Curvularia lamingtonensis Y.P. Tan & R.G. Shivas

Tan, Yu Pei, Crous, Pedro W. & Shivas, Roger G., 2018, Cryptic species of Curvularia in the culture collection of the Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium, MycoKeys 35, pp. 1-25 : 1

Curvularia lamingtonensis Y.P. Tan & R.G. Shivas sp. nov. Fig. 3 L–N

Type.

Australia, Queensland, Lamington National Park, from Microlaena stipoides , 09 May 1977, J.L. Alcorn (holotype BRIP 12259, includes ex-type culture).

Description.

Colonies on PDA cover the whole plate after 7 d at 25 °C, surface funiculose, margin fimbriate, olivaceous green, velutinous with some aerial mycelium. Hyphae hyaline, branched, septate, 4 µm in width. Conidiophores erect, straight to flexuous, geniculate towards apex, pale brown to dark brown on wheat straw agar, septate, up to 160 µm long, 3−4 µm wide. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal or intercalary, sympodial, pale brown to brown, smooth, with darkened scars. Conidia ellipsoidal to fusiform, straight, pale brown, (45-) 59-66 (-76) × (11-) 11.5-13 (-14) µm, 4-11-distoseptate with inconspicuous transverse septa, hila protuberant, thickened and darkened, 1-2 µm wide.

Etymology.

Named after the locality, Lamington National Park, where the holotype was collected.

Notes.

Curvularia lamingtonensis is phylogenetically closely related to C. boeremae and C. neoindica . Curvularia lamingtonensis is distinguished from the ex-type culture of C. boeremae in two loci (96% in ITS and 98% in gapdh) and from the ex-type culture of C. neoindica in three loci (95% in ITS, 98% in gapdh and 99% in tef1α). Curvularia lamingtonensis has longer and straighter conidia than C. boeremae and C. neoindica , both of which have broad, ellipsoidal conidia (42-55 × 20-23 µm, and 27-65 × 17-27 µm, respectively). Curvularia lamingtonensis is only known from the type specimen on Microlaena stipoides . This is the first record of a Curvularia species associated with Microlaena .