Molecular Phylogeny and Morphology Reveal Cryptic Species in the Cordyceps militaris Complex from Vietnam

• Published in: Journal of fungi (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 6; p. 676
• Main Authors: Wang, Yao, Dong, Quan-Ying, Luo, Run, Fan, Qi, Duan, Dong-E, Dao, Van-Minh, Wang, Yuan-Bing, Yu, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.06.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: arthropod-pathogenic fungi; Arthropods; Biodiversity; Chinese medicine; Cordyceps militaris; Electron microscopes; Fungi; Leaf litter; macro-morphology; Morphology; New taxa; phylogenetic analyses; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Physical characteristics; RNA polymerase; Species diversity; Beijing China; Vietnam; China; Japan; arthropod-pathogenic fungi; macro-morphology; new taxa; phylogenetic analyses
• ISSN: 2309-608X; 2309-608X
• DOI: 10.3390/jof9060676

The complex, which is a special group in the genus , is rich in species diversity and is widely distributed in nature. Throughout the investigations of arthropod-pathogenic fungi in the national reserves and in Vietnam parks, collections of attacking lepidopteran pupae or larvae were located in the soil and on the leaf litter. The phylogenetic analyses of the combined nr , nr , , , and sequence data indicated that the fungal materials collected in Vietnam belonged to and two hidden species in the complex. The phylogenetic analyses and morphological comparisons presented here strongly supported the descriptions of and as new taxa as well as as a known species. The morphological characteristics of 11 species in the complex, which included two novel species and nine known taxa, were also compared.