Pestalotiopsis ningboensis Q. C. Wang & X. D. Zhou, 2025

Wang, Quan Chao, Zhan, Zhao Jie, Sattar, Adil, Wang, Hao Nan, Zhou, Li Feng, Eckhardt, Lori, Li, Guo Qing, Liu, Fei Fei, Xu, Hua Chao & Zhou, Xu Dong, 2025, Pestalotiopsis (Amphisphaeriales, Sporocadaceae) species including six new taxa inhabiting pines from different climate zones in China, IMA Fungus 16, pp. e 151614-e 151614 : e151614-

Pestalotiopsis ningboensis Q. C. Wang & X. D. Zhou sp. nov.

Fig. 11

Etymology.

Named after the collection site of the type specimen, Ningbo City.

Typus.

CHINA • Zhejiang Province, Ningbo City, Xiangshan County, Fengmenkou Forest Park , 29°5'44"N, 121°57'19"E, on diseased needle of Pinus elliottii , 19 April 2023, Quanchao Wang & Guiyong Cao (holotype designated here HMAS 353934 , dried culture prepared from ZXD 39; ex-holotype culture ZXD 39 = CFCC 72585 ) .

Description.

Sexual state not seen. Conidiomata in culture sporodochial, saucer-shaped, scattered or gregarious, superficial to immersed, shining, releasing black conidial masses on the surface. Conidiophores branched, subcylindrical, hyaline to light brown, indistinct, often reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells cylindrical or ampulliform, hyaline, smooth-walled, solitary to aggregated, (5.5 –) 6.5–12.5 (– 17.5) × (1.5 –) 2.5–3.5 (– 4) μm (x ± SD = 9.5 ± 2.9 × 2.9 ± 0.6 μm). Conidia fusoid, ellipsoid, smooth, slightly constricted at the septa, 4 - septate, (21 –) 21.5–25 (– 27) × (6 –) 6.5–7.5 (– 8) μm (x ± SD = 23.2 ± 1.8 × 6.8 ± 0.5 μm); three median cells doliiform, wall verruculose, concolourous, (12.5 –) 14–16 (– 17) μm (x ± SD = 15 ± 1 μm) long; second cell from the base (4 –) 4.5–5.5 μm (x ± SD = 4.9 ± 0.4 μm) long; third cell (4 –) 4.5–5.5 μm (x ± SD = 4.9 ± 0.4 μm); fourth cell (4 –) 4.5–5.5 (– 6) μm (x ± SD = 5.2 ± 0.5 μm); apical cell conic with an acute apex, thin- and smooth-walled, hyaline to pale brown, 3–4.5 (– 5.5) μm (x ± SD = 3.8 ± 0.6 μm) long, with 2–3 tubular appendages (mostly three); apical appendages arising from an apical crest, unbranched, filiform, bent, (5.5 –) 10.5–16.5 (– 19) μm (x ± SD = 13.5 ± 3 μm); basal cell obconic with a truncate base, thin-walled, hyaline or pale brown, (2 –) 3.5–5.5 (– 6) μm (x ± SD = 4.5 ± 1 μm) long, with one appendage; tubular; basal appendage centric, unbranched, occasionally swollen at the tip, (2 –) 5–8 (– 9) μm (x ± SD = 6.3 ± 1.5 μm) long.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies forming flocculent aerial mycelium on PDA at 25 ° C, with regular margins at the edges, white to isabelline, the back colony light orange, forming black conidiomata with black conidial masses. Optimal growth temperature at 25 ° C, no growth at 5 ° C and 35 ° C; after 10 d, colonies at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 ° C reached 27.0, 39.9, 42.7, 72.9 and 28.6 mm, respectively (Fig. 8 ).

Additional materials examined.

CHINA • Zhejiang Province, Ningbo City, Xiangshan County, Fengmenkou Forest Park , 29°5'44"N, 121°57'19"E, on diseased needle of Pinus elliottii , 19 April 2023, Quanchao Wang & Guiyong Cao (culture ZXD 40) .

Notes.

Two strains representing Pes. ningboensis form a well-supported independent clade (ML / BI = 100 / 1) and is phylogenetically distinct from Pes. thunbergii (Fig. 3 ), but differs in ITS (4 bp), tub 2 (6 bp) and tef 1 - α (4 bp). Morphologically, Pes. ningboensis can be distinguished from Pes. thunbergii by its shorter and narrower conidia ( Pes. ningboensis : 21–27 × 6–8 μm vs. Pes. thunbergii : 20–34 × 6–10 μm); shorter apical appendages ( Pes. ningboensis : 5.5–19 μm vs. Pes. thunbergii : 6.5–29.5 μm).

Figures

Figure 3. Phylogenetic trees based on Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses from the multi-gene alignment (ITS, tef- 1 α and tub 2) for Pestalotiopsis. The ML bootstrap values (left; values of ≥ 60 % are shown, < 60 % are marked with * and absence is marked with -) and Bayesian posterior probabilities (right; values of ≥ 0.9 are shown, < 0.9 are marked with * and absence is marked with -) are indicated above the branches. Isolates representing ex-type material are marked with “ T ”. Neopestalotiopsis magna (MFLUCC 12-0652) was used as the outgroup taxon.

Figure 8. Effect of temperature on mycelial radial growth of isolates of six new Pestalotiopsis species obtained in the current study. Vertical bars represent the standard error of the means. Each value represents the average of five replicates.

Figure 11. Morphology of Pestalotiopsis ningboensis (ZXD 40). A Colony on MEA after 10 days at 25 ° C; B colony on PDA after 10 days at 25 ° C; C conidiomata formed on MEA; D, E conidiogenous cells giving rise to conidia; F – K conidia. Scale bars: 500 μm (C); 20 μm (D – G).