Three new species of the genus Kockovaella (Cuniculitremaceae, Tremellales) from the phylloplane in China

<i>Kockovaella</i>, in the family Cuniculitremaceae of the order <i>Tremellales</i>, is a globally distributed genus of blastoconidia-forming fungi. Currently, 23 species have been described and accepted as members of the genus. In this study, five yeast strains were isolated from plant leaf surfaces collected in the Fujian and Guizhou Provinces of China and identified through a combination of morphological and molecular methods. The related phenotypic features and molecular phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU, and RPB1 sequences demonstrated that they were members of three novel <i>Kockovaella</i> species: <i>K.iteae</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, <i>K.quanzhouensis</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, and <i>K.sambucuse</i> <b>sp. nov.</b> These species were described in detail and discussed relative to other species. This study demonstrated the novel geographical distribution as well as the high species diversity of <i>Kockovaella</i> in China and offered more data for further studies in fungal systematics and evolution.