Mangifericomes aquilariae T. Y. Du, K. D. Hyde, Tibpromma & Karun., 2025

Du, Tian-Ye, Karunarathna, Samantha C., Hyde, Kevin D., Nilthong, Somrudee, Mapook, Ausana, Dai, Dong-Qin, Rajeshkumar, Kunhiraman C., Elgorban, Abdallah M., Han, Li-Su, Wang, Hao-Han & Tibpromma, Saowaluck, 2025, New Aquilariomyces and Mangifericomes species (Pleosporales, Ascomycota) from Aquilaria spp. in China, MycoKeys 112, pp. 103-125 : 103-125

Mangifericomes aquilariae T. Y. Du, K. D. Hyde, Tibpromma & Karun. sp. nov.

Fig. 6

Etymology.

Named after the host genus “ Aquilaria, ” from which the holotype was collected.

Holotype.

GMB-W 1008 .

Description.

Saprobic on decaying branch of Aquilaria sp. Sexual morph: Ascomata 280–460 μm high × 250–510 μm diam. (x ̄ = 375 × 380 μm, n = 10), globose to subglobose, brown to dark brown, gregarious, immersed, inconspicuous on host surface, ostiolate. Peridium 20–70 μm (x ̄ = 40 μm, n = 20) wide, comprising 5–7 layers of hyaline to pale brown cells of textura angularis to textura prismatica, fusing with the host tissue. Hamathecium 2.5 μm wide, hyaline, fascicular, septate, branched, numerous, cellular pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a glutinous matrix. Asci 170–265 × 32–50 μm (x ̄ = 216 × 40 μm, n = 30), bitunicate, fissitunicate, 8 - spored, cylindric-clavate, with short pedicel, apically rounded, with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 40–53 × 18–23 μm (x ̄ = 47 × 20 μm, n = 30), muriform, uniseriate, hyaline and later become golden yellow, pale brown to dark brown, ellipsoid, slightly curved to straight, rough-walled, slightly wider near apex, apically rounded, 10–13 - transversally septate, and 3–6 - longitudinal septa, slightly constricted at the septum, surrounded by a 6.5–15 µm wide gelatinous sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Culture characteristics.

Ascospores germinated on PDA after 24 hours, and germ tubes were produced from each cell. Colonies on PDA reaching 5 cm diam., after four weeks at 23–28 ° C. Colonies obverse: loose, circular or irregular, white-cream, slightly raised at the center, filamentous edge. Colonies reverse reddish-brown at the center and cream to light yellow towards the periphery.

Material examined.

China • Yunnan Province, Nujiang Prefecture, Lushui City, Liuku Town , 25°48'30"N, 98°51'5"E, on a dead branch of Aquilaria sp. ( Thymelaeaceae ), 21 April 2023, T. Y. Du, NJT 41 ( GMB-W 1008 , holotype), ex-type living culture, GMBCC 1010 ; additional living culture, GZCC 23-0628 .

GenBank numbers.

GMBCC 1010: ITS = PQ 604645, LSU = PQ 604622, tef 1 - α = PQ 612417, rpb 2 = PQ 612421; GZCC 23-0628 : ITS = PQ 604646, LSU = PQ 604623, tef 1 - α = PQ 612418, rpb 2 = PQ 612422.

Notes.

In the present phylogenetic analyses, our new collection, Mangifericomes aquilariae , formed a well-separated sister lineage to M. hongheensis ( KUMCC 21-0342 and KUMUCC 21-0345 ) with 100 % ML and 1.00 BYPP statistical support (Fig. 5 ). Mangifericomes aquilariae shares similar morphological characteristics with M. hongheensis (HKAS 1221888, holotype) in having globose to subglobose, brown to dark brown, ostiolate ascomata, bitunicate asci with fissitunicate, 8 - spored, cylindrical-clavate, and muriform ascospores, ellipsoid, pale brown to dark brown, slightly wider near the apex, surrounded by a gelatinous sheath ( Yang et al. 2022). However, M. aquilariae ( GMB-W 1008 ) differs from M. hongheensis (HKAS 1221888) by its immersed ascomata, peridium comprising textura prismatica to textura angularis cells, fascicular, and numerous pseudoparaphyses, and ascospores that are 10–13 - transversally septate, 3–6 - longitudinal septa, while ascomata of M. hongheensis (HKAS 1221888) are semi-immersed to fully immersed, peridium comprising textura angularis to textura globosa cells, sparse pseudoparaphyses, and ascospores that are 7–11 - transversally septate, 5–8 - longitudinal septa ( Yang et al. 2022). In addition, the base pair differences of the LSU, ITS, tef 1 - α, and rpb 2 genes (without gaps) between our new collection and M. hongheensis ( KUMCC 21-0342 , ex-type) were compared, while the SSU of our new collection is not available. The results showed that there are 0.8 % nucleotide differences (7 / 864 bp) in LSU, while ITS has 3.4 % nucleotide differences (18 / 533 bp), tef 1 - α has 3.2 % nucleotide differences (31 / 962 bp), and rpb 2 has 4.5 % nucleotide differences (41 / 905 bp). These comparisons indicate that they display minor differences on LSU while displaying significant base differences on ITS, tef 1 - α, and rpb 2. Therefore, we introduce our new collection (from Aquilaria sp. in China) as a new species, M. aquilariae , based on a polyphasic approach according to the guidelines of Maharachchikumbura et al. (2021). In addition, this study introduces the second Mangifericomes species in the genus and the first Mangifericomes species collected from Aquilaria .

Figures

Figure 5. Phylogram generated from ML analysis of Pleosporales based on combined LSU, ITS, SSU, tef 1 - α, and rpb 2 sequence data of 159 taxa, which comprised 4584 base pairs of LSU = 1201, ITS = 534, SSU = 1018, rpb 2 = 930, tef 1 - α = 901. The best-scoring RAxML tree with a final likelihood value of - 91408.743991 is presented. The matrix had 3121 distinct alignment patterns, with 41.32 % of undetermined characters or gaps. Estimated base frequencies were as follows: A = 0.246701, C = 0.244302, G = 0.274425, T = 0.234571; substitution rates: AC = 1.391138, AG = 3.919388, AT = 1.582417, CG = 1.094328, CT = 7.887132, GT = 1.0; gamma distribution shape parameter α = 0.418663. Bootstrap support values for maximum likelihood (ML) equal to or greater than 70 % and clade credibility values greater than 0.90 from Bayesian inference analysis are labelled at each node. The tree is rooted with Orbilia auricolor (AFTOL-ID 906) and O. vinosa (AFTOL-ID 905). The new isolates are indicated in red, and the ex-type strains are in bold.

Figure 6. Mangifericomes aquilariae (GMB-W 1008, holotype) A, B ascomata on the host (the arrow indicates the cross-section of the ascomata) C vertical sections through the ascomata D peridium E, K cellular pseudoparaphyses (E stained with cotton blue) F ocular chamber of asci G – J asci L – R ascospores (the arrows indicate the sheath of the ascospores) S germinated ascospore T, U colony on PDA obverse and reverse views. Scale bars: 200 µm (C); 20 µm (D, G, L – S); 10 µm (E, K); 100 µm (F, H – J).