Taxonomic Reappraisal of Periconiaceae with the Description of Three New <i>Periconia</i> Species from China

oleh: Er-Fu Yang, Rungtiwa Phookamsak, Hong-Bo Jiang, Saowaluck Tibpromma, Darbhe J. Bhat, Samantha C. Karunarathna, Dong-Qin Dai, Jian-Chu Xu, Itthayakorn Promputtha

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-02-01

Deskripsi

As a result of an ongoing research survey of microfungi in Yunnan, China, several saprobic ascomycetes were collected from various host substrates. Preliminary morphological analyses identified a few of these taxa as <i>Periconia</i> species. We obtained DNA sequence data of the <i>Periconia</i> species from pure cultures and investigated their phylogenetic affinities. Phylogenetic analyses of a combined LSU, ITS, SSU and <i>tef1-α</i> sequence dataset demonstrated that five isolates of <i>Periconia</i> formed well-resolved subclades within Periconiaceae. Accordingly, three new <i>Periconia</i> species are introduced viz. <i>P. artemisiae</i>, <i>P. chimonanthi</i> and <i>P. thysanolaenae</i>, and new host and geographical records of <i>P. byssoides</i> and <i>P. pseudobyssoides</i>, are also reported from dead branches of <i>Prunus armeniaca</i> and <i>Scrophularia ningpoensis</i>. <i>Periconia celtidis</i> formed a monophyletic clade with <i>P. byssoides</i> in the present phylogenetic analyses. Results of the pairwise homoplasy index (PHI) test indicated significant recombination between <i>P. byssoides</i> and <i>P. celtidis</i>. Therefore, <i>P. celtidis</i> has been synonymized under <i>P. byssoides</i>. In addition, we re-illustrated and studied the type specimen of the sexual genus <i>Bambusistroma</i>. As a type species of <i>Bambusistroma</i>, <i>B. didymosporum</i> features similar morphology to the sexual morph of <i>Periconia homothallica</i> and <i>P. pseudodigitata</i>. We therefore synonymize <i>Bambusistroma</i> under <i>Periconia</i> based on morphological and phylogenetic evidence. Furthermore, our new isolates produced brown conidia of asexual morph in agar media typical of the genus <i>Noosia</i>. Based on morphological comparison with <i>Periconia</i> in vitro and phylogenetic status of <i>Noosia</i>, we also treat <i>Noosia</i> as a synonym of <i>Periconia</i>. Detailed descriptions and illustrations of three novel taxa and two new records of <i>Periconia byssoides</i> and <i>P. pseudobyssoides</i> as well as the illustration of <i>P. didymosporum</i> comb. nov. are provided. An updated phylogenetic tree of Periconiaceae using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses is constructed. Generic circumscription of <i>Periconia</i> is amended.