What are fungal species and how to delineate them?

Boonmee

Bhat

et al. 2022

JoF

Arthrobotrys is the most complex genus of Orbiliaceae nematode-trapping fungi. Its members are widely distributed in various habitats worldwide due to their unique nematode-trapping survival strategies. During a survey of nematophagous fungi in Yunnan Province, China, twelve taxa were isolated from terrestrial soil and freshwater sediment habitats and were identified as six new species in Arthrobotrys based on evidence from morphological and multigene (ITS, TEF, and RPB2) phylogenetic analyses. These new species i.e., Arthrobotrys eryuanensis, A. jinpingensis, A. lanpingensis, A. luquanensis, A. shuifuensis, and A. zhaoyangensis are named in recognition of their places of origin. Morphological descriptions, illustrations, taxonomic notes, and a multilocus phylogenetic analysis are provided for all new taxa. In addition, a key to known species in Arthrobotrys is provided, and the inadequacies in the taxonomic study of nematode-trapping fungi are also discussed.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Arthrobotrys Nematode-Trapping Species (Orbiliaceae) from Terrestrial Soils and Freshwater Sediments in China

Boonmee

Bhat

et al. 2022

JoF

“…Species identification is the most important step in plant pathology to develop control measures [ 33 , 34 ]. Thus, proper species identification is necessary following polyphasic approaches [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Calonectria represents one of the most important phytopathogenic genera in Nectriaceae [ 37 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and Characterization of Calonectria Species Associated with Plant Diseases in Southern China

Chen

et al. 2022

JoF

Self Cite

Calonectria species are important plant pathogens on a wide range of hosts, causing significant losses to plant production worldwide. During our survey on phytopathogenic fungi from 2019 to 2021, diseased samples were collected from various hosts in Guangdong Province, China. In total, 16 Calonectria isolates were obtained from leaf spots, stem blights and root rots of species of Arachis, Cassia, Callistemon, Eucalyptus, Heliconia, Melaleuca and Strelitzia plants. Isolates were identified morphologically, and a multigene phylogenetic analysis of combined partial sequences of calmodulin (cmdA), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α) and beta-tubulin (β-tubulin) was performed. These sixteen isolates were further identified as nine Calonectria species, with five new species: Ca. cassiae, Ca. guangdongensis, Ca. melaleucae, Ca. shaoguanensis and Ca. strelitziae, as well as four new records: Ca. aconidialis from Arachis hypogaea, Ca. auriculiformis from Eucalyptus sp., Ca. eucalypti from Callistemon rigidus, and Ca. hongkongensis from Eucalyptus gunnii. Moreover, we provide updated phylogenetic trees for four Calonectria species complexes viz. Ca. colhounii, Ca. cylindrospora, Ca. kyotensis and Ca. reteaudii. Our study is the first comprehensive study on Calonectria species associated with various hosts from subtropical regions in China. Results from the present study will be an addition to the biodiversity of microfungi in South China.

“…As with other organismal groups, this integrative taxonomic approach has transformed our understanding of fungal diversity—challenging current taxonomy at multiple levels and highlighting rampant unrecognized diversity [ 11 , 12 ]. Though underestimates and challenges in establishing accurate inventories of fungal diversity may be expected due to the mostly cryptic lifestyle of fungi, reconsidering diversity in well-known, conspicuous fungi has also led to the realization that species diversity in these groups may also be mischaracterized [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Traditionally, and often due to lack of available genetic data, fungal species boundaries have been delimited based largely on morphological characteristics as they can be incredibly practical, especially in the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Providing Scale to a Known Taxonomic Unknown—At Least a 70-Fold Increase in Species Diversity in a Cosmopolitan Nominal Taxon of Lichen-Forming Fungi

Clancy

Jensen

et al. 2022

JoF

Robust species delimitations provide a foundation for investigating speciation, phylogeography, and conservation. Here we attempted to elucidate species boundaries in the cosmopolitan lichen-forming fungal taxon Lecanora polytropa. This nominal taxon is morphologically variable, with distinct populations occurring on all seven continents. To delimit candidate species, we compiled ITS sequence data from populations worldwide. For a subset of the samples, we also generated alignments for 1209 single-copy nuclear genes and an alignment spanning most of the mitochondrial genome to assess concordance among the ITS, nuclear, and mitochondrial inferences. Species partitions were empirically delimited from the ITS alignment using ASAP and bPTP. We also inferred a phylogeny for the L. polytropa clade using a four-marker dataset. ASAP species delimitations revealed up to 103 species in the L. polytropa clade, with 75 corresponding to the nominal taxon L. polytropa. Inferences from phylogenomic alignments generally supported that these represent evolutionarily independent lineages or species. Less than 10% of the candidate species were comprised of specimens from multiple continents. High levels of candidate species were recovered at local scales but generally with limited overlap across regions. Lecanora polytropa likely ranks as one of the largest species complexes of lichen-forming fungi known to date.