New Mucorales from opposite ends of the world

The Mucorales 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. Mucorales 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, Neofennellomyces. Names proposed for these 15 new species are 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, and Neofennellomyces jeongsukae. Of these new species, 12 were isolated from South Korea: A. cheongyangensis, A. fluvii, A. kunryangriensis, A. paracylindrospora, B. varians, M. albicolonia, M. aurantiacus, M. cryophilus, M. glutinatus, M. paraorantomantidis, M. timomeni, and N. jeongsukae, and three from Brazil: A. tarda, A. variiprojecta, and A. variispora. Niche specificity of these fungi is discussed including newly recorded invertebrate hosts and a new geographic distribution for species of Backusella, Circinella, Cunninghamella, and Mucor. Given these findings, we provide an inventory of Mucorales.