Abstract
During a survey of keratinophilic fungi in karst caves, three isolates of chrysosporium-like fungi were isolated from cave soil collected in Guizhou Province, China, following enrichment using hair bait. Phylogenetic analyses based on combined ITS and LSU sequence data revealed that they belong to an undescribed Keratinophyton species. Morphologically, K. speluncicola differs from other species in the genus by producing 1-celled, 3.5‒8 × 1.5‒3 µm conidia that are smooth to finely roughened, and by the absence of observed intercalary conidia and chlamydospores. Based on these results, the new species Keratinophyton speluncicola sp. nov. is formally described.
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