Novel Bionectriaceae (Hypocreales) taxa associated with ferns in southwestern China: morpho-phylogenetic description of two new species and one new host record

In a survey of microfungi associated with ferns in southwestern China, two novel taxa and a new host record of the family Bionectriaceae, viz., Musananaesporium pronephrii sp. nov., Waltergamsia yunnanensis sp. nov. and Protocreopsis alba, were collected and introduced via morphological observations and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, ITS, tef 1 - α, and rpb 2 sequence dataset. These three species share key morphological features, including hyaline, simple conidiophores and phialidic conidiogenous cells that produce hyaline, slimy conidia.

This study expands the known diversity of Bionectriaceae and represents the first record of Musananaesporium, Protocreopsis, and Waltergamsia species associated with ferns.