New Homothallic Neurosporas from Tropical Soils

Abstract

SUMMARYTwo new 8-spored, non-conidial, homothallic species of Neurospora are described: N. galapagosensis Mahoney & Backus and N. africana Huang & Backus, obtained from soil samples collected on the Galapagos Islands and in Eastern Nigeria, respectively. These organisms were discovered through use of a technique which appears to be highly effective for isolating sordariaceous fungi from soil. The new Neurospora taxa share several important distinctive features with both N. terricola Gochenaur & Backus and N. dodgei Nelson & Novak but appear to be most closely related to the latter.