Metarhizium brachyspermum sp. nov. (Clavicipitaceae), a new species parasitic on Elateridae from Japan

Publication date: Available online 7 September 2019Source: MycoscienceAuthor(s): Kohei Yamamoto, Muneyuki Ohmae, Takamichi OriharaAbstractTeleomorphic ascomata of a Metarhizium species were collected from Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The ascomata were similar to M. kalasinense in its host preference for elaterids, olive-green clavate stromata, and obliquely immersed perithecia, but the lengths of asci and ascospores were significantly shorter in length than those of the latter species. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses based on the internal transcribed spacer region and 28S nuclear ribosomal DNA and the elongation factor 1-alpha gene showed that the Japanese species was phylogenetically distinctive in the M. anisopliae lineage, including M. kalasinense. Accordingly, we describe a new species, M. brachyspermum. Isolates of this species produced olive-green conidial masses on the surface of the colony. Also, hyphal anastomoses between two metulae were often observed on conidiophores.
Source: Mycoscience - Category: Biology Source Type: research