Erioscyphella latispora
Erioscyphella latispora C.J.Y. Li & Q. Zhao.
Index Fungorum number: IF 559355; Facesoffungi Number: FoF 12759
Etymology – The specific epithet refers to the wide ascospores.
Holotype – HKAS 124389.
Saprobic on the newly fallen trunk. Sexual morph: Apothecia 1–2.5 mm wide × 1.5–3.8 mm high (x̅ = 1.6 × 2.5 mm, n = 50) when dry, superficial, arising scattered or in clusters, cup-shaped, long-stipitate, covered with long, white hairs. Disc circular, concave and smooth, deep yellow to orange-yellow (4A8-4B8). Receptacle cupulate, concolorous, covered with white hairs. Stipe 0.3– 0.7 mm wide × 1–2.8 mm long (x̅ = 0.5 × 1.7 mm, n = 30), concolorous with receptacle, long and narrow with whitish hairs, blackish and hairless base. Hairs 69–89 μm long × 3.4–4.4 μm wide (x̅ = 80 × 3.8 mm, n = 10), scaled and tilted outward, arising from the outermost layer cells of ectal excipulum, slightly curved, cylindric with blunt ends, thin-walled, densely covered with colorless granules, septate, hyaline. Hymenium 154–173 μm, hyaline to pale yellow. Ectal excipulum 23–29μm thick, comprised of 1–3 layers, thin-walled, poor-developed hyaline cells of textura angularis at the receptacle, comprised of thin-walled, septate, hyaline hyphae of textura intricata with yellowish contents at stipe, non-gelatinous. Medullary excipulum 152–267 μm thick, 1.9–3.9 μm wide, comprised of thin-walled, septate, hyaline, loosely packed hyphae of textura intricata with yellowish contents, non-gelatinous. Subhymenium 41–50 μm, hyaline to pale yellow (4A3), comprising tightly packed hyphae of textura intricata with yellowish contents. Paraphyses 2.2–3.8
μm (x̅ = 2.9 μm, n = 30) in the widest, hyaline, thick-walled, narrow lanceolate, septate, unbranched, observed conspicuous contents, extending beyond the asci. Asci 121–142 × 9–12 μm (x̅ = 132 × 10 μm, n = 40), 8-spored, cylindric or subclavate, rounded to subconical apex with J+ apical ring in Melzer’s reagent, tapering to subtruncate base. Ascospores (21–)22–27(–31) × (4.1–)4.4–5.4(–5.8) μm (x̅ = 25 × 4.9 μm, n = 100), Q = (4.2–)4.4–5.7(–6.1) μm, Qm = 5.0 ± 0.2 μm, overlapping uniseriate, fusiform with sharp ends, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, 3–4-septate, four or more large guttules. Asexual morph – Undetermined.
Material examined – China, Yunnan Province, Puer City, Jingdong County, altitude 2500m, on the newly fallen trunk, 30 July 2021, Cuijinyi Li, LCJY-269 (HKAS 124389, holotype); ibid, Kunming City, Sanjian mountain, altitude 1950m, on decayed wood, 18 December 2021, Cuijinyi Li, LCJY-359 (HKAS 124391, paratype).
Notes – The distinctive characteristics of Erioscyphella latispora are large, cup-shaped apothecia, long stipe, scaly and long white hairs with dense, hyaline granules, lanceolate and septate paraphyses and wide, fusiform, 3-septate ascospores. Morphologically, Erioscyphella latispora resembles E. sasibrevispora with regards to the receptacle shape, yellow to pale orange discs and lanceolate paraphyses. In contrast to E. sasibrevispora, E. latispora, has longer stipes (1.7 mm vs. 0.8 mm) and larger asci (121–142 × 9–12 μm vs. 82.5–90 × 6.6–8.1 μm) (Tochihara & Hosoya 2022). Erioscyphella paralushanensis exhibits characteristics similar to E. latispora, such as the apothecial shape and size but differs in red hairs and shorter asci (61.4–70.2 × 4.7–5.6 μm vs. 121–142 × 9–12 μm) (Tochihara & Hosoya 2022). Erioscyphella alba shares some similar characteristics with regards to the apothecia of E. latispora but is distinguished by having straight hairs, shorter asci (42.1–48.9 × 4.9–6.3 µm vs. 121–142 × 9–12 μm) and smaller ascospores (11.1– 13.4 × 1.8–2.4 µm vs. 22–27 ×4.4–5.4) (Ekanayaka et al. 2019). Phylogenetically, our collections formed a clade and sister to Erioscyphella otanii and E. papillaris with 96% ML bootstrap support and 1.00 Bayesian probability in the nLSU-ITS multigene phylogeny (Fig. 2). Although Erioscyphella latispora has a closer phylogenetic relationship and similar traits of fusiform ascospores with E. otanii and E. papillaris, the latter two are distinguished from E. latispora by having narrow ascospores, small apothecia and ascospores and obvious ectal excipulum cells (Tochihara & Hosoya 2022)
Erioscyphella latispora (HKAS 124389, holotype). a–b Fresh ascomata on the wood. c Dried ascomata on the wood. d Vertical section of an ascoma. e Ectal excipulum. f Medullary excipulum. g–h Hairs. i–j Paraphyses. k–m Asci (m Asci in Meltzer's reagent). n–q Ascospores (p-q Ascospores in Meltzer's reagent). – Scale bars: c = 1500 μm, d = 500 μm, e = 25 μm, f = 35 μm, g =50 μm, h = 30 μm, i = 100 μm, j = 50 μm, k–m = 70 μm, n–q = 10 μm.
Maximum likelihood tree generated from RAxML analyses based on the combined dataset of nLSU, ITS and RPB2 sequences, showing the phylogenetic position of Erioscyphella latispora and Proliferodiscus longisporus. The ML bootstrap proportions (ML-BP) higher than 80% and Bayesian posterior proportions (BI-PP) higher than 0.95 are shown above the branches on the phylogenetic tree with the order ‘MP/BI/ML’. Newly generated sequences are shown in blue. Extypes are shown in bold black .
References:
Li CJY, Chethana KWT, Lu ZY, Zhao Q 2022 – Two novel species of Lachnaceae (Helotiales, Leotiomycetes) from southwestern China. Current Research in Environmental & Applied Mycology (Journal of Fungal Biology) 12(1), 333–345, Doi 10.5943/cream/12/1/20
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