Morphology and multi-gene phylogeny reveal three new species of Clonostachys and two combinations of Sesquicillium (Bionectriaceae, Hypocreales) from Xizang, China

By

He, Shucheng
Thiyagaraja, Vinodhini
Bhunjun, Chitrabhanu
Chomnunti, Putarak
Dissanayake, Lakmali
Jayawardena, Ruvishika
Yang, Hongde
Zhao, Yun Wei
Al-Otibi, Fatimah Olyan
Zhao, Qi
Hyde, Kevin D

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

115

Pages

43--66

Subjects

asexual morph , endophytes , Hyphomycetes , new taxa , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.115.139757

 

Abstract

Clonostachys and Sesquicillim are genera in Bionectriaceae, and known in sexual perithecial ascomata and hyphomycetous asexual morphs. In their asexual morph, both genera share similar morphology in conidiophores and conidiogenous cell characteristics but differ in the development of conidiophores. The members of Clonostachys are distributed worldwide with the majority occurring in the tropics and the species are commonly reported as soil-borne fungi but also reported as endophytes, epiphytes, and saprotrophs. During a microfungi survey in Xizang, China, six collections of fresh and healthy Ageratina adenophora and Houttuynia cordata leaves were obtained. The taxonomy of these collections was investigated through a combination of morphological analysis and multigene phylogenetic analysis using Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. The newly generated sequences were clustered within Clonostachys and Sesquicillium, showing hyphomycetes asexual morph. The results revealed three new Clonostachys species viz, Clonostachys linzhiensis, C. motuoensis, and C. yadongensis. This research sheds light on the overlooked fungal diversity in Xizang, China, expanding the known fungal biodiversity in the region. Additionally, two new combinations, Sesquicillium aquaticum and S. shanghaiense for C. aquatica and C. shanghaiensis, and one synonymy, C. viticola for C. swietenia are established, respectively.