Polycephalomyces tengchongensis Y. Wang tris & T. C. Wen

Wang, Yi, Wei, De-Ping, Peng, Xing-Can, Kang, Ji-Chuan, Li, Zeng-Zhi, Li, Chun-Ru, Zhang, Xian, Wang, Gui-Ying, Zhou, Yun, He, Xin-Sheng, Chomnunti, Putarak & Wen, Ting-Chi, 2024, Interesting mycoparasites and Paradingleyomyces lepidopterorum gen. et sp. nov. (Hypocreales, Polycephalomycetaceae) from Yunnan Province, China, MycoKeys 110, pp. 185-210 : 185-210

Polycephalomyces tengchongensis Y. Wang tris & T. C. Wen sp. nov.

Fig. 3

Etymology.

Named after the location where the type specimen was found, Tengchong County, Yunnan Province.

Description.

Parasitic on Perennicordyceps cf. elaphomyceticola . Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Synnemata 18.7 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, cylindrical, white, growing in small group on stromata of Perennicordyceps cf. elaphomyceticola . Fertile parts yellowish, with conidial mass forming on middle part of synnemata. Phialides dimorphic. α-phialides 9–20 × 1–2 μm (x ̄ = 12.3 × 1.2 μm, n = 45), phialidic, subulate, hyaline, smooth-walled, arranged in a parallel palisade-like layer around the fertile part. α-conidia 1–3 μm (x ̄ = 2 μm, n = 45), globose, hyaline.

Culture characters.

Colonies on PDA attaining a diam. of 28–31 mm in 14 days at 25 ° C, white, leathery, radially striate, reverse dark brown and turns pale outward. β-phialides 18–44 × 1–3 μm (x ̄ = 26.7 × 1.2 μm, n = 30), phialidic, lanceolate, smooth-walled. β-conidia 3–7 × 1.5–3 μm (x ̄ = 3.9 × 2.2 μm, n = 45), ellipsoidal to broadly fusiform, hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled.

Material examined.

China • Yunnan Province, Tengchong County, Houqiao Town ; 5 Nov. 2022; Collected by Yi Wang; Parasitic on the stromata of Perennicordyceps cf. elaphomyceticola ; GYY 547 ( HKAS 131923 , ex-holotype living culture: KUNCC 23-16073 ) .

Notes.

The newly described species Polycephalomyces tengchongensis is closely related to Po. formosus with strong support (MLBS = 100 %, MIPP = 1.00, Fig. 1 ). However, Polycephalomyces tengchongensis is distinct from Po. formosus in several aspects. It parasitizes Perennicordyceps cf. elaphomyceticola and produces synnemata without well-defined stipe and a fertile head but features dimorphic phialides and conidia. In contrast, Po. formosus has stipitate synnemata with a fertile head at the tip and produces only one type of phialides and conidia ( Xiao et al. 2023).

A comparison of nucleotide sequences between Po. tengchongensis and the ex-type of strain of Po. formosus ( NBRC 109993 ) revealed 1 % differences (6 / 584 bp) including three gaps in the ITS region, 0.3 % (3 / 774 bp) differences including one gap in the LSU region, 2.3 % differences (16 / 684 bp) including three gaps in the rpb 1 region and 1.6 % differences (15 / 891 bp) in the rpb 2 region. Collectively, the differences both in phenotypic profiles and nucleotides sequences support the establishment of Polycephalomyces tengchongensis as a new species.

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree of Polycephalomycetaceae based on a concatenated data matrix of SSU, ITS, LSU, tef- 1 α, rpb 1, and rpb 2. Bootstrap values greater than or equal to 75 % and Bayesian posterior probabilities greater than or equal to 0.80 are shown at the respective nodes. Newly added taxa from this study are highlighted in red.

Figure 3. Polycephalomyces tengchongensis (B – I from HKAS 131923, J – R from KUNCC 23-16073) A habitat B – F infected Perennicordyceps cf. elaphomyceticola showing synnemata of parasites G, H α-phialides I α-conidia J – M β-phialides N – P β-conidia Q, R reverse and front view of culture on PDA. Scale bars: 5 mm (D – F); 20 μm (G, H); 50 μm (J – L); 10 μm (M); 5 μm (I, N – P).