Multigene phylogeny and morphology reveal Ophiocordyceps hydrangea sp. nov. and Ophiocordyceps bidoupensis sp. nov. (Ophiocordycipitaceae)

Abstract

Ophiocordyceps species have a wide range of insect hosts, from solitary beetle larva to social insects. However, among the species of Ophiocordyceps, only a few attack cicada nymphs. These species are mainly clustered in the Ophiocordyceps sobolifera clade in Ophiocordyceps. A new entomopathogenic fungus parasitic on cicada nymphs, and another fungus parasitic on the larva of Coleoptera, are described in this study. The two new species viz. Ophiocordyceps hydrangea and Ophiocordyceps bidoupensis were introduced based on morphology and multigene phylogenetic evidence. The phylogenetic framework of Ophiocordyceps was reconstructed using a multigene (nrSSU, nr LSU, tef-1α, rpb1, and rpb2) dataset. The phylogenetic analyses results showed that O. hydrangea and O. bidoupensis were statistically well-supported in the O. sobolifera clade, forming two separate subclades from other species of Ophiocordyceps. The distinctiveness of these two new species was strongly supported by both molecular phylogeny and morphology.

Molecular phylogeny and morphology reveal two new entomopathogenic species of Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) parasitic on termites from China

“…According to the current status of Cordyceps s. l. taxonomy, it belongs to four families: Clavicipitaceae , Cordycipitaceae , Ophiocordycipitaceae and Polycephalomycetaceae ( Sung et al 2007a ; Xiao et al 2023 ). Among them, the genus Ophiocordyceps Petch ( Ophiocordycipitaceae ) has received significant attention for its unique interactions with hosts and medical values ( Zou et al 2017 ; Araújo et al 2018 ; Luangsa-ard et al 2018 ; Khonsanit et al 2019 ; Wang et al 2021a ; Zou et al 2022 ; Tang et al 2023a ).…”

Molecular Phylogeny and Morphology Reveal Cryptic Species in the Cordyceps militaris Complex from Vietnam

“…Cordyceps sensu lato ( s. l. ) is an important worldwide group of arthropod-pathogenic fungi, with the height of known species diversity in subtropical and tropical regions [ 12 , 13 ]. Vietnam is located in a tropical region that has an extremely rich biodiversity in Southeast Asia.…”

Systematic analyses with genomic and metabolomic insights reveal a new species, Ophiocordyceps indica sp. nov. from treeline area of Indian Western Himalayan region

“…Extensive work by researchers in this area has enhanced the species diversity within the Ophiocordycipitaceae family (Araújo et al, 2015 , 2018 ; Shrestha et al, 2019 ; Chen et al, 2020 , 2021 ; Kuephadungphan et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Mongkolsamrit et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020 ; Xiao et al, 2023 ). Recently, many new species of Ophiocordyceps have been identified from different hosts, for example, O. asiana (Khao-ngam et al, 2021 ), O. bidoupensis (Zou et al, 2022 ), O. buquetii (Mongkolsamrit et al, 2023 ), O. flavida (Mongkolsamrit et al, 2021 ), O. hydrangea (Zou et al, 2022 ), O. laotii (Mongkolsamrit et al, 2023 ), O. mizoramensis (Chawngthu et al, 2021 ), O. puluongensis (Xu et al, 2022 ), O. tessaratomidarum (Khao-ngam et al, 2021 ), and O. vespulae (Long et al, 2021 ). These species have been described based on multifarious approaches including micro- and macro-morphological characteristics, multigene phylogeny, and whole-genome analyses combined with metabolomic studies.…”

“…Ophiocordyceps (Ophiocordycipitaceae, Hypocreales, Ascomycota) is the largest genus of entomopathogenic fungi having 299 records in Index Fungorum (http://indexfungorum. org/Names/Names.asp; Sung et al, 2007;Xu et al, 2022), and their numbers are enormously increasing. Extensive work by researchers in this area has enhanced the species diversity within the Ophiocordycipitaceae family (Araújo et al, 2015(Araújo et al, , 2018Shrestha et al, 2019;Chen et al, 2020Chen et al, , 2021Kuephadungphan et al, 2020Kuephadungphan et al, , 2022Mongkolsamrit et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020;Xiao et al, 2023).…”