Beltrania sinensis Hua Zheng, X. Q. Yang, J. S. Deng, J. P. Xu & Z. F. Yu

Liu, Qiyun, Li, Duhua, Zhang, Zhaoxue, Geng, Yuefeng, Li, Zhuang, Zhang, Xiuguo & Xia, Jiwen, 2025, Morpho-phylogenetic evidence reveals new species and records of Beltraniaceae (Amphisphaeriales, Sordariomycetes) from southern China, MycoKeys 123, pp. 1-28 : 1-28

Beltrania sinensis Hua Zheng, X. Q. Yang, J. S. Deng, J. P. Xu & Z. F. Yu , Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 70 (2): 1180 (2020)

Fig. 2

Description.

Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Setae numerous, erect, arising from radially lobed basal cells, straight or slightly flexuous, unbranched, thick-walled, verrucose, medium to dark brown, paler at apex, 135–242 µm long, 4.2–5.7 µm wide, tapering to a pointed apex, or arising from a dark brown, swollen, radially lobed basal cell, 11.9–17.6 μm in diameter. Imperfect setae single, flexuous, septate, verrucose, pale brown, swollen at the base. Conidiophores macronematous, mononematous, erect, subcylindrical or clavate, unbranched, pale brown, smooth, straight to flexuous, 64–134 × 4.4–6.7 µm. Conidiogenous cells polyblastic, integrated, terminal, sympodial, with flat-tipped denticles, subhyaline to pale brown, smooth, 9.0–14.3 µm (av. = 12.3 μm, n = 10) long, 4.0–5.2 µm (av. = 4.7 μm, n = 10) wide. Separating cells subhyaline to pale brown, finely roughened, aseptate, oval or obovoid, 9.2–13.2 µm (av. = 11.1 µm, n = 22) long, 4.4–7.0 µm (av. = 5.7 µm, n = 22) wide in the broadest part, 1 - denticulate at each end. Conidia arise directly from conidiogenous cells or from separating cells, acrogenous, biconic, aseptate, smooth, pale brown with a hyaline to subhyaline equatorial transverse band, with distinct granules, rounded or 1 - denticulate at base, 29.3–34.4 µm (av. = 32.1 µm, n = 21) long including appendage, 7.2–10.3 µm (av. = 8.3 µm, n = 21) wide in the broadest part, apical appendages 7.2–10.1 µm (av. = 9.1 µm, n = 21) long, tapering to an acutely rounded tip.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA at 25 ° C in darkness, occupying an entire 90 mm Petri dish in 14 d. Surface pale brown and white, prominent in the middle and flat at the edges. Reverse pale yellow in the middle, with the edges being medium white.

Materials examined.

China • Hainan Province, Ledong Li Autonomous County, Jianfengling National Forest Park , on leaves of Litchi chinensis , 12 April 2023, Q. Y. Liu, ( HSAUP 3860 , new host and locality record), living cultures SAUCC 3860 ; China • Guizhou Province, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Longli County, Longshan Town, Longxi Avenue , on diseased leaves of Quercus sp. , Q. Y. Liu, ( HSAUP 5483-1 , new locality record), living cultures SAUCC 5483-1 .

GeneBank numbers.

SAUCC 3860 : ITS = PV 577716, LSU = PV 570360, RPB 2 = PV 420882, TEF 1 - α = PV 420893, TUB 2 = PV 420901; SAUCC 5483-1 : ITS = PQ 351195, LSU = PQ 351411, RPB 2 = PV 420881, TEF 1 - α = PV 420894, TUB 2 = PV 420902.

Notes.

Beltrania sinensis was originally described from the root of Quercus cocciferoides and Fraxinus malacophylla in Jianshui County, Yunnan Province, China ( Zheng et al. 2020). In the present study, two strains ( SAUCC 3860 and SAUCC 5483-1 ) are clustered with the B. sinensis ( YMF 1.05739 , JS 101, JS 260, and JS 43) clade in the combined phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1 ). Our strains ( SAUCC 3860 and SAUCC 5483-1 ) were similar to B. sinensis ( YMF 1.05739 ) in ITS (with 100 % and 99.81 % sequence identity, respectively) and LSU (with 100 % and 99.87 % sequence identity, respectively). Morphologically, our two strains were similar to B. sinensis ( YMF 1.05739 ) by setae and separating cells (135–242 × 4.2–5.7 vs. 155–269 × 4–5 μm; 9.2–13.2 × 4.4–7.0 vs. 8.5–13.0 × 5.2–6.0 μm). Thus, we consider the isolated strains as B. sinensis . Additionally, B. sinensis ( YMF 1.05739 , JS 101, JS 260, and JS 43) were found in the roots in Yunnan Province, China. Our two strains represent new records: SAUCC 3860 was first discovered on Litchi chinensis in Hainan Province (new host and locality record), while SAUCC 5483-1 was first recorded in Guizhou Province (new locality record) ( Zheng et al. 2020).

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree generated from maximum likelihood analysis based on combined ITS and LSU sequence data of Beltraniaceae. Bootstrap support values are shown as ML ≥ 50 % first, followed by BI ≥ 0.80. Castanediella couratarii (CBS 579.71) was used as the outgroup taxon. Those marked “ * ” in the tree represent ex-type or ex-epitype strains. Strains isolated in this study are indicated in red.

Figure 2. Beltrania sinensis (SAUCC 3860). a. Leaf of host plant; b, c. Upper and reverse views of cultures on PDA after 14 days of inoculation at 25 ° C; d. Conidiophores and setae on a pine needle on WA; e. Basal part of seta; f. Apex of seta; g. Imperfect setae; h. Conidiophores, conidiogenous cells, separating cell and conidia; i. Separating cells and conidia; j. Separating cells; k. Conidia. Scale bars: 10 μm (e – k).