Cryptosporella tomentella (Peck) L. C. Mejía

Wang, Caixia, Jiang, Ning, Liu, Chuli, Xu, ZiYan, Lu, Hailong & Ma, Rong, 2025, Morphology and molecular phylogeny reveal new species and records of Diaporthales from Betula in Xinjiang, China, MycoKeys 125, pp. 167-204 : 167-204

Cryptosporella tomentella (Peck) L. C. Mejía , Mycologia 103 (2): 397 (2011)

Fig. 11

Description.

Pseudostromata immersed to semi-immersed in the bark, scattered, conical, 1450–1800 μm diam., 450–600 μm high, with 8–15 perithecia arranged circularly or irregularly. Ectostromatic disc brown, circular to ovoid, 350–450 μm diam. Ostioles brown to black, 75–130 μm diam. Perithecia flask-shaped to spherical, 250–400 μm diam. Asci hyaline, without refractive ring, clavate, (85.5 –) 108–115 (– 126.5) × (9 –) 12.5–20 (– 21.5) μm, 8 - spored. Ascospores 2–4 - seriate, cylindrical, slightly curved, tapering towards rounded ends, thin-walled, hyaline, aseptate, (39 –) 47–61.5 (– 67) × (4.5 –) 5–5.5 (– 6.5) (av. = 54.2 ± 7 × 5.2 ± 0.6, n = 50) μm, L / W ratio = 9–11.8.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA flat, spreading, with moderate aerial mycelium and undulate margin, yellowish, reaching 70 mm diam. after 2 weeks at 25 ° C, sterile.

Materials examined.

China • Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Altay Prefecture, Jeminay County, Kizilkayin Red Birch Forest , from branches of Betula microphylla , 5 October 2024, Rong Ma, Caixia Wang & Hailong Lu ( XJAU 4005 , culture CFCC 71659 ) ; ibid. ( XJAU 4006 , cultures CFCC 71660 , CFCC 71661 and CFCC 71662 ) ; ibid. ( XJAU 4010 , cultures CFCC 71663 , CFCC 71664 , CFCC 71665 ) .

Notes.

Cryptosporella tomentella was previously regarded as a synonym of Cr. betulae ( Reid and Booth 1987; Mejía et al. 2008). This species has been currently only documented in the United States, where it infects Betula populifolia and other Betula species ( Mejía et al. 2008, 2011). The ascospore morphology of our specimens was consistent with that described for the Cr. tomentella lectotype ( Mejía et al. 2011). In the present study, we report for the first time the occurrence of Cr. tomentella on Betula microphylla in China, supported by molecular phylogenetic evidence (Fig. 5 ).

Figures

Figure 5. Maximum Likelihood tree of Cryptosporella generated from combined ITS, tef 1 and tub 2 sequence data. Bootstrap support values ≥ 50 % and Bayesian posterior probabilities ≥ 0.90 are demonstrated at the branches. Ex-type strains are marked in bold.

Figure 11. Morphology of Cryptosporella tomentella from Betula microphylla. A, B. Habit of ascostromata on branch; C. Ostioles embedded in ascostroma in section; D. Transverse section through ascostroma; E. Longitudinal section through ascostroma; F – H. Asci; I. Ascospores. Scale bars: 500 μm (B – E); 20 μm (F – I).