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Cladobotryum rhodochroum sp. nov. (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) : A New Fungicolous Species Revealed by Morphology, Phylogeny, and Comparative Genomics

Christinaki, Anastasia C. LU orcid ; Floudas, Dimitrios LU ; Myridakis, Antonis I. ; Gonou-Zagou, Zacharoula and Kouvelis, Vassili N. (2026) In Journal of Fungi 12(2).
Abstract

Species of the ascomycetous genus Cladobotryum (Hypocreales, Hypocreaceae) are ecologically and economically important mycoparasites that cause cobweb disease in cultivated and wild mushrooms. Despite their significance as fungal pathogens and producers of bioactive metabolites, the taxonomy of Cladobotryum remains unresolved due to extensive morphological plasticity, complex teleomorph–anamorph connections, and the presence of cryptic species. This study employs an integrative approach combining micro- and macromorphological characterization, multi-locus phylogeny (ITS, rpb2, and tef-1a), and comparative genomics to clarify the taxonomic position of the Greek isolate Cladobotryum sp. ATHUM 6904, previously designated as an unclassified... (More)

Species of the ascomycetous genus Cladobotryum (Hypocreales, Hypocreaceae) are ecologically and economically important mycoparasites that cause cobweb disease in cultivated and wild mushrooms. Despite their significance as fungal pathogens and producers of bioactive metabolites, the taxonomy of Cladobotryum remains unresolved due to extensive morphological plasticity, complex teleomorph–anamorph connections, and the presence of cryptic species. This study employs an integrative approach combining micro- and macromorphological characterization, multi-locus phylogeny (ITS, rpb2, and tef-1a), and comparative genomics to clarify the taxonomic position of the Greek isolate Cladobotryum sp. ATHUM 6904, previously designated as an unclassified red-pigmented (URP) strain. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that URP strains form a distinct, well-supported clade closely related to C. tenue and C. rubrobrunnescens, yet genetically and morphologically distinct from both. Comparative genomic analyses of isolate ATHUM 6904 and the ex-type strains of C. tenue and C. rubrobrunnescens revealed pronounced divergence in transposable element content, mitochondrial genome architecture, gene order, orthologous gene composition, secondary metabolite biosynthetic potential, and overall genomic distance. Micro- and macromorphological comparisons further supported the differentiation of isolate ATHUM 6904 from both reference species. Based on the combined molecular, morphological, and genomic evidence, the Greek isolate ATHUM 6904 is described as a novel species, Cladobotryum rhodochroum sp. nov.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
comparative genomics, fungicolous fungi, integrative taxonomy, morphology, multi-locus phylogeny, mushroom pathogen, species delimitation
in
Journal of Fungi
volume
12
issue
2
article number
117
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:105031576934
  • pmid:41745260
ISSN
2309-608X
DOI
10.3390/jof12020117
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2026 by the authors.
id
ebc54d88-fbad-4a24-9d56-fb234a2cdc9e
date added to LUP
2026-04-14 13:12:25
date last changed
2026-04-15 03:00:04
@article{ebc54d88-fbad-4a24-9d56-fb234a2cdc9e,
  abstract     = {{<p>Species of the ascomycetous genus Cladobotryum (Hypocreales, Hypocreaceae) are ecologically and economically important mycoparasites that cause cobweb disease in cultivated and wild mushrooms. Despite their significance as fungal pathogens and producers of bioactive metabolites, the taxonomy of Cladobotryum remains unresolved due to extensive morphological plasticity, complex teleomorph–anamorph connections, and the presence of cryptic species. This study employs an integrative approach combining micro- and macromorphological characterization, multi-locus phylogeny (ITS, rpb2, and tef-1a), and comparative genomics to clarify the taxonomic position of the Greek isolate Cladobotryum sp. ATHUM 6904, previously designated as an unclassified red-pigmented (URP) strain. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that URP strains form a distinct, well-supported clade closely related to C. tenue and C. rubrobrunnescens, yet genetically and morphologically distinct from both. Comparative genomic analyses of isolate ATHUM 6904 and the ex-type strains of C. tenue and C. rubrobrunnescens revealed pronounced divergence in transposable element content, mitochondrial genome architecture, gene order, orthologous gene composition, secondary metabolite biosynthetic potential, and overall genomic distance. Micro- and macromorphological comparisons further supported the differentiation of isolate ATHUM 6904 from both reference species. Based on the combined molecular, morphological, and genomic evidence, the Greek isolate ATHUM 6904 is described as a novel species, Cladobotryum rhodochroum sp. nov.</p>}},
  author       = {{Christinaki, Anastasia C. and Floudas, Dimitrios and Myridakis, Antonis I. and Gonou-Zagou, Zacharoula and Kouvelis, Vassili N.}},
  issn         = {{2309-608X}},
  keywords     = {{comparative genomics; fungicolous fungi; integrative taxonomy; morphology; multi-locus phylogeny; mushroom pathogen; species delimitation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Journal of Fungi}},
  title        = {{Cladobotryum rhodochroum sp. nov. (Hypocreales, Ascomycota) : A New Fungicolous Species Revealed by Morphology, Phylogeny, and Comparative Genomics}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jof12020117}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/jof12020117}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}