Mycology Laboratory, BIOTEC, NSTDA Science Park, 113 Paholyothin Road, Klong 1, Klong Luang, Pathum Thani, Thailand.
Fungal Biol. 2011 Jul;115(7):608-14. doi: 10.1016/j.funbio.2011.03.002. Epub 2011 Mar 12.
Several fungal pathogens of ants have been reported as members of the family Ophiocordycipitaceae in the order Hypocreales. Surveys in the south of Thailand have shown specimens showing characteristics that are morphologically similar to Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, a very common ant pathogen, by producing a lateral pad on one side of the stroma and producing whole ascospores. Phylogenetic analyses of the partial elongation factor tef1-α and the internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA have shown that this is a distinct species from O. unilateralis. The morphological characters of Ophiocordyceps halabalaensis differs from O. unilateralis in the possession of bigger perithecia and ascospores, and molecular analyses have shown that this ant-specific fungus is sufficiently different from O. unilateralis, deserving the naming of a new species. Aspects of morphology, host association/host-specificity, and taxonomic position are discussed.
几种真菌病原体已被报道为 Hypocreales 目中的 Ophiocordycipitaceae 科的成员。在泰国南部的调查显示，一些标本具有与非常常见的蚂蚁病原体单侧虫草（Ophiocordyceps unilateralis）相似的形态特征，即在菌核的一侧产生侧垫并产生整个子囊孢子。通过对部分延伸因子 tef1-α和内部转录间隔区 ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rDNA 的系统发育分析表明，这是一个与单侧虫草明显不同的物种。与单侧虫草相比，哈拉拉巴虫草（Ophiocordyceps halabalaensis）的形态特征在于拥有更大的子囊壳和子囊孢子，分子分析表明，这种专门针对蚂蚁的真菌与单侧虫草有足够的不同，值得命名为一个新物种。讨论了形态、宿主关联/宿主特异性和分类地位等方面。
