Surveys of invertebrate-pathogenic fungi in community forests in Thailand revealed two new interesting Cordyceps. They are Cordyceps chiangdaoensis and Cordyceps morakotii, pathogenic to Coleoptera larvae and Odontomachus ant pupae, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses strongly support these two fungi as two distinct new Cordyceps species. These two new species were described in this publication.
The genus Cordyceps comprises approximately 50 species of fungi that mainly parasitize insects. They infect a plethora of invertebrates, such as insects, spiders, and nematodes.
BIOTEC has been engaging in the biodiversity study of invertebrate pathogenic fungi since 1993. The study further expanded to a more integrated approach for understanding fungal biology by putting fungi into their natural context, i.e. in interaction with other biotic and abiotic environments, including their host insects in the case of insect pathogenic fungi. The study has also been broadened to other groups of fungi in such as alkaline tolerant fungi, dung fungi, freshwater fungi, lichen fungi, litter Basidiomycetes, marine fungi, palm fungi and seed fungi. To learn more about our research in this field, please visit the website of Fungal Biodiversity Laboratory and Microbe Interaction Laboratory.
Ref: Tasanathai, K., Thanakitpipattana, D., Noisripoom, W., Khonsanit, A., Kumsao,J. and Luangsa-ard, J.J. (2016). Two new Cordyceps species from a community forest in Thailand. Mycological Progress, 15:8 DOI 10.1007/s11557-016-1170-3.
