Neopestalotiopsis litseae Z. A. Heng & J. Z. Qiu, 2025

Heng, Zhi-Ang, Mu, Tai-Chang, Keyhani, Nemat O., Yang, Li-Xia, Zheng, Ming-Hai, Lv, Hua-Jun, Zhao, Zhi-Ying, Mao, Yu-Chen, Shang, Jun-Ya, Yang, Jiao, Pu, Hui-Li, Lin, Yong-Sheng, Zhu, Meng-Jia, Dang, Yu-Xiao, Wu, Dong-Mei, Qiu, Zhen-Xing, Qiu, Jun-Zhi & Guan, Xia-Yu, 2025, Three new species of Neopestalotiopsis and Pseudopestalotiopsis (Sporocadaceae, Amphisphaeriales) associated with shrub leaf diseases from Fujian, China, MycoKeys 119, pp. 1-28 : 1-28

Neopestalotiopsis litseae Z. A. Heng & J. Z. Qiu sp. nov.

Fig. 3

Type.

China • Fujian Province: Zhangzhou City , 24°30'36"N, 117°39'0"E, on diseased leaves of Litsea verticillata , September 2023, Z. A. Heng, holotype HMAS 353367 ; ex-holotype culture CGMCC 3.28543 . China • Fujian Province: Zhangzhou City , 24°30'36"N, 117°39'0"E, on diseased leaves of Litsea verticillata , September 2023, Z. A. Heng, paratype HMAS 353368 ; ex-paratype culture CGMCC 3.28544 .

Etymology.

Referring to the host genus from which it was isolated, Litsea verticillata .

Diagnosis.

Asexual morph on PDA: Conidiomata spherical or hemispherical submerged on PDA, black conidiophores hyaline, rugose and thin-walled, often reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidia columnar, straight or slightly curved, 19.2–27.7 × 4.6–6.8 μm (mean = 23.4 × 5.8 μm); 4 – septate, basal cells obconic to narrowly obconic, 3.2–5.7 μm (mean = 4.0 μm) long, hyaline, thin- and smooth-walled; the three intermediate cells columnar, versicoloured, septa darker than the rest of cells, 12.2–17.2 μm (mean = 15.2 μm) long; the second cell from the base light brown, 3.2–5.9 μm (mean = 4.7 μm) long; the third and fourth cells are dark brown; the third cell 4.3–6.4 μm (mean = 5.1 μm) long; the fourth cell 4.1–6.5 μm (mean = 4.9 μm) long; apical cell hyaline, conical or sub cylindrical, 2–5 μm (mean = 4 μm); with 2–3 tubular apical appendages (mostly 3) arising at different parts of the apical cell, unbranched, filiform, flexuous, 9.3–42.6 μm (mean = 22 μm) long; basal appendages single, tubular, unbranched, 3.2–8.8 μm (mean = 5.9 μm) long. Sexual morph: Unknown.

Cultivation characteristics.

Colonies on PDA were nearly circular, grew rapidly, reaching 71–74.5 mm diam. after 7 d at 25 ° C; colony initially white, becoming grey-white or pale yellow after 14 days, conidiomata scarce, scattered, black, reverse side of the colony, faint yellow.

Notes.

Two isolates corresponding to Neopestalotiopsis litseae ( CGMCC 3.28543 and CGMCC 3.28544 ) formed a distinct branch to Neo . machili ( CGMCC 3.23477 and LC 15848) with 97 % ML / 0.96 BYPP statistical support (Fig. 1 ). Neopestalotiopsis litseae ( CGMCC 3.28543 ) is closely related to Neo . machili ( CGMCC 3.23477 ) and comparisons of the nucleotide sequences examined showed 19 bp differences in three loci (3 bp for ITS and 16 bp for tef 1, including four gaps). Neo. litseae is morphologically distinct from Neo . machili with narrower conidia 4.6–6.8 μm vs. 7–8.5 μm ( Razaghi et al. 2024).

Figures

Figure 1. Phylogenetic relationship of Neopestalotiopsis, based on concatenated sequences of ITS, tub 2 and tef 1 sequence data. Branch support values are indicated above the nodes as ML bootstrap supports (≥ 95 %) and BI posterior probabilities (≥ 0.90). The tree is rooted to Pestalotiopsis diversiseta (MFLUCC 12-0287) and Pestalotiopsis colombiensis (CBS 118553). Novel species are in red and “ T ” indicates the type specimen. Some branches are shortened according to the indicated multipliers to fit the page size and these are indicated by the symbol (//).

Figure 3. Neopestalotiopsis litseae (holotype HMAS 353367) a leaves of host shrub b, c colony on PDA after 7 days (surface and reverse) d, e conidiomata on PDA f – g conidiogenous cells and conidia h – m conidia. Scale bars: 10 µm (f – m).