A new species of Gloeandromyces from Ecuador and Panama revealed by morphology and phylogenetic reconstruction, with a discussion of secondary barcodes in Laboulbeniomycetes taxonomy

ABSTRACT

This paper describes and illustrates a new species of Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniomycetes) recovered from Mastoptera guimaraesi bat flies (Diptera, Streblidae) in Ecuador and Panama. Bat fly–associated Laboulbeniales are still unexplored in the Neotropics, with only four described species of Gloeandromyces and one species of Nycteromyces known. Morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses support placement of the new taxon in Gloeandromyces and its recognition as an undescribed species. Gloeandromyces hilleri sp. nov. is easily recognized by 2–3 longitudinal rows of undulations at its perithecial venter. Phylogenetic reconstructions of the large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA and the translation elongation factor 1α (TEF1) both resolve G. hilleri and G. nycteribiidarum as sister species. We discuss the utility of LSU and TEF1 as secondary barcodes in Laboulbeniomycetes taxonomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Arthropod-associated fungi
• bat flies
• DNA barcoding
• Laboulbeniomycetes
• morphology
• polyphasic taxonomy
• large subunit rDNA
• translation elongation factor 1α
• 1 new taxon

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and especially Oris Acevedo and Belkys Jimenez for the use of facilities and for logistical support. We also thank Michał Gorczak (University of Warsaw, Poland) for sharing some of his baseline work regarding the amplification of TEF1 in Laboulbeniomycetes. Finally, a word of appreciation is due to Priscila Chaverri, André De Kesel, and an anonymous reviewer for improvements to a previous manuscript draft.

Additional information

Funding

D.H. was funded by a Short-Term Research Fellowship of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. W.P.P.’s visit to Harvard University in 2016 was funded through a research fellowship from the Friends of the Farlow at Harvard University. This work was supported in part by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch project 1010662 (to M.C.A.).