Verruconis panacis sp. nov., an endophyte isolated from Panax notoginseng.

An endophytic strain (designated as strain SYPF 8337 ^T ) was isolated from the root of 3-year-old Panax notoginseng in Yunnan province of China. Strain SYPF 8337 ^T grew slowly and formed pale brown to brown colonies. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that strain SYPF 8337 ^T was placed in the Verruconis clade. Different from other Verruconis species, strain SYPF 8337 ^T produced four-cell conidia. Furthermore, strain SYPF 8337 ^T is the first fungus isolated as an endophyte of P. notoginseng in the genus Verruconis. Combined with the morphology and molecular analyses, a new species named Verruconis panacis sp. nov. is proposed.