Pleosporales » Trematosphaeriaceae » Falciformispora

Falciformispora lignatilis

Falciformispora lignatilis K.D. Hyde

Index Fungorum number: IF 358910

Holotype: BRIP 16972

 

Saprobic on mangrove wood, rachis of the palm Elaeis guineensis. Sexual morph: Ascomata 150-270 μm high × 240-360 μm diam., solitary to gregarious, erumpent and eventually superficial by sloughing off of the upper woody cells, subglobose to ovoid, coriaceous, black, papillate, ostiolate. Papilla small, rounded. Peridium up to 36 μm wide, comprising two cells types, out layer composed of thick-walled angular or rounded brown cells, up to 8 μm diameter, cell wall up to 5 μm thick, inner layer composed of hyaline cells of textura prismatica, cells 12 × 3 μm diameter, cell wall 1-1.5 μm thick. Hamathecium of thick, cellular pseudoparaphyses 2-3 μm broad, septate, surrounded by a gelatinous matrix. Asci 110-136 × 20-32 μm, 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindro-clavate, with a short, thick pedicel, 8-15 μm long, with an ocular chamber ( to 5 μm wide × 3 μm high), with no visible ring. Ascospores 42-50 × 7.5-10 μm, 2-3 seriate, fusiform to clavate, hyaline, straight or slightly curved, 6-8-septate, mostly 7-septate, slightly constricted at all septa, third cell from the top the largest, tapering to narrow but rounded ends, smooth-walled, surrounded by a thin mucilaginous sheath and a single scythe-like appendage at the base, sheath may spread in older specimens and is up to 20-30 μm long. (Descriptions from Suetrong et al. 2011)

 

Material examined: MEXICO, Nova Hispania, mangrove near Boca de Pascuales, Mar 1988, K.D. Hyde, BRIP 16972; THAILAND, Trang Province, Huai Yot, Ban Sai Bo Village, NOV 2005 and 2008, U. Pinruan.

 

Notes: Falciformispora was formally established by Hyde (1992) as a monotypic genus and was assigned to the Pleosporaceae when compared with Setosphaeria, which has an Exserohilum anamorphic state and is exclusively parasitic on Gramineae. It was considered that the species was more closely related to Chaetomastia than Setosphaeria, and Falciformispora differed in having hyaline ascospores. Raja and Shearer (2008) collected this species from freshwater in Florida, while Suetrong et al. (2009) reported it from the terrestrial oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Thailand. In phylogenetic analysis, Falciformispora forms a well-supported clade with Trematosphaeria pertusa and Halomassarina thalassiae in Trematosphaeriaceae. The genus Carinispora is also similar and may be related (Hyde 1992). (Notes from Suetrong et al. 2011)

 

Fig 1. Falciformispora lignatilis (BRIP 16972,holotype). A. Appearance of ascomata on host surface with small papilla. B. Section of immersed ascoma. C-F. Squash mounts showing asci with cellular pseudoparaphyses. The asci are cylindro-clavate. F-G. Ascospores. Note the scythe-like appendage at the base (arrowhead). Scale bars: A-B = 100 μm, C = 50 μm, D-F = 10 μm. (Suetrong et al. 2011)

 

References

Hyde KD (1992) Intertidal mangrove fungi from the west coast of Mexico, including one new genus and two new species. Mycol. Res. 96: 25–30.

Raja HA, Shearer CA (2008) Freshwater Ascomycetes: new and noteworthy species from aquatic habitats in Florida. Mycologia 100: 467–489

Suetrong S, Hyde KD, Ahang Y, Bahkali AB, Jones EBG (2011) Trematosphaeriaceae fam. nov. (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota). Cryptogam Mycol 32:343–358

Suetrong S, Schoch CL, Spatafora JW, Kohlmeyer J, Volkmannkohlmeyer B, Sakayaroj J, Phongpaichit S, Tanaka K, Hirayama K,  Jones EBG (2009) Molecular systematics of the marine Dothideomycetes. Stud. Mycol 64: 155–173.

 

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