Morpho-Molecular Characterization of Hypocrealean Fungi Isolated from Rice in Northern Thailand

Hypocreales is one of the largest orders within the class Sordariomycetes and is renowned for its diversity of lifestyles, encompassing plant, insect, and human pathogens, as well as endophytes, parasites, and saprobes. In this study, we focused on saprobic hypocrealean fungi isolated from rice in northern Thailand. Species identification was conducted using morphological characteristics and multilocus phylogenetic analyses, including the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), 28S large subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA (LSU), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (<i>tef</i>1-α), RNA polymerase II second-largest subunit (<i>rpb</i>2), and calmodulin (<i>cmdA</i>). This research confirmed the presence of 14 species of hypocrealean taxa, viz. <i>Fusarium</i> (9), <i>Ochronectria</i> (1), <i>Sarocladium</i> (2), <i>Trichothecium</i> (1), and <i>Waltergamsia</i> (1). Among these were two new species (<i>Fusarium chiangraiense</i> and <i>F. oryzigenum</i>), four new host records (<i>Fusarium kotabaruense</i>, <i>Ochronectria thailandica</i>, <i>Sarocladium bactrocephalum</i>, and <i>Waltergamsia fusidioides</i>), and three new geographical records (<i>Fusarium commune</i>, <i>F. guilinense</i>, and <i>F. hainanese</i>).