Moesziomyces globuligerus (Berk. & Broome) Vanky , Bot. Not. 130: 135 (1977)

Li, Ying-Ming, Shivas, Roger G., Li, Bao-Ju & Cai, Lei, 2019, Diversity of Moesziomyces (Ustilaginales, Ustilaginomycotina) on Echinochloa and Leersia (Poaceae), MycoKeys 52, pp. 1-16 : 1

Moesziomyces globuligerus (Berk. & Broome) Vanky, Bot. Not. 130: 135 (1977) Figure 2 e–g

Thecaphora globuligera Berk. & Broome, Trans. Linn. Soc. London, Bot., Ser. 2, 1: 407 (1880). - Type: AUSTRALIA, Queensland, Brisbane, on Leersia hexandra , F.M. Bailey, No. 86 (K(M) 252436, lectotype designated here, MBT 385180, not seen; K(M) 252437, syntype). [Basionym]

Tolyposporium globuligerum (Berk. & Broome) Ricker, J. Mycol. 11:112 (1905).

Testicularia leersiae Cornu, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., Sér. 6, 15: 275 (1883).

Description.

Sori in some of the ovaries, often deciduous, ellipsoidal to oval, 2.5-4 × 1.5-3 mm, green at first, later brown, smooth, ruptures irregularly to reveal a granular, dark brown mass of spore balls; columella absent. Spore balls subglobose, ellipsoidal or irregular, 75-150 µm in diameter, yellowish brown, composed of up to several hundred spores that separate by moderate pressure. Spores subglobose, ovoid to irregularly polyhedral, (8-) 8.5-11 (-13) × (6-) 7-9 (-10) μm (xˉ = 9.6 ± 1.2 × 7.9 ± 0.9 μm, n = 50), subhyaline to pale yellowish brown, attached together by multiple narrow cylindrical protuberances about 2 μm wide and 1-2 μm long; wall with irregular meshes and wings, less than 0.5 μm thick, smooth. (Based on specimen BRIP 27384).

Specimens examined.

AUSTRALIA, Queensland, Willowbank, on Leersia hexandra , 9 Mar. 1998, C. Vánky & K. Vánky leg., BRIP 27384; Queensland, Mareeba, on L. hexandra , 1 May 2004, M.D.E. Shivas & R.G. Shivas leg., BRIP 44301; Queensland, Mt Garnet, on L. hexandra , 5 May 2005, T.S. Marney & R.G. Shivas leg., BRIP 44569; Northern Territory, Darwin, on L. hexandra , 15 Apr. 2008, J. Ray, A.A. Mitchell, A.R. McTaggart & R.G. Shivas leg., BRIP 51872. CHINA, Guangxi province, on L. hexandra , Oct. 2017, R.G. Shivas, M.D.E. Shivas, Y.-M. Li, P. Zhao & X.-H. Qi leg., HMAS 248027. THAILAND, Kanchanaburi, on L. hexandra , 16 Dec. 2005, R.G. Shivas & M.D.E. Shivas leg., BRIP 47767; Chiang Mai, on L. hexandra , 26 Dec. 2005, R.G. Shivas & M.D.E. Shivas leg., BRIP 47768.

Notes.

Vánky (1986) considered that M. globuligerus was a synonym of M. bullatus based on their similar morphologies. Phylogenetic analyses support M. globuligerus as a distinct species (Fig. 1), with a teleomorph specific to the pantropical grass Leersia hexandra ( Berkeley and Broome 1880). The name Testicularia leersiae ( Cornu 1883), described from infected Leersia hexandra in Algeria, is likely a heterotypic synonym of M. globuligerus , but this has not been checked by molecular phylogenetic analysis. The type material of Thecaphora globuligera was collected circa 1878 from near the Brisbane River, Queensland, Australia by the botanist F. M. Bailey ( Berkeley and Broome 1880). Original material of this specimen (F.M. Bailey, No. 86) could not be found in the Australian herbaria BRI and BRIP, where most of F.M. Bailey’s specimens are held. Two syntypes were located in K(M), of which K(M) 252436 ex C.E. Broome herbarium (BM) was selected as lectotype of T. globuligera (now M. globuligerus ). The material in the second specimen, K(M) 252437 from the Berkeley herbarium, was scant (Dr Begoña Aguirre-Hudson pers. comm).