Neofusicoccum parvum (Pennycook & Samuels) Crous, Slippers & A.J.L. Phillips, Studies

Pereira, Diana S. & Phillips, Alan J. L., 2023, Botryosphaeriaceae on palms-a new species of Neodeightonia, N. chamaeropicola, and new records from diseased foliage of ornamental palms in Portugal, Phytotaxa 627 (1), pp. 1921-1935 : 1921-1935

Neofusicoccum parvum (Pennycook & Samuels) Crous, Slippers & A.J.L. Phillips, Studies in Mycology 55: 248 (2006), MycoBank MB500879

( Figure 15 )

Type: NEW ZEALAND, Bay of Plenty, Te Puke, No 3 Road, Baldwin Orchard, on small dead branch of Populus nigra ( Salicaceae ), 17 Dec 1981, S. R. Pennycook (holotype PDD 45438, culture ex-type ATCC 58191).

Sexual morph and asexual morph reported. See Phillips et al. (2013) for illustrations and descriptions.

Isolate CDP 1380. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata on palm leaflets in culture pycnidial, globose, non-stromatic, uniloculate, black, solitary, rarely aggregated in small groups of 2–3, immersed to semi-immersed, often covered by whitish mycelial hairs. Conidiophores mostly reduced to conidiogenous cells, when present, formed from the cells lining the locule wall, hyaline, smooth- and thin-walled, simple, cylindrical to subcylindrical, aseptate. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, smooth- and thin-walled, simple, discrete, integrated, determinate, cylindrical, often slightly tapering towards the apex, straight or curved, aseptate, holoblastic, often enteroblastic, proliferating at the same level giving rise to inconspicuous periclinal thickenings, 7.63–12.99(–14.07) × 1.86–3.71 μm, 95 % confidence limits = 10.37–11.27 × 2.66–2.92 μm (mean ± SD = 10.82 ± 1.45 × 2.79 ± 0.43 μm, n = 30). Conidia ellipsoidal to fusoid, ends subacute, occasionally apex obtuse, often base truncate or subtruncate, smooth- and thin-walled, hyaline and aseptate, 15.79–20.47 × 4.5–6.32 μm, 95 % confidence limits = 17.37–18.23 × 5.45–5.69 μm (mean ± SD = 17.80 ± 1.20 × 5.57 ± 0.34 μm), mean ± SD conidium length/width ratio = 3.21 ± 0.34 (n = 30).

Culture characteristics: Colonies on 1/2 PDA, reaching 85 mm diam. after 7 d at 20 ℃ in darkness. Surface flat, raised towards the margin, with fluffy, dense aerial mycelium, with filamentous, entire margin, circular shape, whitish to pale towards the centre, opaque. Reverse orangish. No diffusible pigment.

Material examined: PORTUGAL, Lisbon, Parque das Nações, Jardim das Palmeiras, on foliar lesions of leaflets of Phoenix dactylifera ( Arecaceae ), 16 October 2018, Diana S. Pereira (specimen HDP 045, new host record), living culture CDP 0382 ( ITS sequence OQ996223, tef1 sequence OR233681, tub2 sequence OR 233688); Parque das Nações, on foliar lesions of leaflets of Phoenix roebelenii ( Arecaceae ), 8 May 2021, Diana S. Pereira (specimen HDP 088, new host record), living culture CDP 1380 ( ITS sequence OQ996229, tef1 sequence OR233680, tub2 sequence OR 233689).

Hosts: Reported from more than 100 genera in 61 families, including Acanthaceae ( Avicennia marina ), Actinidiaceae ( Actinidia chinensis , A. deliciosa ), Anacardiaceae ( Magnifera indica , Pistacia vera , Sclerocarya birrea subsp. caffra ), Apiaceae ( Ferula communis , Torilis arvensis ), Araliaceae ( Pseudopanax laetus ), Araucariaceae ( Araucaria heterophylla , Wollemia nobilis ), Arecaceae ( Phoenix dactylifera , P. roebelenii ), Asteraceae ( Artemisia sp. ), Cannabaceae ( Cannabis sativa ), Celastraceae ( Gymnosporia buxifolia ), Celastraceae ( Maytenus hookeri ), Combretaceae ( Lumnitzera racemosa , Terminalia catappa , T. sericea ), Cupressaceae ( Chamaecyparis lawsoniana , C. obtusa , C. pisifera , Cryptomeria japonica , Cupressus funebris , C. sempervirens , Juniperus communis , Sequoia sempervirens , Sequoiadendron giganteum , Thuja occidentalis , T. plicata , Thujopsis dolabrata ), Ebenaceae ( Diospyros kaki ), Ericaceae ( Rhododendron decorum , R. niveum , Vaccinium sp. , V. corymbosum × darrowi , V. corymbosum ), Euphorbiaceae ( Hevea brasiliensis ), Euphorbiaceae ( Vernicia fordii ), Fabaceae ( Schizolobium parahyba var. amazonicum , Senna siamea , Vachellia karroo ), Fagaceae ( Quercus agrifolia , Q. ilex , Q. robur , Q. rubra , Q. suber ), Ginkgoaceae ( Ginkgo biloba ), Grossulariaceae ( Ribes sp. ), Hippocastanaceae ( Aesculus hippocastanum ), Icacinaceae ( Nothapodytes nimmoniana ), Juglandaceae ( Carya illinoinensis, Julgans sp., J. regia , J. sinensis ), Lamiaceae ( Platostoma palustre ), Lauraceae ( Cinnamomum camphora , C.verum , Persea americana , Phoebe sheareri , P.zhennan ), Lecythidaceae ( Barringtonia racemosa ), Liliaceae ( Lilium lancifolium ), Linaceae ( Linus usitattisimum ), Linnaeaceae ( Kolkwitzia amabilis ), Lythraceae ( Punica granatum ), Magnoliaceae ( Magnolia sp. ), Malvaceae ( Theobroma cacao ), Melastomataceae ( Tibouchina sp. , T. lepidota , T. urvilleana ), Meliaceae ( Melia azedarach ), Moraceae ( Ficus carica , F. microcarpa ), Musaceae ( Musa sp. ), Myristicaceae ( Myristica fragrans ), Myrtaceae ( Blepharocalyx salicifolius , Corymbia citriodora , C. torelliana , Eucalyptus sp. , E. urograndis , E. camaldulensis , E. cinerea , E. citriodora , E. cloeziana , E. dorrigoensis , E. dunnii , E. globulus , E. grandis , E. microcorys , E. nicholii , E. nitens , E. obliqua , E. ovata , E. pellita , E. robusta , E. saligna , E. scoparia , E. smithii , E. tereticornis , E. urophylla , Heteropyxis natalensis , Metrosideros polymorpha , Myrcianthes cisplatensis , Myrciaria tenella , Myrrhinium atropurpureum var. octandrum , Psidium guajava , P. pubifolium , Syzygium cordatum , S. guineense , S. paniculatum , Xanthostemon sp. ), Nyssaceae ( Camptotheca acuminata ), Oleaceae ( Ligustrum lucidum , Olea africana , O. europaea ), Pandanaceae ( Pandanus sp. ), Pinaceae ( Cedrus atlantica ), Pinaceae ( Picea abies , Pinus canariensis , P. halepensis , P. nigra , P. patula , P. pinaster , P. pinea ), Pittosporaceae ( Pittosporum tobira ), Platanaceae ( Platanus acerifolia , P. hybrida ), Podocarpaceae ( Afrocarpus falcatus , Podocarpus henkelii ), Proteaceae ( Buckinghamia sp. , Grevillea sp. , G. robusta , Leucadendron sp. , L. salignum × laureolum , Leucospermum sp. , Macadamia integrifolia , Protea sp. , P. compacta × magnifica , P. cynaroides , P. laurifolia , P. lepidocarpodendron , P. repens , Telopea sp. ), Rhizophoraceae ( Bruguiera gymnorhiza , B. sexangula , Rhizophora mangle , R. mucronata ), Rosaceae ( Amygdalus persica , Eriobotrya japonica , Fragaria × ananassa , Malus sp. , M. domestica , M. pumila , M. sylvestris , Prunus americana , P. armeniaca , P. avium , P. cerasoides , P. dulcis , P. laurocerasus , P. persica , P. persica var. nucipersica , P. salicina , Pyrus bretschneideri , P. communis , P. pyrifolia , Rhaphiolepis indica , Rosa sp. , Rubus fruticosus , R. idaeus ), Rubiaceae ( Coffea arabica ), Rutaceae ( Citrus sp. , C. limon , C. reticulata , C. sinensis ), Salicaceae ( Populus sp. , P. nigra , P. nigra var. italica , Salix sp. ), Santalaceae ( Santalum album ), Sapindaceae ( Acer pseudoplatanus , Dimocarpus longan , Koelreuteria paniculata , Nephelium lappaceum ), Solanaceae ( Solanum melongena ), Taxaceae ( Taxus chinensis var. mairei ), Theaceae ( Camellia sinensis ), Thymelaeaceae ( Aquilaria sinensis ), Ulmaceae ( Ulmus × hollandica ) and Vitaceae ( Vitis sp. , V. heyneana , V. vinifera ) ( Farr & Rossman 2023, present study).

Distribution: Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy (including Sicily), Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal (including Madeira), Puerto Rico, Serbia, South Africa (including the Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng provinces), South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uruguay, USA (Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Texas), Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe ( Farr & Rossman 2023).

Notes: Based on the phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS- tef1-tub2 dataset, strains CDP 0382 and CDP 1380 clustered with the ex-type and other strains of N. parvum with moderate ML-BS and high PP values ( Figure 5 ). Sequence comparisons with the ex-type strain of N. parvum ( ATCC 58191) for ITS, tef1 and tub2 showed 99.58–99.79 %, 99.21 % and 99.05–99.52 %, respectively, sequence similarity, and differences were represented by few base pair changes on ITS 1 and tef1 and tub2 partial sequences. Morphologically, the strains isolated in this study are similar to the holotype of N. parvum from a dead branch of Populus nigra in New Zealand ( Phillips et al. 2013) ( Figure 15 ). Considering the strain characterized here ( CDP 1380) and the ex-type strain of N. parvum ( ATCC 58191), both produce globose, pycnidial conidiomata with ellipsoidal, hyaline and aseptate conidia of remarkably similar mean size (17.80 × 5.57 μm and 17.1 × 5.5 μm, respectively) and equal L / W ratio (3.2) ( Phillips et al. 2013) ( Figure 15 ). Nevertheless, although septate hyaline or pigmented old conidia have been described for the ex-type strain ( ATCC 58191), CDP 1380 only produced hyaline, aseptate conidia ( Crous et al. 2013) ( Figure 15 ). Based on these morpho-molecular analyses, strains CDP 0382 and CDP 1380 are here reported as representing intraspecific variation of N. parvum . Neofusicoccum parvum has not previously been recorded on Arecaceae and thus two new host records are here reported, namely Phoenix dactylifera and P. roebelenii ( Table 5). Although Taylor & Hyde (2003) recorded N. parvum (as “ Fusicoccum parvum ”) on Arecaceae hosts, including Trachycarpus fortunei in Australia and China and an unidentified palm in China, no molecular data has been associated with these records, which were identified as N. parvum based solely on morphology. Since morphology is inadequate to define genera or identify species in Botryosphaeriaceae ( Phillips et al. 2013, Slippers et al. 2013, 2014, 2017), the validity of this report is yet to be determined. The isolates of N. parvum studied here were recorded from foliar lesions of palms, but pathogenicity has not been tested.

Figures

FIGURE 5. Phylogenetic tree of Neofusicoccum generated from BA inference based on combined ITS, tef1 and tub2 sequences. ML bootstrap support values (ML-BS ≥ 50 %) and Bayesian posterior probabilities (PP ≥ 0.85) are shown at the nodes. Strains with type status are indicated in bold font, the isolates from this study are presented in brown typeface and species are delimited with coloured blocks. Species names in N. parvum species complex are noted before the strain number. The scale bar represents the expected number of nucleotide changes per site. The tree was rooted to Botryosphaeria corticis (CBS 119047) and B. dothidea (CBS 115476).

FIGURE 15. Neofusicoccum parvum (CDP 1380). A–B. Conidiogenous layer. C–F. Conidiogenous cells. G, H. Conidia. Scale bars: A, B = 5 μm, C–F = 2.5 μm, G, H = 10 μm.