Culturable mycota from Karst caves in Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

Caves, characterized by enclosed, unique, and stable environments, provide favorable conditions for fungal growth and harbor high levels of fungal diversity. Although Yunnan Province is home to more than 200 caves, studies on cave-associated fungi in this region remain scarce. To address this knowledge gap, we surveyed six accessible karst caves in the eastern, western, and southeastern Yunnan.

A total of 34 fungal strains representing 17 species were isolated. Morphological characteristics and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses revealed taxonomic diversity among culturable fungi isolated from the sampled Yunnan caves, including numerous previously undescribed taxa. This study introduces one new genus (Neoachaetomiella), 12 novel species (Aspergillus dehongensis, Cosmospora cavernicola, Neoachaetomiella cavernicola, Pithoascus cavernicola, Trichoderma dehongense, T. hongheense, T. mangshiense, T. neogongcheniae, T. neopyramidale, T. nujiangense, T. yingjiangense, and Trichocladium cavernicola), and reports five species (Aspergillus baeticus, Chaetomium subaffine, Daldinia eschscholtzii, Mucor phayaoensis, and Trichoderma obovatum) as new records for caves in Yunnan, China.

Detailed descriptions, illustrations, and phylogenetic analyses of all 17 taxa are provided. Additionally, a global checklist of cave-associated fungi is presented.