Morphological and Molecular Phylogenetic Data of the Chinese Medicinal Fungus Cordyceps liangshanensisReveal Its New Systematic Position in the Family Ophiocordycipitaceae

AbstractA cordycipitoid fungus infecting Hepialidae sp. in Nepal was supposed to be identical to Cordyceps liangshanensis, originally described from southwestern China, and thus, transferred to the genus Metacordycepsor Papiliomycesin previous studies. However, our multi-gene (nrSSU-nrLSU-tef-1α-rpb1-rpb2) phylogenetic and morphological studies based on the type specimen and additional collections of C. liangshanensisrevealed that the fungus belongs to the genus Ophiocordyceps(Ophiocordycipitaceae). Therefore, a new combination O. liangshanensiswas made, and a detailed description of this species was provided.