Montagnula agaves C.F. Liao, K.D. Hyde & Doilom
Classification – Didymosphaeriaceae, Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota
Index Fungorum number – IF900633; Facesoffungi number – FoF 14688
Other useful webpages – outlineoffungi.org; fungalgenera.org; Dothideomycetes.org
Etymology – referring to the host Agave sisalana, from where it was isolated.
Holotype – MHZU 22-0067
Description – Saprobic on dead leaf of Agave sisalana. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata 215–360 μm high, 190–360 μm diam., pycnidial or cupulate, superficial, scattered on the host surface, surrounding by a mass of subhyaline to brown mycelium. Conidiomatal wall composed of one layer of brown, thick-walled, large cells of textura angularis. Conidiophores up to 115 μm long, 2–7 μm wide, cylindrical, branched, 3–12-septate, slightly constricted at the septa, pale brown to brown, smooth-walled. Conidiogenous cells 8–13 × 4–6 μm (av. 10 × 5 μm, n = 10), holoblastic, monoblastic, integrated, determinate, terminal, cylindrical, pale brown to brown, smooth-walled. Conidia 8–15 μm diam. (av. 10 μm, n = 20), catenate, with 2–(–5) conidia in the terminal unbranched part, obovoid, with rounded apex and slightly truncate base, didymosporous, 1-septate, deeply constricted at the septum, asymmetric, apical cell larger than the basal cell, yellowish brown to reddish brown, rough- and thick-walled, slightly verrucose when young, becoming chapped from the surface view with age, sometimes split into two cells at the septum when old.
Culture characteristics – colonies on PDA reaching 15 mm diam. at 25 °C after two weeks, irregular, flat, dry, margin entire; from above and below, pale brown to brown; not producing pigmentation in the culture.
Material examined – China, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou City, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, on dead leaf of Agave sisalana Perr. ex Engelm. (Agavaceae), 17 November 2021, Y.H. Yang (MHZU 22-0067, holotype); ex-type culture ZHKUCC 22-0123.
GenBank accession numbers – ITS: OR198819, LSU: OR198820, SSU OR198729, tef1-α: OR195064.
Montagnula agaves (ZHKU 22-0067, holotype). a–c Conidiomata on leaf substate. d Conidiomatal wall. e–h Conidiophores, conidiogenous cells and conidia. i–l Conidia (k, l A divided cell). m Catenate conidia. n Germinated conidium. o Colony on PDA (front and below). Scale bars: d = 50 μm, f = 10 μm, e, g–n = 5 μm.
Maximum likelihood tree inferred from the combined LSU, ITS, SSU and tef1-α sequence data for Montagnula agaves. Maximum likelihood bootstrap support values equal to or greater than 80% and Bayesian posterior probabilities equal to or greater than 0.95 are given above the nodes (ML/BYPP). The tree is rooted to Pleospora herbarum (CBS 191.86). Ex-type strains are indicated with “T”. The new isolate from South China region is indicated in red.