Fungi collected from Arundo donax in Jiangxi wetlands in 2025 were examined using morphology and multigene phylogeny. Two saprobic isolates were described as new species, Lentimurispora arundinis and Stachylidium arundinis. The work expands fungal taxonomy around a bioenergy-relevant plant but does not show that the fungi are pathogenic or beneficial.
Key findings
- Combined evidence supported two new species in separate genera, L. arundinis and S. arundinis, both encountered as saprobes on plant material. The study supplies sequence data and diagnostic morphology for future identification and comparison.
Why this matters globally
Documenting unknown fungi strengthens taxonomic databases relevant to plant-disease surveillance, decomposition ecology and future enzyme discovery. Those applications remain research questions rather than tested outcomes of this paper.
Thai researcher contribution
Yinru Xiong is affiliated with Mae Fah Luang University's Center of Excellence in Fungal Research and the Jiangxi Academy of Forestry, reflecting Thailand's role in international fungal taxonomy even though specimens were collected in China.
Limitations to consider
Only two isolates from a limited place and time were studied, leaving distribution, within-species variation, host specificity and ecological function unknown. Association with the plant does not imply disease, and physiology, metabolites and genomes were not tested.