Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Updates on Apiospora: Introducing Four New Species from Wurfbainia villosa and Grasses in China

Abstract

Apiospora, an ascomycetous genus in Apiosporaceae, comprises saprobes, endophytes, and pathogens of humans and plants. They have a cosmopolitan distribution with a wide range of hosts reported from Asia. In the present study, we collected and isolated Apiospora species from Wurfbainia villosa and grasses in Guangdong and Yunnan provinces in China. Multi-locus phylogeny based on the internal transcribed spacer, the large subunit nuclear rDNA, the partial translation elongation factor 1-α, and β-tubulin was performed to clarify the phylogenetic affinities of the Apiospora species. Based on the distinctive morphological characteristics and molecular evidence, Ap. endophytica, Ap. guangdongensis, Ap. wurfbainiae, and Ap. yunnanensis are proposed. Descriptions, illustrations, and notes for the newly discovered species are provided and compared with closely related Apiospora species. An updated phylogeny of Apiospora is presented, along with a discussion on the phylogenetic affinities of ambiguous taxa.

Three new endophytic Apiospora species (Apiosporaceae, Amphisphaeriales) from China

“…The delineation of most Apiospora species into major clades remained consistent across both studies. Notably, A. garethjonesii, A.neogarethjonesii, A. neobambusae, A. mytilomorpha, A. subrosea, and A.setostroma clustered together in a strongly supported major clade H, aligning with findings from previous studies (Crous et al 2021; Monkai et al 2022;Pintos and Alvarado 2022;Liao et al 2023;Liu et al 2024). Within this major clade, three distinct clades representing three new species were identified (Fig.…”

“…Their close relatives, A. garethjonesii, A. neogarethjonesii, A. neobambusae, and A. subrosea, were found on bamboo plants. Most Apiospora species exhibit saprobic and endophytic lifestyles, which are likely associated with the prevalence of Apiospora (Liao et al 2023). Our new species occurred as endophytic fungi.…”

“…Within the family Apiosporaceae, Apiospora is closely related to Arthrinium and they were once considered as two life stages of a single taxon (Ellis 1965;Crous and Groenewald 2013;Réblová et al 2016;Jiang et al 2019). Morphologically, Apiospora and Arthrinium lack clear diagnostic features, although species of Arthrinium often produce conidia of various shapes (Minter and Cannon 2018;Pintos and Alvarado 2021), while most species of Apiospora have rounded lenticular conidia (Li et al 2023;Liao et al 2023). Ecologically, most sequenced collections of Arthrinium were found on Cyperaceae or Juncaceae in temperate, cold, or alpine habitats, while those of Apiospora were mainly collected on Poaceae, as well as various other plant host families, in a wide range of habitats, including tropical and subtropical regions (Dai et al 2016; Wang et al 2018;Feng et al 2021;Tian et al 2021;Kwon et al 2022;Monkai et al 2022).…”

“…Whereas, many Apiospora species are saprophytes, such as A. acutiapica (Senanayake et al 2020), A. garethjonesii (Dai et al 2016), A. magnispora (Zhao et al 2023), A. sasae (Crous et al 2021), and A. thailandicum (Dai et al 2017). In addition, certain Apiospora species are reported as endophytes with wide host range, including bamboo (Wang et al 2018), Camellia sinensis (Wang et al 2018), Wurfbainia villosa (Liao et al 2023), and even hive-stored pollen (Zhao et al 2018).…”

Three New Periconia Species Isolated from Wurfbainia villosa in Guangdong, China: A Discussion on the Doubtful Taxa Clustering in this Genus

“…However, limited taxonomic and phylogenetic information is available regarding the fungi associated with W. villosa, particularly in Yangchun City. A total of six fungal species have been reported on this medicinal plant in this region [7,8]. During a survey conducted in Yangchun City, Guangdong Province, China, to investigate microfungi associated with the traditional medicinal plant W. villosa, ascomycetous fungi resembling Periconia were isolated from the dead stems and healthy leaves of this plant.…”