Hyalinostachys guangxiensis, a novel species from a Broad-Leaved forest in Southwest China

Abstract

Stachybotryaceae (Hypocreales, Sordariomycetes) is a genus-rich, highly diverse family with a worldwide distribution across terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Hyalinostachys is a monotypic genus, with its type species, H. cylindrospora, isolated from bamboo. In this study, two fungal isolates were collected from decaying bamboo in Guangxi Province, China. Morphologically, these isolates differ from H. cylindrospora by possessing cylindrical conidiophores, conidiogenous cells arranged in groups of 5–7 at the apex of each conidiophore, and shorter conidia. Phylogenetic analyses based on a concatenated dataset of LSU, ITS, and rpb2 sequences demonstrated that the two isolates form a distinct lineage within Hyalinostachys. Therefore, a new species, H. guangxiensis sp. nov., is introduced as the second species in the genus.