Muscodor roseus anam. sp nov., an endophyte from Grevillea pteridifolia

Muscodor roseus anam. sp. nov. is described as a deuteromycetous (mycelia sterilia) endophytic fungus bearing molecular relatedness to the ascomyceteous genus Xylaria. The fungus is characterized by producing a pinkish, felt-like mycelium on PDA and other media. No fruiting structures or spores of any kind have been found when the fungus has been incubated on multiple synthetic and natural media containing steriled pieces of the host plant (Grevillea pteridifolia) or other plant materials. The hyphae (0.8 - 3.6 mum dia.) grow in multiple rope-like strands and these can intertwine to make more complex structures. Frequently seen are tight perfect coils of hyphae (20 pm dia.) containing many loops of a single fungal hypha. The fungus is related to Xylariaceae by virtue of 96-98% similarities of its 18S rDNA (2055 bp) to representative members of this group. Phylogenetic analysis based on 18S sequences showed that M. roseus is taxonomically related to Muscodor albus. Muscodor roseus, having two isolates recovered and deposited, also produces a mixture of volatile antibiotics having a musty odor as does M albus.