Cladophialophora floridana and Cladophialophora tortuosa, new species isolated from sclerotia of Cenococcum geophilum in forest soils of Florida, USA

• Two novel species of Cladophialophora were described.
• They were isolated from sclerotia of Cenococcum geophilum.
• Both species formed subglobose to oblong conidia produced in conidial chains.
• Conidia of C. tortuosa are often distinctly phaseoliform or sigmoid in shape.
• Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS rDNA also supported that they are novel species.

Cladophialophora is a genus of asexual dematiaceous fungi that is characterized by the production of branched or unbranched chains of conidia that originate by blastic conidiogenesis and have hyaline conidial scars. Two novel species of Cladophialophora were isolated from surface-sterilized sclerotia of the ectomycorrhizal fungus Cenococcum geophilum that were extracted from soils of mixed pine-oak forests in Florida, USA. Cladophialophora floridana and C. tortuosa form melanized conidia produced in coherent and infrequently branched chains that often arise from semi-macronematous conidiophores. Both species form subglobose to oblong conidia but the conidia of C. tortuosa are more frequently and distinctly phaseoliform or sigmoid in shape. These two novel species are clearly distinct from all known species of Cladophialophora and closely-related other genera based on a combination of microscopic morphology and rRNA gene sequences, including the ITS and partial LSU regions.