Three new Pochonia taxa (Clavicipitaceae) from soils in Japan

Abstract

Fifty Pochonia strains were isolated from soil samples collected throughout Japan. Using a combination of micromorphological characters and multigene (SSU, LSU, TEF, RPB1, RPB2) phylogenics, seven taxa were identified, three of which previously were undescribed. In this paper we describe the new species, P. boninensis, and two new varieties, P. chlamydosporia var. ellipsospora and var. spinulospora. They were recovered from Chichi-jima, Aogashima and Okinawa’s main island. The three new taxa are distinguished from known species and varieties by conidial morphology. We also report the first finding of P. rubescens from Japan.

• multigene phylogeny
• oceanic islands
• soil-inhabiting fungi
• subtropics
• taxonomy

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Quality Assurance Framework of Higher Education from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan.

We thank Mr. T. Tokiwa (Environmental Hygiene Inspection Center, N.M.G. Co. Ltd.) for preparing the line drawing of three new taxa and Mr. T. Ono (Ogasawara Subtropical Agriculture Center, Tokyo Metropolitan Government) for the identification of plants and supplying soil samples from the Bonin Islands. We also thank Mr. S. Kato, Mr. M. Izumi, Mr. T. Kaneta, Mr. M. Iiduka and Mr. H. Miyazaki (Kitasato Univ.) for isolation of fungal strains from soil samples. We are grateful for the help of Drs Walter Gams and Ryan Kepler for kindly improving the manuscript and the Latin diagnoses and helpful comments for the names of the new taxa.