Sarocladium guizhouense, Tian, Xiao-Li, Chen, Wan-Hao, Li, Dan, Chen, Lan-Ya & Zhao, Jie-Hong, 2025

Tian, Xiao-Li, Chen, Wan-Hao, Li, Dan, Chen, Lan-Ya & Zhao, Jie-Hong, 2025, Sarocladium guizhouense, a new insect-associated species from Guizhou, China, Phytotaxa 689 (2), pp. 243-252 : 247-248

Sarocladium guizhouense Xiao-li Tian, Wan-hao Chen & Jie-Hong Zhao, sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

Fungal Names No : 572128

Etymology: —Referring to China, it's country of origin.

Type:— CHINA. Guizhou: Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City , Duyun Doupeng Mountain (26°21′27.96″N, 107°22′48.22″E), on a scale insect, September 2021, Wanhao Chen, holotype GZAC DY0911 ; ex-type culture GZAC DY09111. Sequences from the strain DY0911 have been deposited in GenBank with accession numbers: ITS = PP980486 , LSU = PQ066031 , TEF =PQ142884 .

Synnemata arising from the host, conidia in abundance at the apex. Colonies on PDA, attaining a diameter of 35–36 mm after 14 days at 25 °C, with white velutinate aerial mycelium, raised, light yellow in the middle of the reverse side, gradually fading to the periphery. Hyphae septate, hyaline, smooth-walled, 1.1–1.7 μm wide. Phialides produced on aerial hyphae, straight or slightly flexuous, hyaline, smooth-walled, acicular, 28.4–33.2 × 1.1–2.1 μm. Conidia hyaline, cylindrical, ellipsoidal to fusiform, septate, smooth-walled, 3.2–4.7 × 1.1–1.6 μm.

Note:— Based on the analysis of the combined dataset ITS + LSU + TEF , Sarocladium guizhouense is phylogenetically close to S. spirale , S. junci , S. hominis , S. kiliense , S. pseudokiliense and S. brachiariae . Sarocladium guizhouense is morphologically similar to these species ( Table 2) but differs in having the conidia that do not arrange in slimy heads. Additionally, the pairwise dissimilarities of ITS sequences show differences of 19, 18, 47 base pairs (bp) within 485 bp between S. guizhouense and S. pseudokiliense , S. kiliense , S. brachiariae , respectively. The pairwise dissimilarities of LSU sequences show differences of 10, 22, 14 bp within 314 bp between S. guizhouense and S. spirale , S. junci , S. hominis respectively. Jeewon & Hyde (2016) recommended that a minimum nucleotide difference of more than 1.5% in the ITS region may be indicative of a new species. Thus, the molecular phylogenetic results supported that S. guizhouense is a new species in the genus Sarocladium .

Host:— scale insect (Hemiptera).

Additional strain examined:— China. Guizhou: Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Duyun City, Duyun Doupeng Mountain (26°21′27.96″N, 107°22′48.22″E), scale insects, September 2021, Wanhao Chen (DY0911). Sequences from this strain have been deposited in GenBank with accession numbers: ITS= PP980486, LSU=PQ066031, TEF =PQ142884.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Sarocladium guizhouense. A. Infected scale insect. B–C. Culture on PDA, showing the top (B) and the underside (C). D–G. Phialides and conidia formed on PDA. H. Conidia formed on PDA. Scale bars: B, C = 10 mm, D–H = 10 μm.