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

An endophytic strain (designated as strain SYPF 8335 ^T ) was isolated from a root of Panax notoginseng in Wenshan district, Yunnan province of China. Strain SYPF 8335 ^T grew very slowly and formed white colonies. Phylogenetic analysis of four loci indicated that strain SYPF 8335 ^T was placed in the Drechmeria clade with Drechmeria campanulata as its closest phylogenetic neighbour. The nucleotide differences between strain SYPF 8335 ^T and D. campanulata are 30 substitutions in the internal transcriber region region. A key morphological feature that differentiates the two fungi is that D. campanulata produces campanulate conidia. Combined with the morphology and molecular analyses, a new species named Drechmeria panacis sp. nov., is proposed.