A new Epichloe species with interspecific hybrid origins from Poa pratensis ssp. pratensis in Liyang, China

We describe a new Epichlo? species found in symbiosis with Poa pratensis ssp. pratensis in Liyang, China. Stromata characteristic of Epichlo? spp. were present on some of the reproductive tillers of individual host grasses. Only three of the 98 stromata observed on field plants became orange and produced perithecia. Phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of tubB and tefA indicated that this Epichlo? sp. was an interspecific hybrid related to both E. yangzii and members in the E. typhina complex clade (ETC). Allele-1 of tefA and tubB grouped in the E. bromicola/E. yangzii clade; allele-2 of these two genes clustered in a distinct subclade in the ETC. This is the first report of an Epichlo? species that has interspecific hybrid origins. We propose the name Epichlo? liyangensis Z. Wang, Y. Kang et H. Miao, sp. nov. for this species.