Six Novel Species of Distoseptispora (Distoseptisporaceae, Distoseptisporales) and Helminthosporium (Massarinaceae, Pleosporales) Isolated from Terrestrial Habitats in Southern China

TL;DR

This paper describes six new species of fungi found in southern China, expanding our understanding of fungal diversity in forest ecosystems.

Contribution

The study introduces six novel fungal species from the genera Distoseptispora and Helminthosporium based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses.

Findings

Six new species of Distoseptispora and Helminthosporium were identified from terrestrial habitats in southern China.

Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the novelty of these species and expanded the known diversity within these genera.

One previously known species, H. velutinum, was also reported in the study.

Abstract

Saprobic hyphomycetous fungi exhibit high colonization density and diversity on rotting woody plant material. During our continuing mycological research in the forest ecosystem of Jiangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, China, several Distoseptispora-like and Helminthosporium-like strains were isolated from unidentified dead branches in terrestrial habitats. Based on morphological comparisons and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses using maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI), six novel species of Distoseptispora (D. terrestris, D. wuyishanensis, D. zhejiangensis) and Helminthosporium (H. ganzhouense, H. jiangxiense, H. saprophyticum) were introduced, and one known species, H. velutinum was reported. The species diversity within Distoseptispora and Helminthosporium was supplemented in this study.

Figures