Cordyceps yaoluopingensis Y.Yang, Y.P. Xiao & X. Luo, 2022

Yang, Yu, Xiao, Yuan-Ping, Cheng, Yan-Ni, Xu, Fei-Yan, Han, Hao-Ming & Luo, Xia, 2022, Cordyceps yaoluopingensis sp. nov., a new entomopathogenic species from China, Phytotaxa 571 (3), pp. 278-290 : 282-284

Cordyceps yaoluopingensis Y.Yang, Y.P. Xiao & X. Luo , sp. nov.

Index Fungorum number: IF559645, Facesoffungi number: FoF 10839

Etymology: the new species is named after China, Anhui, Yaoluoping Nature Reserve, its type locality

Holotype: CZ01 (ex-type living cultures: CGMCC 23076)

Host: Pupae of Lepidoptera with white surface mycelium, collected from the underside of leaf litter and emanating from multiple parts of the host.

Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Isaria -like. Synnemata arising from the pupae of Lepidoptera, erect, multiple, flexuous, white, fleshy, up to 0.5-0.8 cm long, with terminal branches of 1–2 × 1.2–1.6 mm. Conidiophores 20–50 × 2.2–4.1 μm (x = 35 × 4.25 μm, n = 30), complex verticillate branches with whorls of 2 to 7 phialides, hyaline, smooth-walled. Phialides 6.9–9.8 × 2–3.5 µm (x = 8.35 × 2.75 µm, n = 50), verticillate, globose basal portion with a thin neck about 0.5 µm wide. Conidia 2.0–5.0 × 1.5–2.6 µm (x = 3.5 × 2.05 µm, n = 50), one-celled, broadly fusiform, hyaline, smooth-walled.

Culture characteristics: Colonies on PDA medium, moderately fast-growing, 2–3 cm diameter in 14 days at 25 °C, white to yellowish, cottony, with low mycelial density, circular. Synnemata 0.6–1.6 × 0.1–0.4 cm (x = 1.1 × 0.25 cm, n = 20), emerging after 15 days in the margin of the colony, single or branched as multiple branches. Hyphae 2.1–4.1 µm wide, smooth-walled, branched, septate, hyaline. Conidiophores 34–62 × 2.5–3.4 µm (x = 48 × 2.95 µm, n = 30), erect, arising from the aerial and prostrate hyphae, verticillate, with phialides in whorls of 3 to 8, smooth-walled, cylindrical to ellipsoidal. Phialides 7.1–11.2 × 3.1–4.2 µm (x = 6.1 × 3.65 µm, n = 50), verticillate, consisting of a swollen, more or less ellipsoidal basal portion, tapering into a thin neck, 0.5–0.8 µm wide. Conidia 4.3–7.0 × 2.1–3.7 µm (x = 5.65 × 2.9 µm, n = 50), hyaline, one-celled, ovoid or fusiform.

Material examined: CHINA, Anhui Province, Yaoluoping Nature Reserve , at 1187m, 116.05 E, 30.98 N, 1 October 2018, collected by Luo X (Holotype: CZ01), ex-type living culture: CGMCC 23076 .

Notes: In the phylogenetic tree, Cordyceps yaoluopingensis shared the same branches with C.tenuipes and C. takaomontana ( Figure 2 ). Six loci of C. tenuipes (YFCC 4266), C. tenuipes (BUC 394), C. tenuipes (ARSEF 5135) and C. takaomontana (ANDES-F 1274) shared between 96% (tef1-α), 98% and 99% (rpb1) and 91% (rpb2) similarity with C. yaoluopingensis . However, they also can be distinguished by morphological characters. C. yaoluopingensis has shorter synnemata, longer phialides, and bigger ovoid or fusiform conidia compared to C. takaomontana ( Castillo et al. 2018, Table 2 ).

Cordyceps tenuipes from Japan were initially described and illustrated by Samson ( Samson 1974). It differs from C. yaoluopingensis in having longer synnemata and shorter phialides ( Samson 1974, TABLE 2 ). Liang et al. (2003) was initially described a specimen of C. takaomontana (LFRGU86-913) from China, growing on Lepidoptera larva. Morphologically, LFRGU86-913 differs from the new species due to its longer phialides and conidia ( Liang et al. 2003). Meanwhile, Li et al. (2007) recorded another description of C. takaomontana (TTZ060731-62) from China. The specimen (TTZ060731-62) developed on a large and nearly rounded (slightly ovate) cocooned pupae (Lepidoptera), with its asexual morph matching Samson’s description ( Li et al. 2007). However, both Chinese specimens are missing DNA sequence data. Chen et al. (2019b) provided sequence data for C. tenuipes strains YFCC 4266, BUC 394, and ARSEF 5135, but not morphological data. To summarise, sufficient evidence from morphological and molecular data suggests that C. yaoluopingensis is a novel Cordyceps species.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Cordyceps yaoluopingensis (holotype: CZ01). a. Habitat. b, c. Overview of the host and synnemata. d. Synnemata. e. Host. f, g. Conidiophores. h. Conidia. i, j. Culture on PDA. k–n. Conidiophores and phialides. o, p. Conidia. Scale bars: I = 2 cm, b, c,j = 1 cm, d, e = 0.5 cm, f,k,m = 50 µm, g, l, n = 20 µm, h, o = 5 µm.