Drumopama girisa Subram., Proc. Indian

Zhou, Yifan, Liu, Jingwen, Syed, Asad, Liu, Jian-Kui & Maharachchikumbura, Sajeewa S. N., 2025, Drumopama girisa: A rare hyphomycete from bamboo, resolved within Xylariales through morphological and molecular data, Phytotaxa 696 (1), pp. 71-82 : 77

Drumopama girisa Subram., Proc. Indian natn Sci. Acad., Part B. Biol. Sci. 46: 333 (1957) FIGURE 2 .

MycoBank number: MB27027

Saprobic on dead culms of Bamboo. Asexual morph: Colony on natural substrate effuse, black, hairy. Mycelium erect, dark, consisting of a stalk broadened. Conidiophores 490–820 μm (x̄ = 614 μm, n = 23) long, 15–18 μm wide (x̄ = 16 μm, n = 23) at the base, 25–35 μm wide (x̄ = 30.5 μm, n = 30) below the base, stalk broadened, arising solitarily or in fascicles from the stroma cells, erect, straight or flexuous, thick‐walled, subcylindrical, smooth, pale to dark brown, simple, sperate. Conidiogenous cells mono‐tretic, cylindrical, integrated, ale brown to pale, terminal, not separated. Conidia 7–14 × 6–10 μm (x̄ = 11.43 μm, n = 30), produced singly, acrogenously, pale, basal papilla hyaline, smooth and thick-walled. Colonies on natural substratum, superficial, erect, brown to black, with base attached on the surface of substrate. Sexual morph: Undetermined.

Material examined: China, Sichuan Province, Chengdu, Baiyungou, 30°47′35′′N, 103°23′49′′E, elevation 990 m, on dead culms of Bamboo, 27 Sep 2021, ZH Lu, Lu55 ( HUEST 24.0215), living culture UESTCC 24.0197.

Notes: Our collection exhibits morphological characteristics that closely align with the original description of Drumopama girisa ( Subramanian 1957) , and we therefore identified our species as D. girisa . Our collection of Drumopama girisa differs significantly from the description of D.monosetum ( Weilbache1970) in several morphological characteristics. Notably, the conidiophores of D. girisa are longer (490–820 μm, x̄ = 614 μm) and broader (15–18 μm at the base) compared to the relatively short and slender fertile structures of D. monosetum , which extend up to 510 μm in length and are only 10 μm in diameter at the widest part. Additionally, the conidia of D. girisa are larger (7–14 × 6–10 μm, x̄ = 11.43 μm), pale, and thick-walled with a basal papilla, whereas D. monosetum produces smaller, lemonshaped, hyaline conidia measuring 9–13 × 7–9 μm. The synnemata of D. monosetum are unbranched, brown, and seta-like, whereas D. girisa features a colony that is effuse, black, and hairy with solitary or fascicled conidiophores. Furthermore, the asexual morph of D. girisa is characterized by mono-tretic conidiogenous cells, which are distinct from the unbranched conidiophores of D. monosetum . The sexual morph remains undetermined in both species.

Combined gene analyses reveal that Drumopama girisa clusters near the families Hansfordiaceae and Coniocessiaceae . Morphologically, our species is distinct from members of Hansfordiaceae ; the color and shape of the conidiophores and conidia in our collection differ notably from those observed in Hansfordiaceae . Specifically, the conidiophores in our collection are brown to black, while Hansfordiaceae conidiophores are hyaline ( Crous et al. 2019; Hernãndez-Restrepo et al. 2022). Additionally, the conidia in our collection are ellipsoid with a smooth surface, whereas Hansfordiaceae conidia are spherical and exhibit a roughened texture (Hughes 1951). Further differences are evident when compared to Coniocessiaceae . Coniocessiaceae is known to exhibit both sexual and asexual morphs ( Senanayake et al. 2015), while our collection represents only the asexual stage. Morphologically, the conidiophores in our collection are brown to black, contrasting with the hyaline conidiophores, characteristic of Coniocessiaceae ( Asgari & Zare 2011) . These distinct traits underscore the morphological uniqueness of our species and justify its placement outside these established families. Although our species groups closely with these families in the phylogenetic tree, the bootstrap support for this placement is low ( FIGURE 1 ); therefore, we refrain from assigning Drumopama to either family.

While introducing a new family for Drumopama could be considered, we have decided against this due to the limited bootstrap support, the low number of strains, and the incomplete dataset currently available. Therefore, we identify our isolate as D. girisa but maintain it as incertae sedis genus within Xylariales . This is the first report on D. girisa being isolated from China.

Figures

FIGURE 1. A phylogram of the best ML tree based on a combined dataset (ITS, LSU, TUB and RPB2) of Xylariomycetidae. Novel isolates are indicated in red. Type isolates are in bold. The ML/BI equal to or greater than 95%/0.95 are indicated at the respective nodes. The tree is rooted with Amphisphaeria guttulata (MFLU 22-0078).

FIGURE 2. Drumopama girisa (UESTCC 24.0197); (a–c) Colonies on the substrate; (d–f) Conidiophores; (g, h) Conidiophore with young apical conidia; (h) Conidiophore with a young lateral conidium; (i–n) Conidia; Scale bars: d–h=20 µm, i–n=10 µm.