Muriformispora magnoliae N.I. de Silva, S. Lumyong & K.D. Hyde, Mycosphere

Wu, Jialing, De Silva, Nimali I., Tennakoon, Danushka S., Kumla, Jaturong, Suwannarach, Nakarin, Xie, Ning, Hongsanan, Sinang & Lumyong, Saisamorn, 2024, Morphology and phylogeny reveal the asexual morph of Muriformispora (Neohendersoniaceae), M. thailandica sp. nov., and a new host and geographical record for M. magnoliae, Phytotaxa 678 (2), pp. 135-145 : 140-141

Muriformispora magnoliae N.I. de Silva, S. Lumyong & K.D. Hyde, Mycosphere 13(1): 987 (2022)

Index Fungorum number: IF 900050, Faces of Fungi number: FoF 13098, Fig. 2

Saprobic on dead twigs of Alstonia scholaris (L.) R.Br. ( Apocynaceae ). Sexual morph: Ascomata 170–250 μm high × 250–350 μm diam. (x = 200 × 300 µm, n = 10), black, globose to subglobose, uni-loculate, immersed to slightly erumpent, solitary, scattered, forming dark black spots on the host surface, ostiolate. Ostiole 35–60 μm wide, central. Peridium 17–30 μm wide, several layers, from innermost towards outermost layers composed of light brown to brown cells of textura angularis. Hamathecium composed of dense, 1–2 μm wide, filamentous, cellular pseudoparaphyses, with indistinct septa. Asci 90–120 × 25–38 μm (x = 100 × 32 μm, n = 20), 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, pyriform, pedicellate, with furcate to obtuse end, apically rounded. Ascospores 20–27 × 10–13 μm (x = 24 × 11 μm, n = 30), partially overlapping, 1–3-seriate, broadly ellipsoidal, muriform, 4–5 transverse septa, 2–3 longitudinal septa with a rounded apex and acute or truncate basal end, hyaline at immature stage, becoming olivaceous-brown at maturity, strongly constricted at the central septum and slightly constricted at the other septa, with guttules in each cell, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Not observed.

Culture characteristics:— Colonies on PDA reaching 24 mm diameter after 5 days at 25 °C, colonies from above: dark grey, circular, flat, entire edge, dense, cottony to fairly fluffy with sparse aspects, light grey at the margin; reverse: dark grey from the centre of the colony, cream at the margin.

Material examined:— Thailand, Chiang Mai Province, on dead twigs of Alstonia scholaris ( Apocynaceae ), 12 March 2022, N. I. de Silva, NID8 (CMUB 40047).

Notes:—The holotype of Muriformispora magnoliae has been reported from dead twigs of Magnolia sp. in China (de Silva et al. 2022). Our collection has similar morphologies to the holotype by globose to subglobose, uni-loculate, immersed to slightly erumpent ascomata, pyriform, apically rounded, pedicellate asci, broadly ellipsoidal, muriform, hyaline to brown ascospores with 4–5 transverse septa and 2–3 longitudinal septa (de Silva et al. 2022). In the phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU, SSU, ITS, tef1, and rpb2 sequence data, our strain CMUB 40047 clusters with the ex-type MFLUCC 19–0036 and MFLU 18–2645 with strong statistical support (100 % ML, 1.00 BYPP) ( Figure 1 ). Thus, based on morphology and phylogenetic affinity, our strain, CMUB 40047 is identified as Muriformispora magnoliae and reported hereby as a new host Alstonia scholaris and geographical record in Thailand.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Phylogram generated from maximum likelihood analysis of combined LSU, SSU, ITS, tef1, and rpb2 sequence data. Related sequences of Neohendersoniaceae and some additional strains of Pleosporales were obtained from de Silva et al. (2022). Bootstrap values for maximum likelihood equal to or greater than 50% and Bayesian posterior probabilities equal to or greater than 0.95 are placed above the branches. The newly generated strains are indicated in red and type species are in red bold. Type and ex-type strains are in black bold.

FIGURE 2. Muriformispora magnoliae (CMUB 40047). a–c Appearance of ascomata on the host surface (yellow arrows indicate ascomata). d, e Vertical sections through ascomata. f Peridium. g, h Asci. i Ascus with pseudoparaphyses. j–m Ascospores. Scale bars: d, e = 50 μm, f = 5 μm, g–i = 20 μm, j–m = 10 μm.