Three novel woody litter inhabiting fungi in Didymosphaeriaceae, Phaeoseptaceae and Synnemasporellaceae from Zhujiangyuan Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, P.R. China

Abstract

Zhujiangyuan Nature Reserve, located in Qujing City, Yunnan Province, China, is reported with high fauna and floral diversity, while the fungal diversity of the region is poorly documented. During the summer season in 2023, decaying wood-inhabiting microfungi were collected from different microhabitats. The novel species were identified based on morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses (based on combined datasets of ITS, LSU, SSU, tef1-α, and rpb2 regions). Two species belong to Dothideomycetes (viz., Spegazzinia zhujiangyuanensis sp. nov. and Phaeoseptum zhujiangyuanense sp. nov. in Pleosporales) while the other one resides in Sordariomycetes (Synnemasporella fanii sp. nov. in Diaporthales). The results are in conformity with the earlier studies that predicted higher fungal diversity in this region.