A new stromata-producing Neotyphodium species symbiotic with clonal grass Calamagrostis epigeios (L.) Roth. grown in China

Abstract

We describe a new stromata-producing Neotyphodium species symbiotic with clonal Calamagrostis epigeios (L.) Roth. Stromata on the grass, 47.5–186 mm long, occurred frequently, but neither perithecium nor mature ascus was observed. Morphology of fungal isolates obtained from symptomatic and asymptomatic tillers were identical to each other and similar to those of epichloë endophytes. In phylogenetic analysis all selected five fungal isolates clustered into a significantly distinct clade based on sequences of β-tubulin gene (tubB) introns and translation elongation factor 1-α gene (tefA) introns with bootstrap values of 99%, supporting erection of a new species. Concerning the production of extremely long stromata on the host plants and absence of sexual spores, we propose the name Neotyphodium stromatolongum Y. Ji, L. Zhan et Z. Wang, sp. nov.

• Calamagrostis epigeios
• host specificity
• morphology
• Neotyphodium stromatolongum
• phylogenetic analysis
• stromata

We thank Dr Ma Haiying, Dr Deng Maobin and Mrs Jin Yuexing for advice on plant species identification, Prof C.L. Schardl for constructive suggestions on the research and Prof A. Leuchtmann for advice concerning the manuscript. This work was partially supported by National Science Foundation of China (No. 30670008).