First report of gongronella guangdongensis isolated from soil in Korea

A fungal isolate designated KNU16-033 was isolated from a soil sample in Daegu, Korea. White, short, and felt-like aerial mycelia appeared on the surface of colonies of the isolate. Colonies with a smooth texture developed slowly and reached a diameter of 78 mm after 21 days of incubation on potato dextrose agar. This isolate displayed globose, colorless or light yellow sporangiospores, which differed morphologically from the sporangiospores of Gongronella butleri, which were hyaline, oval to flattened on one side or almost reniform. Based on these morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analysis using internal transcribed spacer regions, the isolated fungus was identified as G. guangdongensis belonging to Cunninghamellaceae. To our knowledge, this is the first record of G. guangdongensis in Korea.