Natipusilla
Natipusilla A. Ferrer, A.N. Mill. & Shearer, Mycologia 103(2): 417 (2011)
Saprobic on submerged wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered or aggregated, erumpent to superficial, uniloculate, globose to subglobose, hyaline to brown, lacking ostioles, occasionally with minute papilla. Peridium thin, membra- nous, glabrous, forming a textura angularis in surface view. Pseudoparaphyses sparse or absent. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, globose to obclavate, lacking a pedicel, with or without an ocular chamber. Ascospores overlapping tri- to multi-seriate, arranged in a group, fusiform or clavate, straight, the upper cell often shorter and broader than the lower one, mostly 1-septate, hyaline, occasionally becoming 3-septate, pale brown at age, guttulate when young, smooth, thin-walled, with or without a gelatinous sheath (Ferrer et al. 2011). Asexual morph: Undetermined.
Type species: Natipusilla decorospora A. Ferrer, A.N. Mill. & Shearer
Notes: All species described in this genus were reported from freshwater habitats in tropical and subtropical regions (Ferrer et al. 2011; Raja et al. 2012). Phylogenetic analysis using combined SSU and LSU sequence dataset placed this genus in a distinct clade within Dothideomycetes. Therefore, a novel family, Natipusillaceae (Raja et al. 2012), and new order Natipusillales (Hyde et al. 2013) were established for Natipusilla. Ascominuta Ranghoo & K.D. Hyde was thought to be an earlier name of Natipusilla (Hyde et al. 2013) due to the bitunicate, globose asci, sheathed ascospores and freshwater habitat (Ranghoo and Hyde 1999; Hu et al. 2010; Ferrer et al. 2011; Raja et al. 2012). However, Ascominuta differs from Natipusilla in the numbers of ascospores per asci (4 vs. 8) and colour of ascomata (hyaline to brown vs. dark brown to black). Only LSU sequence (AF132335) of A. lignicola Ranghoo & K.D. Hyde (generic type) was deposited in Genbank, and it cannot be aligned with Natipusilla. Further molecular and morphological data are needed to clarify these two genera (Raja et al. 2012). All Natipusilla species are surrounded by a complex gelatinous sheath, except N. naponensis A. Ferrer et al. lacks a sheath (Ferrer et al. 2011; Raja et al. 2012).
List of freshwater Natipusilla species
*Natipusilla decorospora A. Ferrer et al., Mycologia 103(2): 417 (2011)
*Natipusilla limonensis A. Ferrer, A.N. Mill. & Shearer, Mycologia 103(2): 417 (2011)
*Natipusilla naponensis A. Ferrer, A.N. Mill. & Shearer, Mycologia 103(2): 420 (2011)
*Natipusilla bellaspora Raja, Shearer & A.N. Mill., Mycologia 104(2): 570 (2012)
Key to freshwater Natipusilla species
1. Ascospores without sheath.................................................. N. naponensis
1. Ascospores with complex gelatinous sheaths............................................ 2
2. Ascospores 40–48 × 10–13 µm............................................ N. bellaspora
2. Ascospores < 40 µm long......................................................................... 3
3. Ascospores 30–37 × 6–9 µm, with a single scythe shaped appendage at the apex N. decrospora
3. Ascospores 35–40 × 9–11 µm, without appendage............... N. limonensis
References
Ferrer A, Miller AN, Shearer CA (2011) Minutisphaera and Natipusilla: two new genera of freshwater Dothideomycetes. Mycologia 103:411–423
Hu DM, Cai L, Chen H, Bahkali AH, Hyde KD (2010) Four new freshwater fungi associated with submerged wood from Southwest Asia. Sydowia 62:191–203
Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Liu JK, Ariyawansa H et al. (2013) Families of Dothideomycetes. Fungal Divers 63:1–313
Raja HA, Miller AN, Shearer CA (2012) Freshwater ascomycetes: Natipusillaceae, a new family of tropical fungi, including Natipusilla bellaspora sp. nov. from the Peruvian Amazon. Mycologia 104:569–573
Ranghoo VM, Hyde KD (1999) Ascomauritiana lignicola gen. et sp. nov., an ascomycete from submerged wood in Mauritius. Mycol Res 103:938–942
Recent Genus
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