Table 3 Morphological comparison of ten species among Ophiocordyceps sinensis- species complex
Species | Host | Habitat | Stromata | Perithecium | Asci | Ascospore | Colony | Conidiogenous cells | Conidia | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
O. megala | Endoclita sp. (Hepialidae) | In tree hole or tree root | Rust, cylindrical, solitary or branched, 80–320 mm long | Superficial, long ovoid, about 180–200 μm | Cylindrical,about 190–250 μm | Needle-shaped, multiseptate with indistict septation, 100–200 μm | 18–23 mm diameter on PDA at 20℃ in 3 weeks | Monophialidic, clavate, swollen base and taper neck. base (3.2–4.5 µm wide) and slender neck (1.0–1.5 µm wide) (Hirsutella-like), 46.9–75.6 µm long | Oval, 8–12 × 5–7 µm | In this study |
O. sinensis | Thitarodes and Ahamus (Hepialidae) | Soil in alpine meadow and scrub | Single, occasionally 2–3, 40– 110 mm long | Nearly superficial, ellipsoidal to ovate, 380–550 × 140–240 µm | Slender, long, 240–485 × 12–16 µm | Usually 2–4 mature ascospores, multiseptatewith indistict septation, 160– 470 × 5–6 µm | Grew slowly, 20 mm in diameter after 3 week, on PDA at 15 °C | Hyaline,smooth, tapered neck, 10.47 ~ 28.56 µm | Oval, 7.19 ~ 10.31 × 3.31 ~ 4.87 µm | Liang (2007); Li et al. (2021) |
O. laojunshanensis | Ahamus sp. (Hepialidae) | soil in alpineforest | Single,clavate, slender, 47.0–93.0 mm long | globoid, 200–300 × 200–350 μm. arranged loosely | clavate, 165.0–275.0 × 11.5–14.5 μm | hyaline, filiform, septate, 130.0–250.0 × 5.0–6.0 μm (Fig. 1a–f) | grew very slowly, only up to 6–10 mm in diameter after 2 months on PDA at 16 °C | hyaline, with verrucose, acerate, (Hirsutella-like) 15–39(–50) μm long | long elliptic, 6.0–13.5 × 3.0–4.0 μm | Chen et al. (2011) |
O. xuefengensis | Endoclita davidi (Hepialidae) | In tree hole or tree trunk of Clerodendrum cyrtophyllum | Yellowish-brown, solitary or several, 140–460 × 2–7 mm | Superficial, long ovoid, 416–625 × 161–318 μm | Cylindrical, 191–392 × 4.5–8.9 μm | Thread-like, needle-shaped, multiseptate with indistinct septation, 130–380 × 1.4–5.2 μm | 16 × 20 mm diameter on PDA at 20℃ in 3 week, gray-white colony with ray-like shape | Swollen base (3.0–4.1 µm wide) and slender neck (1.0–1.5 µm wide) (Hirsutella-like) (Hirsutella-like), 31–78 µm long | 8–12 × 5–7 µm, common 3–5 aggregated | Wen et al. (2013); In this study |
O. liangshanensis | Abantiades (Hepialidae) | Soil in the Qiong bamboo forest | Single, or occasionally branched, cylindrical, solid, 200–300 × 1.5–2.5 mm long | Superficial, long ovoid, 450–740 × 300–450 µm | Hyaline, cylindrical, 260–480 × 8–12 µm | 170–240 × 3.1–4.1 µm, with many septa, 5.5–20.0 × 2.5–4.1 µm | 12–15 mm diam on PDA after 2 months, hard, round, irregular swell, brown | Phialidic with swollen base (3.8–4.7 µm wide) and slender neck (2.0–3.0 µm wide) (Hirsutella-like), generating on hyphae laterally or terminally, hyaline, 46.9–75.6 µm long | Oval, 8.0–12.6 × 3.6–5.0 µm, 1–2(-4) aggregated | Zang et al. (1982); Wang et al. (2021) |
O. macroacicularis | Hepialidae | Soil near the root of Fallopia japonica | Solitary or branched,97.2–166.1 × 1.3–2.4 mm | Oval, light brown, 410–760 × 260–420 μm | Hyaline, cylindrical, 235–310 μm long | Needle-shaped, multiseptate with indistinct septation, 200–300 × 2.3-3 μm. (8-)14–16(-20) septa | 20 mm diameter on PSA at 25℃ in 2 weeks | Swollen base (2.9–4.1 µm wide) and slender neck (1.0–1.3. µm wide) (Hirsutella-like), 30.4–42.0 µm long | 3.0–5.0 × 5–8.0 µm long | Ban et al. (2015) |
O. lanpingensis | Ahamus sp. (Hepialidae) | Soil | Slender, Several, or solitary, 50–160 × 0.2–1.3 mm | Superficial, ovoid, 310–370 × 200–240 µm | Cylindrical, 240–300 × 5.1–6.5 µm | Filiform, 240–300 × 1.4 µm. septa, 3.3–4.9 × 1.1–1.4 µm | 16–18 mm diameter on PDA at 20℃ in 2 weeks | (Hirsutella-like), swollen base and slender neck, 12.5–24.0  × 3.7–5.1 µm | Oval, 2(-4) aggregated, 7.3–9. 6 × 3.3–6.9 µm | |
O. nujiangensis | Hepialidae sp | Soil | Solitary, 148–182 mm long | Superficial, ovoid, 600–750 × 380–4600 µm | Cylindrical, 220–300 × 8–11 μ m | eedle-shaped, multiseptate with indistinct septation, 190–270 × 3–5 μm | 20–11 mm diam on PDA after 14 weeks, hard | Swollen base (3.6–4.9 µm wide) and slender neck (1.0–1.5 . µm wide) (Hirsutella-like),54.9–76.5 µm long | Oval or fusiform, 6.4–11.2 × 3.7–6.4 µm long | Sun et al. 2022; In this study |
O. karstii | Hepialidae sp. | Soil in the bamboo forest | Solitary, 140-145 mm long | 600–765 × 247–323 μ m | 186–228 × 8–12 μ m | Needle-shaped, multiseptate with indistinct septation, 173–202 × 3–5 μm | Not observed | Not observed | Not observed | Li et al. (2016) |
O. robertsii | Hepialidae sp | Soil in the broad-leaf forest | Solitary, 180–200 mm long | Perithecia dense, superficial, long ovoid, 600–680 × 500–550 µm | 300–450 μm long | 210–330 × 3.3–4.4 µm, with many septa | Not observed | Not observed | Not observed |