Esteya vermicola J.Y. Liou, J.Y. Shih & Tzean, Mycol. Res. 103(2): 243. 1999.

Min Wang, Hui, Wang, Zheng, Liu, Fu, Xu Wu, Cheng, Fang Zhang, Su, Kong, Xiang Bo, Decock, Cony, Lu, Quan & Zhang, Zhen, 2019, Differential patterns of ophiostomatoid fungal communities associated with three sympatric Tomicus species infesting pines in south-western China, with a description of four new species, MycoKeys 50, pp. 93-133 : 103-104

Esteya vermicola J.Y. Liou, J.Y. Shih & Tzean, Mycol. Res. 103(2): 243. 1999. Fig. 10

Description.

Sexual form: unknown.

Asexual form: Hyalorhinocladiella -like. Conidiophores mononematous, micronematous; conidiophorous cells solitary, integrated, flask-shaped, with an inflated base (3.6-) 4.6-6.1 (-7.1) μm in diam., the fertile hyphoid part (9.1-) 12.2-19.0 (-22.5) × (1.4-) 1.9-3.1 (-4.7) μm, often crooked due to successive conidial development; conidia 1-celled, asymmetrically ellipsoidal in face view, concave, lunate in side view, with a layer of adhesive mucus on the concave surface, ending slightly apiculate, hyaline, smooth, (8.0-) 10-12 (-13.1) × (3.3-) 3.4-4.5 (-5.1) μm, containing an ovoid endospore-like structure.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on 2% MEA in the dark reaching 31 mm in diam. in 8 days at 25 °C, growth rate up to 5 mm/day at the fastest; colony margin smooth. Mycelium compact, somewhat floccose in the margin, white at first, gradually discolouring to greyish-green, eventually dark green. Optimal growth temperature 25 °C, growth at 5 °C and 35 °C.

Known substrate and host.

Galleries of Tomicus yunnanensis in Pinus yunnanensis .

Known insect vector.

Tomicus yunnanensis .

Known distribution.

Yunnan Province, China.

Specimen examined.

CHINA, Yunnan, Tomicus yunnanensis galleries in Pinus yunnanensis , Dec. 2016, HM Wang, CFCC 52625 = CXY 1893.

Note.

Esteya vermicola is known only from an asexual, Hyalorhinocladiella -like state producing lunate and bacilliform conidia ( Liou et al. 1999, Kubátová et al. 2000, Wang et al. 2009, 2014) that we also observed in various strains of E. vermicola with a different origin (Taiwan, Korea, Czech Republic). Our strain was identified as E. vermicola based on phylogenetic inferences and morphological characters. However, our strain differed from previous descriptions ( Liou et al. 1999) in having only lunate conidia in vitro. The size of the lunate conidia of our strains (mostly 10 - 12 × 3.4 - 4.5 μm) was similar to that reported for E. vermicola , viz. 9.9-11.9 × 3.4-4.5 μm vs 8.2-11.1 × 3.5-3.7 μm (Taiwan, Liou et al. 1999), 9.3-12.4 × 3.0-3.2 μm (Czech Republic, Kubátová et al. 2000), 7.7-12.1 × 3.0-3.8 μm (Korea, Wang et al. 2009) or 8.7-11.9 × 3.0-3.6 μm (Brazil, Wang et al. 2014).

This is the first report of E. vermicola from continental China. The species was originally isolated from Japanese black pine infected by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus , in Taiwan ( Liou et al. 1999). Since then, its distribution range has been extended to Japan and Korea, Europe (Czech Republic, Italy) and both North (USA) and South America (Brazil) ( Liou et al. 1999, Kubátová et al. 2000, Wang et al. 2009, 2014, Li et al. 2018). This species is associated with various vectors, including the pinewood nematode, Oxoplatypus quadridentatus and the bark beetle Scolytus intricatus . It was isolated also from wooden packaging material infested by Bursaphelenchus rainulfi .