Kirschsteiniothelia kanadii : A New Dendryphiopsis ‐Like Species of Kirschsteiniothelia Revealed Through Polyphasic Taxonomic Approaches

Exploration of microfungal diversity from terrestrial substrates in Bhagwan Mahavir National Park (Mollem), Goa, led to the discovery of a distinct taxon referable to Kirschsteiniothelia . Morphological characterisation coupled with multi‐gene phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer regions, large subunit and small subunit sequence data confirmed the taxon as a novel species, Kirschsteiniothelia kanadii , belonging to the family Kirschsteiniotheliaceae and represented only by a Dendryphiopsis ‐like anamorph. In addition, this study presents an updated molecular phylogeny of the genus Kirschsteiniothelia and a comprehensive morphological comparative account of all currently accepted species, including information on their host associations and geographic distributions.