Seven Unrecorded Species of Ascomycota Isolated from the Rhizosphere Soils of Apple and Pear Trees in Korea

Soil is a rich source of saprobic and pathogenic fungi in crop cultivation areas. Compared with that of the fruit trees, scarce information is available regarding the fungi present in orchard soils in Korea. We sampled rhizosphere soils of apple and pear trees from several orchards in Cheongju, Anseong, and Cheonan, Korea. During the processing of soil fungi, seven unrecorded species of the phylum Ascomycota were isolated. These included Acrocalymma walkeri , Clonostachys krabiensis , Coniella vitis , Cosmospora diminuta, Lasiobolidium spirale, Penicillium vallebormidaense, and Pseudothielavia arxii. All the species were identified and described based on morphological characteristics and molecular analysis of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region and the large subunit of nuclear ribosomal RNA gene and partial β-tubulin gene (BenA) sequences. Descriptions and illustrations of the morphological characteristics are provided.