AUTHOR=Tennakoon Danushka S. , Thambugala Kasun M. , Silva Nimali I. de , Suwannarach Nakarin , Lumyong Saisamorn 

TITLE=A taxonomic assessment of novel and remarkable fungal species in Didymosphaeriaceae (Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes) from plant litter

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1016285

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1016285

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Fungal taxonomy has a long history and changed significantly in the last few decades. Most recent studies have witnessed morphology combined with DNA-based molecular analyses as the main research tool for fungal species identification. During field surveys, some interesting <italic>Didymosphaeriaceae</italic> species were found from plant litter in China and Thailand. Morphology combined with phylogenetic analyses (Bayesian and maximum likelihood) of ITS, LSU, SSU, <italic>tef1-</italic>α, and <italic>tub2</italic> loci was used to identify fungal taxa. In this article, three new species and six new host records are described. The new species, <italic>Montagnula acaciae, Paraconiothyrium zingiberacearum</italic>, and <italic>Paraphaeosphaeria brachiariae</italic>, can be distinguished from other species of the respective genera based on their distinct size differences (ascomata, asci, and ascospores) and DNA sequence data. The new host records, <italic>Montagnula jonesii, Paraconiothyrium fuckelii, Spegazzinia deightonii</italic>, and <italic>S. tessarthra</italic> are reported from <italic>Ficus benjamina, Dimocarpus longan, Hedychium coronarium</italic>, and <italic>Acacia auriculiformis</italic> respectively, for the first time. Also, <italic>Paraconiothyrium archidendri</italic> and <italic>P. brasiliense</italic> are reported for the first time from <italic>Magnolia</italic> sp. in China. Moreover, <italic>Paraconiothyrium rosae</italic> is synonymized under <italic>P. fuckelii</italic> based on close phylogeny affinities and morphological characteristics. In-depth morphological descriptions, micrographs, and phylogenetic trees are provided to show the placement of new taxa.</p>