Perennicordyceps zongqii W. H. Chen, Y. F. Han & J. D. Liang, 2024

Chen, Wan-Hao, Li, Dan, Liang, Jian-Dong, Ren, Xiu-Xiu, Zhao, Jie-Hong & Han, Yan-Feng, 2024, Two new Cordyceps - like species, Perennicordyceps zongqii sp. nov. (Polycephalomycetaceae) and Purpureocillium zongqii sp. nov. (Ophiocordycipitaceae), in Hypocreales from karst region of China, MycoKeys 110, pp. 141-158 : 141-158

Perennicordyceps zongqii W. H. Chen, Y. F. Han & J. D. Liang sp. nov.

Fig. 2

Etymology.

In honor of Prof. Zongqi Liang, for his support and guidance in arthropod pathogenic fungi research.

Type.

China • Guizhou Province, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City, Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E), on a larva of moth ( Lepidoptera ), on the leaf litter, 1 May 2022, Wanhao Chen, GZAC DY 0542 (holotype), ex-type DY 05421 .

Description.

Colonies on PDA, attaining a diameter of 56–59 mm after 14 days at 25 ° C, white, consisting of a basal felt, floccose hyphal overgrowth, yellowish in middle; reverse yellow to pale yellowish, light brown to brown in the middle. Hyphae septate, hyaline, yellowish in the middle part of the colony, smooth-walled, 1.1–2.1 μm wide. Conidiophores erect, hyaline, irregular branched, with 1–4 phialides. Phialides 29.3–31.1 × 1.5–2.4 μm, hyaline, cylindrical at base, gradually tapering near the apex, holoblastic or branch. Conidia 3.4–4.8 × 2.5–2.7 μm, hyaline, smooth-walled, thin-walled, ellipsoidal to cylindrical, unicellular, acuminate, arranged in chains not observed.

Distribution.

Duyun City, Guizhou Province, China.

Host.

Larva ( Lepidoptera ).

Additional strain examined.

China • Guizhou Province, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City, Mayao River Valley (26°22'8.3748"N, 107°23'16.96"E). On a larva of moth ( Lepidoptera ), on the leaf litter, 1 May 2022, Wanhao Chen, DY 05422 (living culture) .

Notes.

Strain DY 05421 was easily identified as Perennicordyceps , based on the BLASTn result in NCBI. Phylogenetic analyses show that strain DY 05421 has close relationships to P. cuboidea and P. ryogamiensis (Fig. 1 ). However, strain DY 05421 was easily distinguished from P. cuboidea (globose to ellipsoid conidia, 1.3–3.7 × 1.1–2.3 μm; phialide, 18.9–22.2 × 0.8–1.1 μm; substrate, larvae of Coleoptera) by its larger ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia, larger phialide and the substrate ( Ban et al. 2009). Strain DY 05421 was easily distinguished from P. ryogamiensis (ellipsoid conidia, 2.5–3.9 × 1.0–1.4 μm; phialide, 17.5–55.2 × 0.8–2.7 μm; substrate, larvae of Coleoptera) by its larger ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia, smaller phialide and the substrate ( Ban et al. 2009). Thus, the morphological characteristics and molecular phylogenetic results support strain DY 05421 as a new Perennicordyceps species and named Perennicordyceps zongqii .

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic analysis of the new strains and its related species based on multigene dataset (ITS, LSU, RPB 2 and TEF). Statistical support values (≥ 50 % / 0.5) are shown at the nodes for ML bootstrap support / BI posterior probabilities.

Figure 2. Perennicordyceps zongqii A infected larva B, C colony on PDA (B obverse, C reverse) D – M phialides and conidia. Scale bars: 10 mm (B, C); 10 μm (D – M).