Caryospora aquatica
Caryospora aquatica H. Zhang, K.D. Hyde & Ariyawansa
Index Fungorum number: IF551418; Facesoffungi number: FoF00958; Fig. 11
Saprobic on decaying wood submerged in freshwater. Sexual morph: Ascomata 270–310 μm high, 250–330 μm diam., black, scattered or gregarious, superficial, hemisphaerical, flattened at the base, carbonaceous, ostiolate, always covered with mass of black, glistening ascospores. Peridium 50–60 μm at the sides, poorly developed at the base, easily cracked, two-layered, outer layer strongly carbonized, amorphous, composed of several layers of black cells that cannot be differentiated and often occluded, inner layer composed of several layers of hyaline cells of textura angularis. Pseudoparaphyses 2 μm diam., numerous, trabeculate, filiform, hyaline, septate. Asci 160–210(–270) × 45–58 μm (x̄ = 190 × 52 μm, n = 10), 8-spored, bitunicate, narrowly to broadly clavate, with short pedicel, apically rounded. Ascospores 35–48 × 18–28 μm (x̄ = 42 × 22 μm, n = 40), biseriate, straight, broadly fusiform, hyaline to pale brown, 1-septate when young, becoming irregularly diamond-shaped, dark brown to black, 3-septate when mature, with rounded ends, constricted and darker at the median septum, not constricted and inconspicuous at two terminal septa, asymmetric, with two large central cells and two small end cells, guttulate, thick-walled, smooth, sometimes with polar germ pores at each end, surrounded by an irregular, mucilaginous sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined. (Descriptions from Dong et al. 2020)
Culture characteristics: On PDA, colony circular, reaching 15 mm diam. in 50 days at 25 °C, grey from above, black from below, surface rough, dry, with dense mycelium, raised, edge entire.
Material examined: CHINA, Yunnan Province, on sub- merged wood in a stream, 25 November 2017, G.N. Wang, H3A-1 (MFLU 18–1202), living culture MFLUCC 18–1030; ibid., H3A-2 (HKAS 101729), living culture KUMCC 18–0079.
Notes: New collection MFLUCC 18-1030 of Dong et al. (2020) clusters with Caryospora aquatica H. Zhang et al. (MFLUCC 11-0008) and one putative strain of C. minima Jeffers with high bootstrap support. MFLUCC 18-1030 has identical LSU sequence data with C. aquatica MFLUCC 11-0008 and seven (including three gaps) nucleotide differences in ITS sequence data between the two isolates, which indicate them to be the same species. Morphologically, Dong et al. (2020) collection has very similar morphological characters with C. aquatica, except the slightly thinner asci (45–58 μm wide vs. 60–80 μm wide) and irregular sheaths (Ariyawansa et al. 2015, Dong et al. 2020).
Caryospora minima was initially collected from putrescent putamina of Amygdalus persica in Maryland, USA (Jeffers 1940). Later, several freshwater collections of C. minima were reported in China, Philippines and South Africa (see freshwater distribution of this species), but they were not confirmed by molecular data. Cai and Hyde (2007) provided LSU (EU196550) and SSU (EU196551) sequence data for C. minima without strain code, description, illustration and herbarium information. Thus, these two sequences are doubtful. A specimen (IFRD 083-010) under name C. minima is illustrated in Dong et al. (2020) study. However, this species should be treated with caution based on the holotype BPI 71132. It would be good to establish an epitype for C. minima with reliable sequence data.
Freshwater distribution: China (Dong et al. 2020), Thailand (Ariyawansa et al. 2015)
References
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