Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae Hong Yu bis, Z. H. Liu & D. X. Tang

Liu, Zuoheng, Tang, Dexiang, Lu, Yingling, Zhu, Juye, Luo, Lijun, Sun, Tao & Yu, Hong, 2024, Morphology and phylogeny of four new species within Polycephalomycetaceae (Hypocreales) parasitising Ophiocordyceps species, MycoKeys 105, pp. 179-202 : 179-202

Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae Hong Yu bis, Z. H. Liu & D. X. Tang sp. nov.

Fig. 4

Etymology.

The species name referred to the host species, Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata .

Diagnosis.

Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae are similar to that of Po. jinghongensis regarding the production of α-conidia oval, but Po. jinghongensis differ by being parasitic on O. multiperitheciata , synnemata clustered, white, β-conidia, linear.

Holotype.

China, Yunnan Province, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yuanyang County, parasitic on Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata ( Ophiocordycipitaceae ), on insects buried in soil, with erect stromata, 22 ° 1 ′ 51 ″ N, 100 ° 52 ′ 42 ″ E, alt. 703 m, 25 September 2022, Hong Yu bis ( YHH 2206031 ) .

Sexual morph.

Undetermined.

Asexual morph.

Synnemata arising from the stromata of Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata , 0.8–1.8 cm long 0.2–0.5 cm thick, clustered, white to pale yellow, numerous, branched, with fertile head. Colonies on PDA growing slowly, attaining a diameter of 1.8–2.1 cm in 3 weeks at 25 ° C, clustered, white and reverse dry yellow. Synnemata emerging after 15 days, solitary, branched and 0.8–2.1 cm long, showing radiating distributions. Phialides existing in two types: α- and β-phialides. Both types of phialides often reproduce new conidia at their own apices or sides, collarettes not flared, periclinal thickening not visible. α-phialides verticillate and acropleurogenous on conidiophores and solitary on hyphae; spear point, tapering gradually from the base to the apex, 10.5–18.7 μm long, 1.1–1.9 μm wide at the base and 0.4–0.6 μm wide at the apex. β-phialides acropleurogenous in whorls of 2–3 or intercalary and terminal on conidiophores and solitary on hyphae; subulate, tapering abruptly from the base to the apex, 11.3–28.8 μm long, 1.2–2.5 μm wide at the base and 0.5–1.1 μm wide at the apex. α-conidia, oval and occurring in the conidial mass on the agar or on the final portion of synnemata, 0.6–1.1 × 0.3–0.6 μm; β-conidia, linear and produced on the surface mycelium of colony, multiple, usually formed as spore balls at the phialidic apex, 0.8–1.3 × 0.3–0.7 μm.

Host.

Parasitic on Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata ( Ophiocordycipitaceae ).

Distribution.

China, Yunnan Province.

Material examined.

China, Yunnan Province, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yuanyang County, parasitic on Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata ( Ophiocordycipitaceae ), on insects buried in soil, with erect stromata, 22 ° 1 ′ 51 ″ N, 100 ° 52 ′ 42 ″ E, alt. 703 m, 25 September 2022, D. X. Tang . Paratypes: YHH 2209032 ; other collections: YHH 2209033 ; YHH 2209034 . Culture ex-type: YFCC 06149287 ; Other cultures: YFCC 06149288 , YFCC 06149289 , YFCC 06149290 , YFCC 06149291 , YFCC 06149292 .

Notes.

Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae is sister to Po. jinghongensis (Fig. 1 : BS = 100 %, BPP = 1.00). Po. multiperitheciatae is distinct from other species of Polycephalomyces , parasitising Ophiocordyceps multiperitheciata synnemata clustered, with fertile head, β-conidia, linear (Table 3 ). Thus, Po. multiperitheciatae was introduced as a new species under the genus Polycephalomyces .

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree of Polycephalomycetaceae, based on the concatenation of ITS, SSU, LSU, TEF- 1 α, RPB 1 and RPB 2 sequence data. The tree was generated from an alignment of 6,384 sites and 113 taxa. The phylogeny was inferred using the IQ-tree. The Maximum likelihood bootstrap values greater than 75 % (on the left) and the Bayesian posterior probabilities over 0.75 (on the right) were indicated above the nodes. The new species were indicated in back bold font.

Figure 4. Morphological features of Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae (Holotype: YHH 2206047) a overview of Polycephalomyces multiperitheciatae and its host b Synnemata on the insect c, d colony obverse and reverse g, j α-phialides e, f, h, i β-phialides k α-conidia l β-conidia. Scale Bars: 2 cm (a, c, d); 0.6 cm (b); 20 μm (e – i, k); 50 μm (j); 10 μm (l).