Four new species of Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota) from Pará Rubber (Heveabrasiliensis) in Yunnan Province, China

Rui-Fang Xu; Samantha C Karunarathna; Chayanard Phukhamsakda; Dong-Qin Dai; Abdallah M Elgorban; Nakarin Suwannarach; Jaturong Kumla; Xiao-Yan Wang; Saowaluck Tibpromma

doi:10.3897/mycokeys.103.117580

Four new species of Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota) from Pará Rubber (Heveabrasiliensis) in Yunnan Province, China

MycoKeys. 2024 Mar 22:103:71-95. doi: 10.3897/mycokeys.103.117580. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Yunnan Plateau Biological Resources Protection and Utilization, College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing, Yunnan 655011, China.
² Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
³ School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand.
⁴ National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Kandy, Sri Lanka.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁷ Center of Excellence in Microbial Diversity and Sustainable Utilization, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Abstract

The tropical areas in southern and south-western Yunnan are rich in fungal diversity. Additionally, the diversity of seed flora in Yunnan Province is higher than in other regions in China and the abundant endemic species of woody plants provide favourable substrates for fungi. Rubber plantations in Yunnan Province are distributed over a large area, especially in Xishuangbanna. During a survey of rubber-associated fungi in Yunnan Province, China, dead rubber branches with fungal fruiting bodies were collected. Morphological characteristics and multigene phylogenetic analyses (ITS, LSU, SSU, rpb2 and tef1-α) revealed four distinct new species, described herein as Melomastiapuerensis, Nigrogranalincangensis, Pseudochaetosphaeronemalincangensis and Pseudochaetosphaeronemaxishuangbannaensis. Detailed descriptions, illustrations and phylogenetic trees are provided to show the taxonomic placements of these new species.

Keywords: Dothideomycetes; Pará rubber; four new species; multigene phylogeny; saprobic fungi; taxonomy.

Rui-Fang Xu, Samantha C. Karunarathna, Chayanard Phukhamsakda, Dong-Qin Dai, Abdallah M. Elgorban, Nakarin Suwannarach, Jaturong Kumla, Xiao-Yan Wang, Saowaluck Tibpromma.

Grants and funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (Numbers NSFC 31760013 and 32260004) High-Level Talent Recruitment Plan of Yunnan Provinces ("Young Talents" and “High-End Foreign Experts” programs) The central government guides local projects of Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department (No. 202307AC110003) Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia, for funding this research work through project no. (IFKSUOR3-299-1)