| Illumina amplicon sequencing of soil in a temperate pine forest in the southeastern United States detected an abundant, N-responsive genotype. Two isolates consistent with that genotype were subsequently obtained in culture. Examination of records in GenBank revealed that a genetically similar fungus had been isolated previously as an endophyte of moss in a pine forest in the southwestern USA. These three isolates were characterized using morphological and multi-locus molecular data (18S, ITS, 28S rRNA sequences). Phylogenetic and phylogenomic analyses revealed that the taxon represents a novel lineage in the Mucoromycotina. The fungus is dimorphic, grows best at room temperature, and presents a wide variety of epihyphal bacteria including Bacillus licheniformis and Stenotrophomonas sp. Here a new fungal species, Bifiguratus adelaidae, is proposed. |
