Tremella cheejenii X.Z. Liu & F.Y. Bai

Zhao, Ying, Liu, Xin-zhan & Bai, Feng-yan, 2019, Four new species of Tremella (Tremellales, Basidiomycota) based on morphology and DNA sequence data, MycoKeys 47, pp. 75-95 : 80-83

Tremella cheejenii X.Z. Liu & F.Y. Bai sp. nov. Figures 3, 4

Type.

CHINA. Guangxi Province, Hechi city, Luocheng county, Pingying village, Jiuwan Mountain National Nature Reserve, 108°48'E, 25°19'N, G.J. Li, H.S. Ma, Z.L. Lin & M.Z. Zhang, 7 August 2017, GX20172598 (HMAS 279589).

Etymology.

Cheejenii was named in honor of Chee-Jen Chen for his contributions to systematics of tremellalean fungi.

Description.

Basidiomata sessile, cerebriform, up to 1.0-3.0 cm in diameter, broadly attached to substratum, soft gelatinous, pale white when fresh and pale brown in dry condition. Hyphae smooth, thick-walled, slender, 2.0-4.5 μm in diameter, often anastomosing, clamp connections abundant, loop-like forming a large hollow. Haustoria rare, small, subglobose, ca 2.0 μm in diameter, with a single hypha. Hyphidia abundant, smooth, thin-walled, 2.5-4.0 μm in diameter, branched, hyphidia and basidia derived from the same hypha. Probasidial initials subglobose, ovoid or pyriform. Mature basidia subglobose, broadly ellipsoid or ovoid, mostly two-celled, and occasionally four-celled, with apical protuberance, often longitudinally septate or occasionally oblique or cruciate-septate, thin-walled, 12.0-17.0 μm × 13.0-18.0 μm, stalked, 2.0-4.0 μm long, with sterigmata up to 70 μm, not swollen at apex. Ba sidiospores hyaline, smooth, thin-walled, subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, apiculate, 5.0-10.0 μm × 4.5-8.0 μm, L = 8.6 ± 1.1 μm, W = 6.6 ± 0.8 μm, Q = 1.1-1.8 (n = 40). Basidiospores forming secondary ballistoconidia by the formation of a sterigma. Conidia ellipsoid, smooth, hyaline, thin-walled, 2.2-4.0 μm × 1.8-3.0 μm, L = 3.1 ± 0.6 μm, W = 2.2 ± 0.3 μm, Q = 1.0-2.0 (n = 40), monokaryotic, budding from apex of sterigmata.

Habitat.

On wood of deciduous tree, in forest dominated by Fagaceae , Lauraceae , Theaceae , Magnoliaceae , and Hamamelidaceae .

Additional specimens examined.

CHINA. Guangxi Province, Hechi city, Luocheng county, Pingying village, Jiuwan Mountain National Nature Reserve, 108°48'E, 25°19'N, G.J. Li, H.S. Ma, Z.L. Lin & M.Z. Zhang, 7 August 2017, GX20172640 (HMAS 279590).

Notes.

Two specimens form the sister group to T. fibulifera , T. lloydiae-candidae , and T. resupinata and represent a new species, T. cheejenii . The sequence identities between T. cheejenii and T. fibulifera are 95.7%-95.9% and 92.5%-93.2% in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region, respectively. Similarly, T. cheejenii and T. lloydiae-candidae showed 96.1%-96.2% and 92.1% sequence identities in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region, respectively. Tremella cheejenii and T. resupinata showed 90.4% and 89.9% sequence identities in the D1/D2 domain and ITS region, respectively. Tremella cheejenii is distinct from T. fibulifera in its bigger basidia (12.0-17.0 μm × 13.0-18.0 μm in T. cheejenii vs 14-16 μm × 10-13 μm in T. fibulifera ). However, the basidia of T. cheejenii are smaller than that of T. resupinata (12.0-17.0 μm × 13.0-18.0 μm in T. cheejenii vs 27.0-40.0 μm × 22.0-31.0 μm in T. resupinata ) ( Chen 1998; Malysheva et al. 2015). Moreover, conidia are produced from the sterigmata in T. cheejenii compared to the absence of conidia in T. fibulifera , T. lloydiae-candidae , and T. resupinata .