At present 75 species of Hypocrea have been identified in
temperate Europe. Nineteen green-spored species and their Trichoderma
asexual states are here described in detail. Extensive searches for
Hypocrea teleomorphs in 14 European countries, with emphasis on
Central Europe, yielded more than 620 specimens within five years. The
morphology of fresh and dry stromata was studied. In addition, available types
of species described from Europe were examined. Cultures were prepared from
ascospores and used to study the morphology of cultures and anamorphs, to
determine growth rates, and to extract DNA that was used for amplification and
sequencing of three genetic markers. ITS was used for identification, while
RNA polymerase II subunit b (rpb2) and translation elongation factor
1 alpha (tef1) were analyzed for phylogenetic reconstruction of the
genus.Several unexpected findings resulted from this project: 1) The previous
view that only a small number of Trichoderma species form a
teleomorph is erroneous. 2) All expectations concerning the number of species
in Europe are by far exceeded. Seventy-five species of Hypocrea, two
species of Protocrea, and Arachnocrea stipata, are herein
identified in temperate Europe, based on the ITS identification routine using
fresh material, on species described earlier without molecular data and on
species recently described but not collected during this project. 3) Current
data suggest that the biodiversity of Hypocrea / Trichoderma
above soil exceeds the number of species isolated from soil. 4) The number of
Trichoderma species forming hyaline conidia has been considered a
small fraction. In Europe, 26 species of those forming teleomorphs produce
hyaline conidia, while 42 green-conidial species are known. Three of the
detected Hypocrea species do not form an anamorph in culture, while
the anamorph is unknown in four species, because they have never been
cultured.This work is a preliminary account of Hypocrea and their
Trichoderma anamorphs in Europe. Of the hyaline-spored species,
H. minutispora is by far the most common species in Europe, while of
the green-spored species this is H. strictipilosa.General ecology of Hypocrea is discussed. Specific associations,
either with host fungi or trees have been found, but the majority of species
seems to be necrotrophic on diverse fungi on wood and bark.The taxonomy of the genus will be treated in two parts. In this first part
19 species of Hypocrea with green ascospores, including six new
teleomorph and five new anamorph species, are described in detail. All
green-spored species belong to previously recognised clades, except H.
spinulosa, which forms the new Spinulosa Clade with two
additional new species, and H. fomiticola, which belongs to the
Semiorbis Clade and forms effuse to large subpulvinate stromata on
Fomes fomentarius, a trait new for species with green ascospores.
Anamorph names are established prospectively in order to provide a basis for
possible policy alterations towards their use for ...