dead branches of Ostrya carpinifolia. The taxon is morphologically similar to other taxa in Valsariaceae and is characterized by pseudostromata, apically free pseudoparaphyses, bitunicate asci, and dark brown, 2-celled ascospores. However, it differs from extant species in number of guttules and ornamentation of spore. It is introduced herein as Valsaria ostryae sp. nov. within the family Valsariaceae. Multigene phylogenies based on combined LSU, ITS and RPB2 DNA sequence data generated from maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and MrBayes analyses indicate that V. ostryae is basal to V. lopadostomoides and V. rudis and its establishment as a new species is strongly supported. No discordance was found between our morphological and phylogenetic species boundaries as postulated by other researchers and our molecular data strongly supports ornamentation of spore as useful for species delineation. Valsaria species do not appear to be host specific. Full morphological details are provided herein and phylogenetic relationships of Valsaria species are also discussed in light with host association

Two new entomopathogenic species of Ophiocordyceps in Thailand

Volume: 47Start Page: 53End Page: 7