This paper describes a new species of Clavicipitaceae fungi belonging to the genus Metacordyceps . Sung, . Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, defined as Metacordyceps dhauladharensis sp. nov., from India. The diagnostic features of this new species are stipitate stromata of brownish color and an elongated fertile head on a Hymenopteran host. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2015) 39: 520-526 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Metacordyceps dhauladharensis sp. nov., a new entomopathogenic fungus from India 1, 2 Sapan Kumar SHARMA *, Nandini GAUTAM Centre for Mushroom Research and Training, Department of Plant Pathology, CSK Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur, India 2 Centre for Environmental Science and Technology, School of Environment and Earth Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India 1 Received: Accepted: Published Online: Printed: Abstract: This paper describes a new species of Clavicipitaceae fungi belonging to the genus Metacordyceps . Sung, . Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, defined as Metacordyceps dhauladharensis sp. nov., from India. The diagnostic features of this new species are stipitate stromata of brownish color and an elongated fertile head on a Hymenopteran host. The perithecium size of this species was measured as 152–257 × 65–72 µm, and the asci were measured as 30–48 µm in length and µm in breadth. Based on molecular studies, the sequence of 469 bp of this species showed only 86% homology with Metacordyceps indigotica (Kobayasi & Shimizu) Kepler, . Sung & Spatafora. Key words: Entomopathogenic fungi, Metacordyceps, , new species 1. Introduction Entomopathogenic fungi are a group of insect pathogens. They are represented by 100 orders and 700 species around the world (Roberts, 1989). These fungi belong to the phyla Glomeromycota and Ascomycota with the orders Entomophthorales and Hypocreales, respectively (Hibbett et al., 2007; Sung et al., 2007). The genus Cordyceps Fr. includes entomopathogenic fungi belonging to the phylum Ascomycota and the order Hypocreales. This genus is represented by more than 400 species around the world (Kobayasi, 1982; Stensrud et al., 2005). Species of this genus have international .
