Pestalotiopsis zhaoqingensis H.J. Zhao & W. Dong
Classification – Sporocadaceae, Amphisphaeriales, Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota
Index Fungorum number – IF900715; Facesoffungi number – FoF 14693
Other useful webpages – outlineoffungi.org; fungalgenera.org; Sordariomycetes.org; coelomycetes.org
Etymology – referring to the Zhaoqing City, from where the fungus was collected.
Holotype – MHZU 23-0109
Description – Saprobic on dead leaves of unknown host. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata acervular, saucer-shaped, black, scattered or aggregated, semi-immersed, shining, releasing black conidial masses on the surface. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 5–12 × 2–7 μm, holoblastic, monoblastic, determinate, hyaline, smooth. Conidia 17–24 × 4–8 µm (av. 21 × 6 µm, n = 30), fusiform, straight to slightly curved, 4-septate, slightly constricted and darker at septa, with three brown median cells (not often concolorous) and two subhyaline end cells, smooth- and thin-walled; basal cell 2–5 µm long, obconic, hyaline to subhyaline, with 1–2(–3) filiform, branched basal appendages, 4–17 µm long, basal appendage sometimes with a knot; apical cell 2–5 µm long, conical, hyaline to subhyaline, with 2–4 filiform, unbranched apical appendages, occasionally branched, 8–20 µm long.
Culture characteristics – Colonies on PDA reaching 60 mm diam. at 28 °C after 7 days. Surface margin undulate, with grey aerial mycelium, grey at the margin, dark grey at the middle, raised, dry, margin irregular. Reverse pale grey at the margin, orange-brown at the middle, irregular. Several conidiomata produced in PDA at 28 °C after 30 days, irregular-shaped, scattered, semi-immersed to erumpent, dark brown to black; exuding globose, dark brown to black conidial masses.
Material examined – China, Guangdong Province, Zhaoqing City, Dinghu Mountain, on dead leaves of unidentified host, 8 November 2021, H.J. Zhao, FS1 (MHZU 23-0109, holotype); ex-type culture ZHKUCC 23-0825.
GenBank accession numbers – ITS: OR233336, tef1-α: OR239061, tub2: OR239062.
Notes – See Dong et al. (2023)
Pestalotiopsis zhaoqingensis (MHZU 23-0109, holotype). a Colony on PDA (front view). b Colony on PDA (below view). c Conidial mass. d Conidiogenous cells giving rise to conidia. e–p Conidia. Scale bars: d = 10 μm, e–p = 15 μm.
Maximum likelihood tree inferred from the combined ITS, tef1-α and tub2 sequence data for Pestalotiopsis camelliae-japonicae, P. pyrrosiae-linguae, and P. zhaoqingensis. 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 Neopestalotiopsis magna (MFLUCC 12-0652). Ex-type strains are indicated with “T”. The new species from South China region are indicated in red.
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