Paramyrothecium eichhorniae sp. nov., Causing Leaf Blight Disease of Water Hyacinth from Thailand

Paramyrothecium eichhorniae sp. nov. was observed and collected from Chiang Mai and Phetchaburi Provinces, Thailand. This new species is introduced based on morphological and molecular evidence. This fungus is characterized by its production of sporodochium conidiomata with a white setose fringe surrounding an olivaceous green to dark green slimy mass of conidia, penicillately branched conidiophores, and aseptate and cylindrical to ellipsoid conidia. Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU rDNA, ITS rDNA, tef1, rpb2, tub2 and cmdA sequence data using maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches placed the fungus in a strongly supported clade with other Paramyrothecium species in Stachybotryaceae (Hypocreales, Sordariomycetes). The descriptions of the species are accompanied by illustrations of morphological features, and a discussion of the related taxa is presented.