Dicephalospora albolutea H.D. Zheng & W.Y. Zhuang

Zheng, Huan-Di & Zhuang, Wen-Ying, 2019, Three new species of Dicephalospora from China as revealed by morphological and molecular evidences, MycoKeys 55, pp. 87-99 : 87

Dicephalospora albolutea H.D. Zheng & W.Y. Zhuang sp. nov. Figure 2

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to the color of apothecia.

Holotype.

CHINA. Yunnan Province, Binchuan County, Jizu Mountain, alt. 2500 m, on rotten leaf veins, 21 September 2017, H.D. Zheng, X.C. Wang, Y.B. Zhang & Y. Zhang 11613 (HMAS 279693, ITS GenBank accession number: MK425601).

Description.

Apothecia scattered, discoid, stipitate, with even margin, 1−2.5 mm in diameter; hymenium surface cream to yellowish white; receptacle surface concolorous. Ectal excipulum of textura prismatica, 20−70 μm thick, cells somewhat thick- and glassy-walled, 16.5−40 × 5.5−11 μm. Medullary excipulum of textura porrecta and textura intricata, 25−275 μm thick, hyphae hyaline, thin-walled, 2.5−5 μm wide. Subhymenium not distinguishable. Hymenium 165−175 μm thick. Asci unitunicate, arising from simple septa, 8-spored, cylindric-clavate, J+ in Melzer’s reagent and Lugol’s solution without KOH pretreatment, visible as two blue lines, 140−156 × 9.5−10.5 μm. Ascospores sausage-shaped to subfusoid, with anterior end rounded and posterior end narrower, slightly curved, aseptate, hyaline, smooth, lacking a gel cap at each end, multiguttulate, with a dark-stained area when mounted in cotton blue solution, biseriate, 26−31 × 3.8−5.0 μm. Paraphyses filiform, straight, slightly enlarged at apex, hyaline, septate, 3−3.5 μm broad at upper portion and 1.5−2 μm below, equal to or very slightly exceeding the asci.

Notes.

The diagnostic features of D. albolutea are cream to yellowish white apothecia and sausage-shaped ascospores. The apothecial color of earlier known Dicephalospora species varied from yellow, orange, red to dark, but never as pale as that in D. albolutea . Dicephalospora calochroa (Syd. & P. Syd.) Spooner is somewhat similar in length of asci and ascospores, but differs by vivid orange apothecia, wider asci (125−150 × 12−15 μm) and ascospores (20−25 × 6−8 μm), which are pointed at both ends ( Spooner 1987). Dicephalospora albolutea differs from any investigated species by at least 45 bp in sequences of ITS region, and appeared as an independent lineage in the phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1), which further confirmed its distinction from others in the group.