Three New Species of Microdochium (Sordariomycetes, Amphisphaeriales) on Miscanthus sinensis and Phragmites australis from Hainan, China

Abstract

Species in Microdochium, potential agents of biocontrol, have often been reported as plant pathogens, occasionally as endophytes and fungicolous fungi. Combining multiple molecular markers (ITS rDNA, LSU rDNA, TUB2 and RPB2) with morphological characteristics, this study proposes three new species in the genus Microdochium represented by seven strains from the plant hosts Miscanthus sinensis and Phragmites australis in Hainan Island, China. These three species, Microdochium miscanthi sp. Nov., M. sinense sp. Nov. and M. hainanense sp. Nov., are described with MycoBank number, etymology, typification, morphological features and illustrations, as well as placement on molecular phylogenetic trees. Their affinity with morphologically allied and molecularly closely related species are also analyzed. For facilitating identification, an updated key to the species of Microdochium is provided herein.

Fungal Microbiome of Alive and Dead Korean Fir in its Native Habitats

“…Hydnotrya is distributed across the northern hemisphere including Asian, European, and North American countries [ 102 ]. Microdochium species are commonly known as plant pathogens and saprophytes isolated from diseased plant hosts such as grasses and cereals [ 103 ]. The genus is characterized by its spherical and erumpent stromata and solitary transparent spindle-shaped to oval conidia [ 104 ].…”

Three New Species of Microdochium (Microdochiaceae, Xylariales) on Bambusaceae sp. and Saprophytic Leaves from Hainan and Yunnan, China

“…M. nannuoshanense is distinguished from M. sinense (SAUCC 211097) by 4/535, 3/836, 16/909 and 4/717 characters in ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TUB2 sequences, respectively. Morphologically, M. nannuoshanense differs from M. sinense in conidia (7.0-12.0 × 2.5-4.0 µm vs. 11.5-19.34 × 2.8-5.4 µm) and in colony texture (creamy white to pale brown with regular margins vs. yellow-brown overall and fluffy at the edge on PDA) [21]. For details, see Table 3 Culture characteristics-Cultures incubated on PDA at 25 °C in darkness, reaching 68-73 mm diam., had a growth rate of 4.8-5.2 mm/day after 14 days, were creamy white to pale brown with regular margins, had moderate aerial mycelia, and the reverse was similar.…”

“…M. nannuoshanense is distinguished from M. sinense (SAUCC 211097) by 4/535, 3/836, 16/909 and 4/717 characters in ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TUB2 sequences, respectively. Morphologically, M. nannuoshanense differs from M. sinense in conidia (7.0-12.0 × 2.5-4.0 µm vs. 11.5-19.34 × 2.8-5.4 µm) and in colony texture (creamy white to pale brown with regular margins vs. yellow-brown overall and fluffy at the edge on PDA) [21]. For details, see Table 3.…”

“…The newly generated sequences in this study and closely associated sequences from Liu et al [21] and Dissanayake et al [22] were aligned using the MAFFT 7 online service with the default strategy and corrected manually using MEGA 7 [26,31]. To determine the identity of the isolates at species level, phylogenetic analysis was first conducted separately for each marker, followed by a combination (ITS-LSU-RPB2-TUB2) (See Supplementary File S1).…”

“…Zhang et al [20] identified Microdochium paspali, which caused leaf blight of Paspalum vaginatum Sw., a widely used lawn grass for tropical and subtropical golf courses. Liu et al [21] described three species, Microdochium miscanthi, M. sinense and M. hainanense, isolated from Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. and Phragmites australis (Cav.)…”