Living with bats: polyphasic approach reveals a new Fusarium species in Yunnan Province, China

Bats are one of the most diverse mammal groups, with over 1400 species distributed across the planet, and they provide key ecological and economic services. In addition, bats provide an ideal habitat for fungal growth and harbour a high diversity of fungal species. Previous studies have described 423 fungal species associated with bats and bat carcasses. This paper describes a new fungal species, Fusarium rhinolophi, belonging to Nectriaceae, collected from bats in Mengla County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS, CAM, TEF-1α, TUB, RPB1, and RPB2 dataset confirmed that our fungus forms an independent lineage within the F. nisikadoi species complex. Thus, we describe our fungus as a new species of Fusarium based on morphology and molecular phylogeny. A description, phylogenetic tree showing species placement, and micrographs are provided.