Neopestalotiopsis sp. 1

Fallahi, Maryam, Armand, Alireza, Al-Otibi, Fatimah, Hyde, Kevin D. & Jayawardena, Ruvishika S., 2025, Pathogenic fungi (Sordariomycetes) associated with annual and perennial crops in Northern Thailand, MycoKeys 117, pp. 191-265 : 191-265

Neopestalotiopsis sp. 1

Fig. 32

Description.

Pathogenic to sapodilla sapote ( Manilkara zapota ) and causes circular to irregular brown lesions on leaves. Sexual morph not observed. Conidiomata acervular on PDA, solitary or aggregated, semi-immersed in agar medium, containing a dark mass of conidia. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells ampulliform to lageniform, hyaline, 3–15 × 2–5 μm. Conidia fusiform or spindle-shaped, straight to slightly curved, 4 - septate, 15–29 × 4–6.5 μm (mean = 22.4 × 5.3 μm, n = 30); basal cell conical, hyaline to pale brown, thin-walled, 3–5.6 μm long; the three middle cells brown to dark brown, with septa that are darker than the other cells, and 9–19 μm long (mean = 13.5 μm, n = 30). The second cell from the base 4–6.8 μm long; the third cell from the base 3.8–7.8 μm long; the fourth cell from the base 3.5–5.8 μm long; the apical cell conical, hyaline, thin-walled, 2.7–5 μm long, with 2–3 apical appendages (mostly 2), tubular, hyaline, unbranched, and 12.8–26 μm long. Basal appendage filiform, hyaline, unbranched, singular, and 3–9 μm long.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA reach 40–50 mm in diameter after seven days of growth at 25 ° C under 12 h daylight, cottony, shape regular, circular. The upper view is white, and the reverse has yellow pigmentation, with black fruiting body clusters arising with age.

Material examined.

Thailand • Chiang Rai Province, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Doi Hang , leaf spots on sapodilla sapote ( Manilkara zapota ), December 2022, Maryam Fallahi, dried culture MF 10-1 ( MFLU 24-0254 ), living culture MFLUCC 24-0232 .

Notes.

Based on phylogenetic analysis of ITS, tub 2, and tef 1 sequence data, strain MFLUCC 24-0232 forms an independent branch with no bootstrap support (Fig. 28 ). Therefore, the MFLUCC 24-0232 was kept as an unidentified species, Neopestalotiopsis sp. 1 on sapodilla sapote, until further collections become available.

Figures

Figure 28. Phylogenetic tree of the Neopestalotiopsis ssp. generated by Bayes analysis of combined ITS, tef 1, and tub 2 sequence data. The ultrafast maximum likelihood (ML) bootstrap support values ≥ 50 % (BT) and Bayesian posterior probabilities ≥ 0.95 (BYPP) are shown, respectively, near the nodes. The ex-type strains are marked with an asterisk. The tree is rooted in Pestalotiopsis spathulate (CBS 356 86) and Pestalotiopsis diversiseta (MFLUCC 12 0287).

Figure 32. Neopestalotiopsis sp. 1 (MFLUCC 24-0232) a leaf spots in sapodilla sapote b front, and c back views of the colony on PDA after 7 days d front and e back view of the colony on PDA after 60 days at 25 ° C f conidiomata g – i conidiophore and conidiogenous cells j – l conidia. Scale bars: 20 μm.