New <i> Mucorales</i> from opposite ends of the world

The <i>Mucorales</i> is a group of ancient fungi with global distribution. In the current study we accessed mucoralean fungi isolated from two countries on opposite sides of the Earth and in different hemispheres: South Korea and Brazil. <i>Mucorales</i> isolates were obtained from freshwater, soil, invertebrates, and fruit seeds and identified using phenotypic techniques combined with the DNA sequence data. These analyses revealed 15 new species including one that we affiliated to a newly proposed genus, <i>Neofennellomyces</i>. Names proposed for these 15 new species are <i>Absidia cheongyangensis, A. fluvii, A. kunryangriensis, A. paracylindrospora, A. tarda, A. variiprojecta, A. variispora, Backusella varians, Mucor albicolonia, M. aurantiacus, M. cryophilus, M. glutinatus, M. paraorantomantidis, M. timomeni,</i> and <i>Neofennellomyces jeongsukae</i>. Of these new species, 12 were isolated from South Korea: <i>A. cheongyangensis, A. fluvii, A. kunryangriensis, A. paracylindrospora, B. varians, M. albicolonia, M. aurantiacus, M. cryophilus, M. glutinatus, M. paraorantomantidis, M. timomeni,</i> and <i>N. jeongsukae</i>, and three from Brazil: <i>A. tarda</i>, <i>A. variiprojecta</i>, and <i>A. variispora</i>. Niche specificity of these fungi is discussed including newly recorded invertebrate hosts and a new geographic distribution for species of <i>Backusella</i>, <i>Circinella</i>, <i>Cunninghamella</i>, and <i>Mucor</i>. Given these findings, we provide an inventory of <i>Mucorales</i>. <b>Taxonomic novelties: New genus:</b> <i>Neofennellomyces</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen. <b>New species:</b> <i>Absidia cheongyangensis</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Absidia fluvii</i> Hyang B. Lee, A.L. Santiago, P.M. Kirk, K. Voigt & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Absidia kunryangriensis</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Absidia paracylindrospora</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Absidia tarda</i> T.R.L. Cordeiro, Hyang B. Lee & A.L. Santiago, <i>Absidia variiprojecta</i> T.R.L. Cordeiro & A.L. Santiago, <i>Absidia variispora</i> T.R.L. Cordeiro & A.L. Santiago, <i>Backusella varians</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor aurantiacus</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor cryophilus</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor albicolonia</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor glutinatus</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor paraorantomantidis</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Mucor timomeni</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen, <i>Neofennellomyces jeongsukae</i> Hyang B. Lee & T.T.T. Nguyen. <b>Citation:</b> Nguyen TTT, de A. Santiago ALCM, Hallsworth JE, Cordeiro TRL, Voigt K, Kirk PM, Crous PW, Júnior MAM, Elsztein C, Lee HB (2024). New <i>Mucorales</i> from opposite ends of the world. <i>Studies in Mycology</i> <b>109</b>: 273-321. doi: 10.3114/sim.2024.109.04.