Phylogeny and morphological analyses of Penicillium section Sclerotiora (Fungi) lead to the discovery of five new species

Phylogeny of Penicillium section Sclerotiora is still limitedly investigated. In this study, five new species of Penicillium are identified from the samples collected from different places of China, and named P. austrosinicum, P. choerospondiatis, P. exsudans, P. sanshaense and P. verrucisporum. The conidiophores of P. austrosinicum and P. exsudans are monoverticillate like most members of the section, while the rest species are biverticillate similar to the only two species P. herquei and P. malachiteum previously reported in the section Sclerotiora. The phylogenetic positions of the new taxa are determined based on the sequence data of ITS, BenA, CaM and RPB2 regions, which reveals that all the species with biverticillate condiophores form a well-supported subclade in the section. The new Penicillium species clearly differ from the existing species of the genus in culture characteristics on four standard growth media, microscopic features, and sequence data. Morphological discrepancies are discussed between the new species and their allies.