Guanomyces, a new genus of Ascomycetes from Mexico

A new genus is described to accommodate a species isolated from bat dung. This fungus forms a membranous ascoma with a long neck that is ornamented with lateral glandular hairs and terminal aglandular hairs; filamentous, septate paraphyses and deliquescent asci with hyaline, unicellular ascospores are formed in the base of the centrum. In order to analyze the systematic position of this ascomycete, its morphological characters and 18S rDNA sequences were studied and compared with superficially similar species. Based on morphological and phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA sequences, this fungus belongs in the Sordariales and is close to but separate from Chaetomium. The hyaline ascospores, without a germ pore, and the possession of an ascoma with a long neck ornamented with lateral glandular hairs is in contrast to other genera of the Chaetomiaceae. For these reasons, the new genus Guanomyces is proposed to accommodate the new species G. polythrix in the Chaetomiaceae of the Sordariales.