Beauveria medogensis sp. nov., a new fungus of the entomopathogenic genus from China

Beauveria is among the most ubiquitous genera of entomopathogenic fungi throughout the world. A previously unknown species of the genus was recently discovered from a soil sample collected from Tibetan Plateau, China and is here described as new to science, B. medogensis sp. nov. The new species is distinguished from its closest relatives based on both morphological characterization and molecular phylogenetic analyses. Beauveria medogensis is characterized by globose to subglobose conidia, morphologically similar to some other species of in the genus, but was conclusively separated from those species in the phylogenetic analyses including sequences of four nuclear genes (RPB1, RPB2, TEF1 and Bloc). The new species was clustered in the analyses in a single terminal lineage which was grouped with B. australis sequences together as a sister clade to the B. brongniartii terminal clade. Although molecularly closely related, the new species is distinct morphologically from its closest sisters, B. australis and B. brongniartii, in producing globose to subglobose conidia rather than subglobose, broadly ellipsoid to ellipsoid conidia or ellipsoidal to cylindrical conidia. As isolated from a soil sample, the entomopathogenicity of the new species has been confirmed using Helicoverpa armigera and Tenebrio molitor larvae.