Lolia aquatica Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab, Mycotaxon

Abdel-Aziz, Faten A. & Lsu, Ssu, 2016, The genus Lolia from freshwater habitats in Egypt with one new species, Phytotaxa 267 (4), pp. 279-288 : 282-283

Lolia aquatica Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab, Mycotaxon 114: 36 (2011)

Saprobic on submerged decayed stem of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. Sexual morph: Ascomata 500–750 μm high, 550–800 μm wide, single or aggregated in stroma that consists of 2 to 7 pseudothecia, immersed to erumpent, globose to subglobose, papillate, ostiolate, dark–brown to black, coriaceous to sub-carbonaceous, usually stain the surface of the wood with purple color. Papillae 95–120 μm high, 160–195 μm wide. Ostiolar canals 65–80 μm diam., cylindrical, filled with pseudoparaphyses that emerge from the ascomatal venter. Peridium 80–145 μm wide at base and sides, forming textura angularis, two-layered; outer layer 40–75 μm thick, consists of polygonal dark-brown cells, thin-walled; inner layer 40–70 μm wide, consists of polygonal, thin-walled, hyaline to yellow-brown cells. Pseudoparaphyses 2–4 μm wide, hypha-like, septate, branched, embedded in gel, enlarged at lower parts of the ascomatal venter to form glabrous structure. Asci 109–145 × 17–26 μm (x = 131.6 × 21 μm, n = 15), 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindric-clavate, pedicellate, with a minute ocular chamber. Ascospores 26–37 × 6–9 μm (x = 31.5 × 8.03 μm, n = 50), fusiform with rounded ends, L/ W 3.9, yellow to reddish brown, 4–6 septate, constricted at the septa, third cell from apex enlarged, straight or slightly curved, with rough ornamented surface and surrounded by large gelatinous sheath, 9–17 μm wide that is visible in Indian ink. Asexual morph: Conidiomata acervular, 380 – 540 μm diam., pearl white to dull yellow, superficial, single or aggregated. Conidiomata wall 57 – 80 μm wide, forming textura intricata, hyaline, embedded in gel. Conidiophores lining the acervuli wall, branched and septate, hyaline, smooth, embedded in gel. Conidiogenous cells cylindrical to sub-cylindrical, hyaline, smooth, bearing a single terminal conidium. Conidiogenesis is holoblastic. Conidia 31–45 × 7–10 μm (x = 36 × 8.6 μm, n = 50), unicellular, ellipsoidal, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, solitary. Mean conidium length/width ratio = 4.2:1. Apical appendages 55 – 90 × 1.5 – 3 μm, three to five sub-apical cellular appendages, attenuating, tapering. Basal appendages 10 – 85 × 1.5 – 3 μm, eccentric, cellular, attenuating, tapering. Both apical and basal appendages are on one side of the conidia and arising as tubular extension of the conidium body and not separated from it at maturity by septa.

Culture characters:— Colonies on potato dextrose agar at 25 °C 35–40 mm radius after 12 days, brown aerial and immersed mycelium with dark-brown reverse and did not produce either the sexual or asexual spores.

Material examined:— EGYPT, Sohag, River Nile, on submerged decayed stem of Phragmites australis ( Poaceae ), 14 August 2012, F. A. Abdel-Aziz ( CBS H-22130, holotype); ex-type living culture, MD 6002. GenBank LSU: KU 7256001.

Note:— Lolia aquatica is reported on decaying stems of Phragmites australis and decaying fronds of Phoenix dactylifera (date palm). It has occasionally been reported on submerged decaying dicotyledonous wood in freshwater habitats in Egypt ( Abdel-Aziz 2001, Abdel-Aziz 2004). The asexual morph of L. aquatica was described from decaying stem of Phragmites australis submerged in an irrigation canal, in Sohag, Egypt ( Abdel-Aziz 2004, Abdel-Aziz & Abdel-Wahab 2010). The pairwise LSU rDNA sequence alignment are 99% similar, however the asexual/sexual connection was not established by cultural methods. Lolia aquatica (26 – 37 × 6 – 9 μm) has smaller ascospore than Massariosphaeria typhicola (36–51 × 9–10.5 μm) and has a fewer transverse septa (4–6 vs. 7–9 for L. aquatica and M. typhicola respectively) ( Tanaka et al. 2010). Tanaka et al. (2010) reported remarkable morphological differences among 17 various worldwide records of M. typhicola reported in the literature. Phylogenetics analyses of ribosomal genes showed that those isolates represent different species that belong to different families namely: Amniculicolaceae and Lindgomycetaceae .