Morphological and phylogenetic appraisal of Ophioceras (Ophioceraceae, Magnaporthales).

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

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253853

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.

Highlights

Klaubauf et al [1] introduced the family Ophioceraceae to accommodate Ophioceras Sacc. which is typified by O. dolichostomum
This study aims to introduce the novel Ophioceras taxon on a submerged bamboo branch in Sichuan Province, China and resolve the congeneric status of Ceratosphaerella and Ophioceras in Ophioceraceae based on a morpho-molecular approach
Based on the results from the nucleotide BLAST search tool of large subunit rDNA (LSU) sequence, our new strains (KUMCC 20–0213 and KUN-HKAS 107677) are closely related to species of Ophioceras, whereas internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence revealed that our new strains are similar to the unidentified fungal endophyte isolate 4583 (86.79% similarity) and other taxa in Magnaporthales

Summary

Introduction

Klaubauf et al [1] introduced the family Ophioceraceae to accommodate Ophioceras Sacc. which is typified by O. dolichostomum Klaubauf et al [1] introduced the family Ophioceraceae to accommodate Ophioceras Sacc.

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