Four novel Pleurocordyceps (Polycephalomycetaceae) species from China

Abstract

Entomopathogenic fungi comprise an ecologically important group of specialized pathogens infecting other fungi, invertebrates, and plants. These fungi are species-rich with high diversity and broad distribution worldwide. The majority of entomopathogenic fungi belong to clavicipitoids, which consist of the hypocrealean families, Clavicipitaceae, Cordycipitaceae, Ophiocordycipitaceae, and Polycephalomycetaceae. The latter is a newly established entomopathogenic family that recently separated from the family Ophiocordycipitaceae to accommodate the genera, Perennicordyceps, Pleurocordyceps, and Polycephalomyces. In recent years, Polycephalomycetaceae has been enriched with parasitic and hyperparasitic fungi. With 16 species spread across China, Ecuador, Japan, and Thailand, Pleurocordyceps is the most speciose genus in the family. In this study, we expand the number of taxa in the genus by introducing four new Pleurocordyceps species from China, namely, P. clavisynnema, P. multisynnema, P. neoagarica, and P. sanduensis. We provide detailed descriptions and illustrations and infer genus-level phylogenies based on a combined 6-loci gene sequence dataset comprising the internal transcribed spacer gene region (ITS), small subunit ribosomal RNA gene region (SSU), large subunit rRNA gene region (LSU), translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene region (TEF-1α), RNA polymerase II largest subunit gene region (RPB1), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2). This study contributes to knowledge with regard to the diversity of Pleurocordyceps specifically and entomopathogenic Hypocreales more broadly.

Molecular Phylogenetic and Comparative Genomic Analysis of Pleurocordyceps fusiformispora sp. nov. and Perennicordyceps elaphomyceticola in the Family Polycephalomycetaceae

“…Polycephalomycetaceae is a kind of fungus group with important application value and broad development and application prospects in medicine, agriculture, and other fields [1]. Xiao et al [2] noted that Pleurocordyceps sp. exhibits significant potential for the production of a diverse range of secondary metabolites.…”