Mitogenomics, Phylogeny and Morphology Reveal Ophiocordyceps pingbianensis Sp. Nov., an Entomopathogenic Fungus from China

Abstract

The new entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps pingbianensis, collected from Southeast China, was described by mitogenomic, morphological, and phylogenetic evidence. The systematic position of O. pingbianensis was determined by phylogenetic analyses based on six nuclear gene (ITS, tef1-α, nrSSU, nrLSU, rpb1 and rpb2) and 14 mitochondrial protein-coding gene (PCGs) (cox1, cox2, cox3, atp6, atp8, atp9, cob, nad1, nad2, nad3, nad4, nad5, nad6 and nad4L) data. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that O. pingbianensis was belonged to the Hirsutella nodulosa clade in the genus Ophiocordyceps of Ophiocordycipiaceae. This fungus exhibits distinctive characteristics which differed from other related Ophiocordyceps species with slender and geminate stromata, monophialidic conidiogenous cells with an inflated awl-shaped base, a twisty and warty phialide neck and a fusiform or oval conidia, as well as being found on a tiger beetle of Coleoptera buried in moss at the cave. The complete mitochondrial genome of O. pingbianensis was a circular DNA molecule 80,359 bp in length, containing 15 PCGs, 24 open reading frames genes (ORFs), 25 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and 27 introns. Ophiocordyceps pingbianensis, containing 27 introns, has the second largest mitogenome in Ophiocordycipiaceae and was next to O. sinensis. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the mitogenome from a new entomopathogenic fungus, and thus provides an important foundation for future studies on taxonomy, genetics and evolutionary biology of Ophiocordycipiaceae.

Morphology, phylogeny, mitogenomics and metagenomics reveal a new entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps nujiangensis (Hypocreales, Ophiocordycipitaceae) from Southwestern China

“…It was illustrated that the stable phylogenetic trees could be reconstructed using the phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial genes. In the present research, the phylogenetic tree of Hypocreales was rebuilt, which was similar to the report by Chen et al (2021). It had been shown that the phylogenetic trees with mitochondrial genes were reliable.…”

“…For example, O. lanpingensis and O. xuefengensis had been authenticated as possessing ingredients that were beneficial for health and considered to be desirable alternatives for O. sinensis (Zou et al 2017;Zhang et al 2017). Ophiocordyceps is widely distributed in China, and of particular note are some recent reports of new species from southwestern China (Wang et al 2018;Wang et al 2020b;Chen et al 2021).…”

“…The biogenetic analyses of the fungal mitochondrial genome could verify the genetically related species. NCBI has published the mitochondrial genomes of more than 680 fungi, including approximately 60 species of Hypocreales ( Chen et al 2021 ; Zhao et al 2021 ).…”

Multigene phylogeny and morphology reveal Ophiocordyceps hydrangea sp. nov. and Ophiocordyceps bidoupensis sp. nov. (Ophiocordycipitaceae)

“…Cordyceps s.l. is globally distributed with the highest species diversity recorded in subtropical and tropical regions (Nguyen and Vo 2005;Ban et al 2015;Doan et al 2017;Luangsa-ard et al 2018), especially in East and Southeast Asia (Sung et al 2007;Fan et al 2021;Wang et al 2021a (Chen et al 2021). The unique geographical conditions of Yunnan have resulted in high Cordyceps s.l.…”

“…Chen & Y.B. Wang ( Chen et al 2021 ). The unique geographical conditions of Yunnan have resulted in high Cordyceps s.l.…”