Kirschsteiniothelia aethiops (Sacc.) D. Hawksw., J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 91(1–2): 185 (1985).
≡ Amphisphaeria aethiops Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 1: 722 (1882).
MycoBank number: MB 104401; Index Fungorum number: IF 104401; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01738; Fig. 40
Saprobic on decaying wood submerged in freshwater habitats. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Colonies on the natural substrate superficial, effuse, gregarious, hairy, dark brown to black. Mycelium immersed, composed of septate, branched, thin-walled, smooth, pale brown hyphae. Coinidiophores 148–228 µm ( x̄ = 188 µm, SD = 40, n = 20) long, 6–8 μm ( x̄ = 7 µm, SD = 1, n = 20) wide, mononematous, macronematous, septate, usually with one or a number of short branches near apex, erect, straight or flexuous, smooth, brown to dark brown, gradually paler towards the apex, cylindrical, septate. Conidiogenous cells 25–33 µm ( x̄ = 29 µm, SD = 4, n = 20) long, 5–7 μm ( x̄ = 6 µm, SD = 1, n = 20) wide, tretic, integrated, sometimes percurrent, terminal, subhyaline to pale brown, doliiform or lageniform, new cell developing from apical or subapical part of subtending cell. Conidia 41–53 µm ( x̄ = 47 µm, SD = 6, n = 40) long, 12–16 μm ( x̄ = 14 µm, SD = 2, n = 40) wide, acrogenous, solitary, dry, cylindrical, sometimes clavate, rounded at the apex, 3–4-septate, constricted and darkly pigmented at the septa, smooth, brown.
Material examined: China, Yunnan Province, saprobic on submerged decaying wood in a freshwater stream in Laojunshan Mountain, H.W. Shen, June 2017, S-1322.
Sequence data: ITS: MH793539, LSU: MH793545, SSU: MH793556.
Notes: Kirschsteiniothelia aethiops is the generic type of Kirschsteiniothelia. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS, LSU and SSU sequence data showed that our strains (S-1322 and S-1406) are identical to the strains of K. aethiops (Fig. 38). The morphology of our isolates also fit well with K. aethiops (Su et al. 2016).
![Picture38](https://www.facesoffungi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Picture38.jpg)
Fig. 38 Phylogram generated from maximum likelihood analysis (RAxML) of Kirschsteiniotheliales based on ITS, LSU and SSU sequence data. Maximum likelihood bootstrap values equal or above 70%, Bayesian posterior probabilities equal or above 0.90 (MLBS/ PP) are given at the nodes. Isolate/specimen number is noted after the species name. The tree is rooted to Pleospora herbarum (CBS 191.86, MFLUCC 14–0920). The ex-type strains are indicated in bold. Hyphen (-) represents support values below 70% MLBS and 0.90 PP
![Picture40](https://www.facesoffungi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Picture40.jpg)
Fig. 40 Kirschsteiniothelia aethiops (S-1322) a Colonies on natural substrate. b, c Conidiophores with conidia. d, e Conidiogenous cells. f–i Conidia. j Germinating conidium. k, l Culture on PDA from surface and reverse. Scale bars: b = 90 μm, c = 70 μm, d, e = 40 μm, f–i = 15 μm, j = 30 μm