Morphological and phylogenetic appraisal of Ophioceras (Ophioceraceae, Magnaporthales)

Hong-Bo Jiang; Kevin D Hyde; Er-Fu Yang; Pattana Kakumyan; Ali H Bahkali; Abdallah M Elgorban; Samantha C Karunarathna; Rungtiwa Phookamsak; Saisamorn Lumyong

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253853

Morphological and phylogenetic appraisal of Ophioceras (Ophioceraceae, Magnaporthales)

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 25;16(8):e0253853. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253853. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hong-Bo Jiang^{1

2

3

4

5}, Kevin D Hyde^{1

2

3

6

7}, Er-Fu Yang^{2

5

8

9}, Pattana Kakumyan⁴, Ali H Bahkali⁶, Abdallah M Elgorban⁶, Samantha C Karunarathna^{2

5

10}, Rungtiwa Phookamsak^{1

2

5

10}, Saisamorn Lumyong^{1

8

11}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Sciences, Research Center of Microbial Diversity and Sustainable Utilization, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
² CAS Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, P.R. China.
³ Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
⁴ School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
⁵ Honghe Center for Mountain Futures, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Honghe County, Yunnan, P.R. China.
⁶ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Innovative Institute for Plant Health, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, P.R. China.
⁸ Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
⁹ Faculty of Science, Master of Science Program in Applied Microbiology (International Program), Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
¹⁰ CIFOR-ICRAF China Program, World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Kunming, Yunnan, China.
¹¹ Academy of Science, The Royal Society of Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand.

Abstract

Ophioceras is accommodated in the monotypic family Ophioceraceae (Magnaporthales, Sordariomycetes), and the genus is delimited based on molecular data. During an ongoing survey of bambusicolous fungi in southwest China, we collected a submerged decaying branch of bamboo from Sichuan Province, China and an Ophioceras species occurring on this substrate was observed and isolated. An Ophioceras taxon was delimited based on morphological characteristics and combined LSU, RPB1 and ITS sequence analyses and is described as Ophioceras sichuanense sp. nov. The species formed a well-supported clade basal to Ophioceras (100% ML, 1.00 PP). Based on the updated phylogenetic tree of Magnaporthales, Ceratosphaerella castillensis (generic type) and C. rhizomorpha formed a clade within Ophioceras and morphologically resemble Ophioceras. Therefore, Ceratosphaerella is synonymized under Ophioceras. The phylogenetic relationships of Ophioceras are discussed in relation to morphological similarities of genera in Magnaporthales. The generic circumscription of Ophioceras is emended.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Ascomycota / classification*
Ascomycota / genetics*
Ascomycota / isolation & purification
Phylogeny*

Grants and funding

The authors are grateful for the support of the Mushroom Research Foundation, Chiang Rai, Thailand (to H-BJ) and Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department grant no. 202003AD150004 (to RP and H-BJ under Jianchu Xu). KDH thanks the Foreign Experts Bureau of Yunnan Province, Foreign Talents Program (2018; grant no. YNZ2018002), Impact of Climate Change on Fungal Diversity and Biogeography in the Greater Mekong Subregion (grant no: RDG6130001). RP sincerely acknowledges the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for young staff (grant no. Y9215811Q1), the “High-level Talent Support Plan” Young Top Talent Special Project of Yunnan Province and Chiang Mai University for financial support. SCK thanks the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) young staff under the grant number: 2020FYC0002 and the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under the project code 31851110759 for funding. AHB and AME thank the International Scientific Partnership Program ISPP at King Saud University through ISPP#0089. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.