Hypocreales » Cordycipitaceae » Cordyceps

Cordyceps tenuipes

Cordyceps tenuipes (Peck) Kepler, B. Shrestha & Spatafora, IMA Fungus 8(2): 347 (2017)

Index Fungorum number: IF 820986; Facesoffungi number: FoF 13963

Parasitic on insect cocoon. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Mycelial felt white, enveloping the insect from which several erect synnemata arise. Synnemata white, stipitate, cylindrical, branched, apically bearing powdery conidia. Conidiophores 3–5.5 (x̄ = 4.7, n = 10) μm in wide, developing from outer layer of synnemata, macronematous, septate, apically swollen and branched, forming cellular hypha where they give rise to metulae. Metulae 3.5–6.5 (x̄ = 4.7, n = 30) μm, born on apical regions of conidiophores, subglobose to globose, thin-walled, bearing group of phialides. Phialides 3.5–6 × 2.5–3.5 (x̄ = 4.7 × 3, n = 30) μm, ampulliform, smooth-walled, phialidic. Conidia 3–5 × 1.3–2.3 (x̄ = 3.9 × 1.7, n = 20) μm, hyaline, ellipsoidal to reniform, smooth-walled, aseptate, adhering in chain.

Culture characteristics – Colonies on PDA reaching 3.5 cm after 20 days at 25 °C, white, circular, fluffy, margin entire, mycelia loose, reverse white.

Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, Honghe County, Amushan natural reserve, on insect cocoonburied in soil, 15 June 2018, De-Ping Wei, TSQ12 (HKAS 102445), living culture KUNCC 21-10503.

Notes – Samson (1974) listed many synonyms under Paecilomyces tenuipes and provided line drawing of the conidiophores, phialides and conidia for this species. Kepler et al. (2017) transferred P. tenuipes to Cordyceps on account of the molecular evidence. Our collection (HKAS 102445) phylogenetically groups with C. tenuipes with great support (Fig. 1). Morphologically, it well fit with C. tenuipes in having white, conspicuous synnmeta, cellular condiophores, phialies with a globose basal portion and a narrow neck and the hyaline, cylindrical, straight to slightly curved conidia (Samson 1974).

Cordyceps tenuipes (HKAS 102445) i Stromata growing from hosts. j Conidiophores. k Phialides. l Conidia. Scale bar: j = 20 μm, k, l = 5 μm ( j–l stained with Congo red solution).

 

Reference:

Wei DP, Gentekaki E, Wanasinghe DN, Tang SM, Hyde KD. Diversity, molecular dating and ancestral characters state reconstruction of entomopathogenic fungi. Mycosphere. 13(2): 281–351.

 

 

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