A new homothallic species of Cunninghamella (Mucorales, Mucoromycota) with a synoptic key for the genus in the Neotropics

Leslie Waren Silva de Freitas, Cristina Maria Souza-Motta, Renan do Nascimento Barbosa, Roger Fagner Ribeiro Melo & André Luiz Cabral Monteiro de Azevedo Santiago

Sydowia 77: 119-127

Published online on September 10th, 2024

During a survey on anemophilous fungi at Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil, a new species of Cunninghamella was identified, combining both morphology and phylogeny. Cunninghamella neohomothallica, sp. nov., forms light gray colonies, blackspotted due to the presence of zygosporangia. Sporophores are unbranched or branched up to five times, with subglobose, ovoid, subclavate or clavate vesicles, bearing globose to subglobose sporangiola. Zygosporangia are brown, homothallic, opposite, with two unequal suspensors. The strains exhibited optimal growth at 25 and 30 °C, with no development at 40 °C. Consequently, a synoptic key to the Cunninghamella species in the Neotropics was provided. This study contributes to taxonomic knowledge on Cunninghamella and highlights the importance of airborne fungal sampling for the discovery of new taxa.

Keywords: Airborne fungi, Cunninghamellaceae, Mucoromyceta, taxonomy.

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