Pleurocordyceps litangensis Hong Yu bis, Z. H. Liu & D. X. Tang, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Liu, Zuoheng
name: Tang, Dexiang
name: Lu, Yingling
name: Zhu, Juye
name: Luo, Lijun
name: Sun, Tao
name: Yu, Hong
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Fungi
Ascomycota
Sordariomycetes
Hypocreales
Ophiocordycipitaceae
Pleurocordyceps
Pleurocordyceps litangensis

description: Pleurocordyceps litangensis Hong Yu bis, Z. H. Liu & D. X. Tang sp. nov.
Fig. 2
Etymology.
litangensis = Litang County, the epithet referred to the nature study trail in Litang County, the locality where the type specimen was collected.
Diagnosis.
Pleurocordyceps litangensis and Pl. sinensis have the same host (O. sinensis) and β-Conidia, but the phialides (lanceolate or narrowly lageniform vs. spear point or subulate), α-conidia (Ovoid vs. Ovoid or ellipticare) are different.
Holotype.
China, Sichuan Province, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Litang County, parasitic on Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Ophiocordycipitaceae), on insects buried in soil, with erect stromata, 30 ° 43 ′ 00 ″ N, 100 ° 52 ′ 00 ″ E, alt. 4750 m, 10 June 2023, Hong Yu bis (YHH 2306055).
Sexual morph.
Undetermined.
Asexual morph.
Synnemata arising from the stromata of O. sinensis, solitary or alternating; clavate or spatulate, branched and unbranched, straight or sinuous. Terminal portion of a synnemata covered by a viscous mass, khaki. Colonies on PDA growing slowly, attaining a diameter of 1.4–1.6 cm in 3 weeks at 25 ° C, filiform, dark yellow and reverse dry yellow. Phialides existing in two types: α- and β-phialides. Both types of phialides often reproduce new phialides at their own apices and yield catenulate β-conidia, collarettes not flared, periclinal thickening not visible. α-phialides acropleurogenous solitary on hyphae; spear point, tapering gradually from the base to the apex, 11.2–12.8 μm long, 1.9–2.6 μm wide at the base and 0.7–0.9 μm wide at the apex. β-phialides terminal on solitary on hyphae; subulate, tapering abruptly from the base to the apex, 9.9–27.8 μm long, 1.6–2.5 μm wide at the base and 0.6–1.4 μm wide at the apex. α-conidia ovoid or elliptic and occurring on the final portion of synnemata, 3.2–6.1 × 1.8–3.9 μm; β-conidia fusiform, and produce on the surface mycelium of colony, multiple, usually in chains on a phialide, 3.5–6.1 × 1.4–2.5 μm.
Host.
Parasitic on Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Ophiocordycipitaceae).
Distribution.
China, Sichuan Province.
Material examined.
China, Sichuan Province, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Litang County, parasitic on Ophiocordyceps sinensis (Ophiocordycipitaceae), on insects buried in soil, with erect stromata, 30 ° 43 ′ 00 ″ N, 100 ° 52 ′ 00 ″ E, alt. 4750 m, 10 June 2023, Tao Sun. Paratypes: YHH 2306058; other collections: YHH 2306059; Culture ex-type: YFCC 06109293; Other living cultures: YFCC 06109294, YFCC 06109295, YFCC 06109296.
Notes.
Four strains, Pleurocordyceps sp. NBRC 109990, Pl. sp. NBRC 109987, Pl. sp. NBRC 110224, Pl. sp. NBRC 109988, were aggregated Pl. litangensis into one branch (Fig. 1 BS = 100 %, BPP = 1.00). Pl. litangensis was distinct from other species of Pleurocordyceps by α-phialides spear point, β-phialides subulate, α-conidia ovoid or elliptic (Table 2). Thus, Pl. litangensis was introduced as a new species under the genus Pleurocordyceps.
description: Published as part of 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, pp. 179-202 in MycoKeys 105 on pages 179-202, DOI: 10.3897/mycokeys.105.119893