Conlarium indicum: A novel fungus from Western Ghats of India

The present paper describes and illustrates Conlarium indicum, a new species in the family Conlariaceae (Ascomycota). This taxon was isolated as an epiphyte from decaying Bamboo collected from Western Ghats of India. The isolate was identified based on asexual-morphs, cultural characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of partial nuclear ribosomal 28S large subunit (LSU) and complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on ITS+LSU sequences show that the new species form independent monophyletic groups and are well separated from previously known seven species of Conlarium viz. C. dupliciascosporum (as duplumascospora), C. aquaticum, C. thailandense, C. sacchari, C. baiseense, C. nanningense and C. subglobosum. This supports the erection of C. indicum as a new species. A brief description of the morphology of C. indicum with morphological and molecular data is provided. To our understanding, the present taxon has turned out to be hitherto unreported.