Opening Pandora's box; Description of five novel species in the ambrosia clade of Neocosmospora (ACN)
Recent outbreaks of non-European bark beetles were observed in three greenhouses in the Netherlands, all associated with trading companies importing tropical trees for wholesale. Fungal cultures were isolated from beetle-infested wood, particularly from the galleries created by the beetles. We assembled and annotated complete genomes from these cultures and conducted comparative genomic analyses with genomes created from publicly available ambrosia clade of Neocosmospora (ACN) strains. Detailed macro- and micro-morphological assessments, growth optimum experiments, and phylogenomic analyses identified five novel species within the ACN. Given the northernmost origin of these isolates and the mythological reference of ambrosia as the food of the gods, the new species were named after figures from Norse mythology: Neocosmospora odini, N. thori, N. jotunnica, N. yggdrasilica and N. nidhoggi.