Pestalotiopsis hispanica F. Liu, L. Cai & Crous

Hsu, Sheng-Yu, Xu, Yuan-Cheng, Lin, Yu-Chen, Chuang, Wei-Yu, Lin, Shiou-Ruei, Stadler, Marc, Tangthirasunun, Narumon, Cheewangkoon, Ratchadawan, AL-Shwaiman, Hind A., Elgorban, Abdallah M. & Ariyawansa, Hiran A., 2024, Hidden diversity of Pestalotiopsis and Neopestalotiopsis (Amphisphaeriales, Sporocadaceae) species allied with the stromata of entomopathogenic fungi in Taiwan, MycoKeys 101, pp. 275-312 : 275

Pestalotiopsis hispanica F. Liu, L. Cai & Crous

Fig. 5

Description.

On carnation leaves ( Dianthus caryophyllus ) supplanted on WA (NTUPPMCC 18-162). Sexual morph was not observed in culture. Asexual morph: Conidiomata acervular, globose, solitary or gregarious, semi-immersed, 100-500 μm diam.; oozing globose to clavate, black conidial masses. Conidiophores subcylindrical, hyaline, smooth, annelidic, indistinct and frequently merged to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells long pyriform to cylindrical, hyaline, smooth, (1.8-)2.0-3.7(-5.6) × (6.3-)9.7-17.2(-23.2) μm, x- ± SD = 2.9 ± 0.8 × 13.5 ± 3.8 μm. Conidia fusoid, straight or slightly curved, 4-septate, smooth, (4.7-)5.5-6.5(-7.5) × (21.1-)22.4-25.4(-27.4) μm, x- ± SD = 6.0 ± 0.5 × 23.9 ± 1.5 μm, bearing appendages; basal cell obconic with a truncate base, hyaline or pale brown, thin-walled, (0.8-)4.0-6.1(-6.6) μm long, x- ± SD = 5.0 ± 1.0 μm; three median cells long doliiform to subcylindrical, pale brown, concolourous, thick-walled, the first median cell from base (4.1-)4.5-5.3(-5.8) μm long (x- ± SD = 4.9 ± 0.4 μm), the second median cell (3.8-)4.3-5.0(-5.3) μm long (x- ± SD = 4.6 ± 0.3 μm), the third median cell (4.3-)4.6-5.4(-6.3) μm long (x- ± SD = 5.0 ± 0.4 μm), together (12.7-)13.7-15.2 (-16.0) μm long (x- ± SD = 14.5 ± 0.8 μm); apical cell conical to subcylindrical with a truncate or acute apex, hyaline, thick-walled, (3.5-)3.8-4.7(-5.2) μm long (x- ± SD = 4.3 ± 0.5 μm). Appendages tubular, hyaline, straight or slightly bent, apical appendage 2-3, unbranched, (8.5-)12.1-18.7(-24.9) μm long (x- ± SD = 15.4 ± 3.3 μm), basal appendage 1-3 (mostly single), centric, unbranched (rarely branched), (2.5-)3.2-6.1(-8.8) μm long (x- ± SD = 4.7 ± 1.4 μm).

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA reaching 71.9 mm diam. on average after culturing at 25 °C in the dark for seven days, circular, flat with slightly undulate edge, aerial mycelium dense, white; reverse yellowish.

Materials examined.

Taiwan, Taoyuan City, Dongyanshan , on the stroma of Ophiocordyceps sp. parasitic on an insect ( Hymenoptera ), 7 October 2018, Wei-Yu Chuang, living culture NTUPPMCC 18-162 (= CD03) .

Notes.

Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis indicated that strain NTUPPMCC 18-162 was clustered in the same clade with the ex-type strain of P. hispanica CBS 115391 with absolute statistical support (MLB = 100%, MPB = 100%, PP = 1.00). Even though the DNA sequences of ITS (100%), tub2 (99.22%) and tef1-α (100%) genes of NTUPPMCC 18-162 were very similar to the ex-type strain of P. hispanica (CBS 115391), the morphology of our strain is somewhat different from the original description of P. hispanica (holotype CBS H-23554) published by Liu et al. (2019). For instance, NTUPPMCC 18-162 has longer apical appendages (12-18 μm versus 2-14 μm) and contains higher numbers of basal appendages (0-1 versus 0-3) (Suppl. material 1: table S7) compared to the P. hispanica holotype CBS H-23554. However, P. hispanica was originally isolated from Protea cv. ‘Susara’ ( Proteaceae ) and collected in Spain, while NTUPPMCC 18-162 was isolated from the stroma of Ophiocordyceps sp. in Taiwan. Different locations, nutrition modes and natural habitats might have affected the morphology of these two strains. Therefore, considering the identity of the DNA sequences data, we classify NTUPPMCC 18-162 as P. hispanica and, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. hispanica in Taiwan.

Figures

Figure 5. Pestalotiopsis hispanica (NTUPPMCC 18 - 162 = CD 03) A the original habitat of Pestalotiopsis hispanica; the stroma of Ophiocordyceps sp. B top view (left) and bottom view (right) of the colony on potato dextrose agar (PDA) after incubation for seven days C conidiomata on carnation leaf D, E conidiogenous cells and immature conidia F-I conidia. Scale bars: 250 μm (C); 10 μm (D-I).