Cyphellophora botryosa W. Sun & M.C. Xiang, 2019

Sun, Wei, Liu, Bingjie, Fu, Rong, Liu, Xingzhong & Xiang, Meichun, 2019, Two new rock-inhabiting species of Cyphellophora from karst habitats in China, Phytotaxa 397 (1), pp. 23-33 : 28

Cyphellophora botryosa W. Sun & M.C. Xiang , sp. nov. ( FIGURES. 2 .)

MycoBank no: MB829499

Etymology:— botryosa (Lat.) referring to the apprearance of chlamydospore clusters of the fungus on MEA culture.

Type:— China, Guizhou Province, Anshun city, Tianlong Town, (26°22′285′′N, 106°10′048′′E, alt. 1372m), isolated from rock, 15, Nov., 2014, Meichun Xiang, HMAS 247966 (holotype), CGMCC 3.19239 = LB1.16010164 (ex-type cultures). GenBank accession number: MK116369 (ITS), MK116380 (nucLSU).

Description:—Colonies attaining 35 mm after 12 weeks at 25 °C on MEA, pale gray to pale olivaceous brown, with velvety aerial mycelia, undulate margin; reverse olivaceous black. Diffusible pigment not produced.

Hyphae septate, branched, straight to flexuous, hyaline to pale olivaceous brown, smooth- and thick-walled, 1.5– 2.5 μm wide, often appearing irregular and constricted at the septa. Chlamydospores mostly globose to subglobose, pale brown to dark brown, thick, smooth-walled, 4.5–8.5 μm wide (⎯ x = 7.3 μ m, n=10) and normally botryose clustered. Conidia not observed.

Cardinal temperatures:—Optimum growth temperature 20–27 °C, minimum below 4 °C, maximum 35 °C.

Additional specimens examined:— China, Guizhou Province, Anshun city, Tianlong Town , 26°22′285′′N, 106°10′048′′E, 1372m a.s.l., isolated from rock, 15, Nov., 2014, Meichun Xiang, CGMCC 3.19237 = LB1.16010135 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19238 = LB1.16010140 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19240 = LB1.16010185 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19241 = LB1.16010186 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19242 = LB1.16010190 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19243 = LB1.16010199 ; ibid. CGMCC 3.19244 = LB1. 16010201 .

Note:—In the phylogenetic tree, C. botryosa and C. guizhouensis clusted as sister groups with high supporting value (100% ML, 1.0 BI). The strains of C. botryose are able to grow at 35°C, while strains of C. guizhouensis are unable to grow above 29°C. A comparison of the 585 bp ITS sequences of C. botryose and C. guizhouensis reveals 22 (3.76%) bp of differences, supporting them as different species.

Both C. botryosa and Cyphellophora chlamydospora produce similar chlamydospore. However, their ITS identity was only 84%, and C. chlamydospora was isolated from soil. In addition, the colony margin of C. botryose is pale gray to pale olivaceous brown, with velvety aerial mycelia, undulate margin, while colony of C. chlamydospora is velvety, gray with an olivaceous black, entire margin ( Madrid et al. 2016).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Cyphellophora botryosa (CGMCC 3.19239). a,b. Colony on MEA after 12 weeks at 25 °C; c. Hyphal; d–i. Globose, thickwalled, and germinating chlamydospores. Scale bars =10 μm.