Research Publication Details

Abstract

Abstract Pleurocordyceps is a group of hyperparasites that infects invertebrates, plants, and other fungi. It belongs to the family Polycephalomycetaceae, a newly established family separated from Ophiocordycipitaceae, order Hypocreales which includes several genera such as Dingleyomyces, Paradingleyomyces, Perennicordyceps, Pleurocordyceps, and Polycephalomyces. Pleurocordyceps currently comprises 26 species reported from South American and Asian regions In Asia, Malaysia has diverse forest ecosystems and rich fungal diversity; however, no previous studies have been reported on the occurrence of Pleurocordyceps species. The aim of the study is to explore the Pleurocordyceps diversity tropical rainforests of Malaysia using morpho-molecular analyses. During a fungal survey in Malaysia, fungicolous fungus associated with ants and cicadas nymphs were collected and subjected to morphological and molecular assessments. Two genetic loci—the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF-1α) gene were used to construct both individual and concatenated phylogenetic trees. The study describes a new species, Pleurocordyceps cornusynnemata sp. nov. (BORH/F03651) from an ant, and two new records of P. aurantiaca (BORH/F03651), and P. nipponica (UTHMCEF003.1) from Diptera and cicada nymph, respectively. These findings expand the knowledge of the geographic distribution of Pleurocordyceps and provide the first baseline data for the genus in Malaysia, thereby improving understanding of the diversity and evolutionary relationships within Polycephalomycetaceae. Key words: arthropod hosts, entomopathogenic fungi, Pleurocordyceps, synnema, three taxa, typification Photo credit to Ms. Elyse Yang