Pestalotiopsis liuzhouensis Li-Hua Zhu, Hui Li & D. W. Li, 2025

Li, Hui, Bai, Yu-Qing, Xie, Jun-Ya, Li, De-Wei & Zhu, Li-Hua, 2025, Two new species of Pestalotiopsis (Amphisphaeriales, Pestalotiopsidaceae) causing needle blight of Pinus massoniana in China, MycoKeys 125, pp. 95-114 : 95-114

Pestalotiopsis liuzhouensis Li-Hua Zhu, Hui Li & D. W. Li sp. nov.

Fig. 4

Etymology.

the epithet referring to the place where the holotype was collected.

Culture characteristics.

On PDA medium, the front of the colony is white, with dense aerial hyphae and complete edges. The center of the back is light yellow.

Description.

Sporadic black and gregarious conidiomata produced on PDA after 7 days under light at 25 ° C, globose, semi-immersed, dark brown to black, up to 400 μm diam (Fig. 4 B ); Conidiophores indistinct and reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells (7.2 –) 8.5–12 (- 13.3) × (2.5 –) 3.1–5.2 (- 5.9) µm (11.2 ± 1.3 × 3.9 ± 0.7 µm, n = 30), hyaline, ampulliform or cylindrical, and sometimes slightly wide at the base (Fig. 4 C ). Conidia phragmospores, (19.7 –) 21.1–23.4 (– 24.8) × (7.8 –) 8.4–9.2 (– 9.8) µm (22.4 ± 1.4 × 8.9 ± 0.6 µm, n = 30), fusoid, ellipsoid, straight to slightly curved, 4 - septate (Fig. 4 D ); basal cell hyaline, obconic, thin-walled, 3.7–6.1 μm long; three median cells doliiform, wall rugose, concolorous, brown, septa darker than the rest of the cell (second cell from the base 3.7–5.6 μm long; third cell 4.1–5.8 μm long; fourth cell 4.0–6.2 μm long); apical cell hyaline, smooth-walled, conic or trapezoid, tapering toward the apex, 2.2–4.4 μm long, with 2–4 tubular apical appendages (mostly 2 and rarely 4), arising from the apical crest, unbranched, filiform, 8.7–23.4 μm long; basal appendage single, tubular, unbranched, centric, 1.5–5.1 μm long.

Holotype.

China • Guangxi province, Liuzhou city, Shatang Town, Junwu Park , 24°21'45"N, 109°24'07"E (DMS), isolated from needles of Pinus massoniana , 23 July 2023, Hui Li, holotype CFCC 70485 . Holotype is a living specimen being maintained via lyophilization at the China Forestry Culture Collection Center ( CFCC), Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China, and ex-type DB 1-1 is stored at the Forest Pathology Laboratory, Nanjing Forestry University.

Habitat and host.

On needles of Pinus massoniana with needle blight.

Known distribution.

Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, China.

Additional specimens examined.

China Guangxi province, Liuzhou city, Shatang Town, Junwu Park , 24°21'45"N, 109°24'07"E (DMS), isolated from needles of Pinus massoniana , 23 July 2023, Hui Li, cultures: CFCC 70482 (= DB 1-2), CFCC 70479 (= DB 1-3), CFCC 70474 (= DB 1-4), and CFCC 70478 (= DB 1-5) .

Notes.

Compared with P. jiangsuensis, DB 1-1 has wider conidia, 22.4 ± 1.4 × 8.9 ± 0.6 µm vs 23.4 ± 1.8 × 7.5 ± 0.5 μm. The number of apical appendages is 2–4, while there are 1–4 tubular apical appendages in P. jiangsuensis .

Figures

Figure 4. Pestalotiopsis liuzhouensis (DB 1-1). A. Colony on PDA after 5 days at 25 ° C in the dark; B. Conidiomata and conidial masses; C. Conidiophores, conidiogenous cells, and conidia; D. Conidia. Scale bars: 500 μm (B); 20 μm (C, D).