A novel species and a new combination of Daldinia from Ban Hua Thung community forest in the northern part of Thailand

Abstract

During a survey of Xylariales in northern Thailand, several specimens with affinities to the genus Daldinia were found and examined for morphological characters, secondary metabolites, and molecular phylogenetic traits. Aside from morphological and chemotaxonomic studies, a multi-locus phylogenetic analysis using internal transcribed spacers regions (ITS) and the large subunit (LSU) of the ribosomal DNA, the second largest subunit of the RNA polymerase (RPB2), and beta-tubulin (TUB2) genes was performed. Among the specimens was a new species and a new record of a species that had previously never been sequenced and studied for its anamorphic morphology. This species, previously described by Ju and Rogers as Hypoxylon kretzschmarioides based on a single record from Indonesia, showed secondary metabolite profiles reminiscent of those of the genus Daldinia and even clustered in the latter genus in the phylogenetic tree. Therefore, it is transferred to Daldinia as D. kretzschmarioides comb. nov. A second new species, D. subvernicosa sp. nov., was found to have a close relationship with D. vernicosa based on morphological and molecular evidence, but differs from D. vernicosa by long-stipitate asci with mostly subglobose ascospores, and the basal ascospores are often elongated.