Multigene phylogeny of the family Cordycipitaceae (Hypocreales): new taxa and the new systematic position of the Chinese cordycipitoid fungus Paecilomyces hepiali

Abstract

The phylogeny and systematics of cordycipitoid fungi have been extensively studied in the last two decades. However, systematic positions of some taxa in the family Cordycipitaceae have not yet been thoroughly resolved. In this study, a new phylogenetic framework of Cordycipitaceae is reconstructed using multigene (nrSSU, nrLSU, tef-1α, rpb1 and rpb2) sequence data with large-scale taxon sampling. In addition, ITS sequence data of species belonging to the Lecanicillium lineage in the family Cordycipitaceae are used to further determine their phylogenetic placements. Based on molecular phylogenetic data together with morphological evidence, two new genera (Flavocillium and Liangia), 16 new species and four new combinations are introduced. In the new genus Flavocillium, one new species F. bifurcatum and three new combinations previously described as Lecanicillium, namely F. acerosium, F. primulinium and F. subprimulinium, are proposed. The genus Liangia is built by the new species Lia. sinensis with Lecanicillium-like asexual morph, isolated from an entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria yunnanensis. Due to the absence of Paecilomyces hepiali, an economically and medically significant fungus, in the earlier phylogenetic analyses, its systematic position has been puzzling in both business and academic communities for a long time. Here, P. hepiali is recharacterized using the holotype material along with seven additional samples. It is assigned to the genus Samsoniella (Cordycipitaceae, Hypocreales) possessing Cordyceps-like sexual morph and Isaria-like asexual morph, and thus a new combination, namely S. hepiali is proposed. An additional nine new species in Samsoniella are described: S. alpina, S. antleroides, S. cardinalis, S. cristata, S. lanmaoa, S. kunmingensis, S. ramosa, S. tortricidae and S. yunnanensis. Four new species in Cordyceps are described: C. chaetoclavata, C. cocoonihabita, C. shuifuensis and C. subtenuipes. Simplicillium yunnanense, isolated from synnemata of Akanthomyces waltergamsii, is described as a new species.

Comparative Analysis of Mitochondrial Genome Features among Four Clonostachys Species and Insight into Their Systematic Positions in the Order Hypocreales

“…The fungi were transferred onto plates of potato dextrose agar (PDA; potato 200 g/L, dextrose 20 g/L, agar 20 g/L) and subsequently cultured at 25 °C. The species were tested according to their microscopic morphological characteristics and through molecular analyses [ 42 , 43 , 44 ] and microscopic morphological observation methods, as described in Wang et al (2020). Molecular analyses used a 3-gene (nrLSU + Tub + ITS) database, which consisted of 64 sequences of Clonostachys genus, and the outgroup comprised Stanjemonium ochroroseum and Stanjemonium grisellum .…”

Morphological and Molecular Phylogenetic Data of the Chinese Medicinal Fungus Cordyceps liangshanensis Reveal Its New Systematic Position in the Family Ophiocordycipitaceae

“…Frozen sections and glass slides with lactic acid phenol cotton blue solution were prepared for morphological observation and measurement of sexual morph under a light microscope (BX53, Olympus Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). Morphological description of asexual morph was conducted as the method described by Wang et al [8]. Micro-morphological observations and measurements were performed using the Olympus BX53 stereomicroscope and a scanning electron microscope (Quanta 200 FEG, FEI Company, Hillsboro, USA).…”

Multigene Phylogeny and Morphology of Ophiocordyceps alboperitheciata sp. nov., A New Entomopathogenic Fungus Attacking Lepidopteran Larva from Yunnan, China

“…The cultures were deposited at Yunnan Fungal Culture Collection (YFCC), Yunnan University. To describe the new species, the macroand micromorphological characteristics were observed by complying with Wang et al [20].…”

“…Five nuclear gene regions were amplified and sequenced, i.e., the small subunit of ribosomal DNA (nrSSU), the large subunit of ribosomal DNA (nrLSU), translation extension factor 1-gene (tef-1a), the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb1), as well as the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2) [5,22,23]. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed by adopting the method presented by Wang et al [20]. Moreover, amplifications were conducted in 25 mL, and PCR conditions were referenced from Sung et al [5].…”

“…A series of surveys were conducted to reveal the species diversity of entomopathogenic fungi in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China [16][17][18][19][20]. To be specific, the richness of cordycipitoid fungi was found to be relatively higher in Kunming Wild Duck Lake Forest Park.…”