Curvularia eragrosticola 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 eragrosticola Y.P. Tan & R.G. Shivas sp. nov. Fig. 3 E–H

Type.

Australia, New South Wales, Yetman, from inflorescence on Eragrostis pilosa , 12 May 1977, J.L. Alcorn (holotype BRIP 12538, includes ex-type culture).

Description.

Colonies on PDA approx. 2 cm diam. after 7 d at 25 °C, surface funiculose, margin fimbriate, dark olive with white patches, velutinous with some aerial mycelium. Hyphae subhyaline, smooth, branched, septate, 4−5 µm wide; chlamydospores abundant, subglobose to ellipsoidal or irregular, terminal and intercalary, 5−20 µm diam. Conidiophores erect, straight to flexuous, slightly geniculate, pale brown to brown, paler towards apex smooth, septate, up to 145 µm long, 4−5 µm wide. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal or intercalary, sympodial, pale brown to brown, smooth, with darkened scars. Conidia hemi-ellipsoidal, curved, asymmetrical, brown to dark brown, end cells slightly paler, (25-) 26-30 (-34) × (9-) 13-15 (-19) µm, 3-distoseptate with a faint narrow median septum; hila non-protuberant, minutely thickened and darkened.

Etymology.

Named after Eragrostis , the grass genus from which this fungus was isolated.

Notes.

Curvularia eragrosticola is phylogenetically close to C. papendorfii and C. sporobolicola (see this paper) (Fig. 1). Curvularia eragrosticola is distinguished in three loci from the ex-type culture of C. papendorfii (97% in ITS, 92% in gapdh and 98% in tef1α) and C. sporobolicola (98% in ITS, 92% in gapdh and 98% in tef1α). Curvularia eragrosticola has conidia that are smaller than C. papendorfii (30-50 × 17-30 µm, Sivanesan 1987) and C. sporobolicola (34-45 × 14-23 µm, this study).

Curvularia eragrosticola is only known from the type specimen on Eragrostis pilosa , which is native to Eurasia and Africa and is considered a troublesome weed in Australia ( Simon and Alfonso 2011). Neither C. papendorfii nor C. sporobolicola have been reported on Eragrostis . Other Curvularia spp. associated with Eragrostis are listed in the notes for C. beerburrumensis .