Acrogenospora terricola sp. nov., a fungal species associated with seeds of pioneer trees in the soil seed bank of a lowland forest in Panama

As currently circumscribed, Acrogenospora (Acrogenosporaceae, Minutisphaerales, Dothideomycetes) is a genus of saprobic hyphomycetes with distinctive conidia. Although considered common and cosmopolitan, the genus is poorly represented by sequence data, and no neotropical representatives are present in public sequence databases. Consequently, Acrogenospora has been largely invisible to ecological studies that rely on sequence -based identification. As part of an effort to identify fungi collected during ecological studies, we identified strains of Acrogenospora isolated in culture from seeds in the soil seed bank of a lowland tropical forest in Panama. Here we describe Acrogenospora terricola sp. nov. based on morphological and phyloge-netic analyses. We confirm that the genus has a pantropical distribution. The observation of Acrogenospora infecting seeds in a terrestrial environment contrasts with previously described species in the genus, most of which occur on decaying wood in freshwater environments. This work highlights the often hidden taxonomic value of collections derived from ecological studies of fungal communities and the ways in which rich sequence databases can shed light on the identity, distributions and diversity of cryptic microfungi.

Automated summary

In this study, a new species of Acrogenospora, Acrogenospora terricola sp. nov., is described, and it is confirmed that the genus has a pantropical distribution. The observation of Acrogenospora infecting seeds in a terrestrial environment is different from previously described species in the genus. This study highlights the taxonomic value of collections derived from ecological studies of fungal communities and demonstrates how rich sequence databases can provide insights into the identity, distributions, and diversity of cryptic microfungi.