Lophiostoma caudatum Fabre, Annls Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 6 9: 103 (1879) [1878]

Index Fungorum number: IF 185164; MycoBank number: MB 185164; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00826; Fig. 1

=Sigarispora caudata (Fabre) Thambug., Qing Tian, Kaz. Tanaka & K.D. Hyde, in Thambugala et al., Fungal Diversity 74: 241 (2015)

Saprobic on dead stem of Cousinia umbrosa in a terrestrial habitat. Sexual morph Ascomata 322–349 μm high, 191–251 μm diam. (x̅=336 × 211 μm, n=10), scattered, immersed to semi-immersed, papilla erumpent through host surface, flattened at the base, coriaceous, black, ostiolate. Ostiole 128–175×35–39 μm wide (x̅=146×37 μm, n=5), slit-like, central, with a crest-like apex and a porelike opening, elongated, irregular wall, filled with hyaline periphyses. Peridium 25–47 μm wide (x̅=35 μm, n=13), wider at the apex and thinner at the base, with dark brown to lightly pigmented, thin-walled cells of textura angularis, cells towards the inside lighter and darker towards outside, merging with the host tissues. Hamathecium composed of numerous, 1–2 μm wide, filamentous, septate, pseudoparaphyses. Asci 89–215×12–13.5 μm (x̅=114×13 μm, n=10), 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, clavate, with an apically rounded and a bulbous pedicel. Ascospores 23–28×5–7 μm (x̅=25×6 μm, n=18), biseriate, overlapping, brown to dark brown, fusiform with narrow, acute ends, usually 3–6 septate, not constricted at the central septum, guttulate, lacking a mucilaginous sheath, smooth-walled. Asexual morph Undetermined.

Material examined – UZBEKISTAN, Jizzakh Province, Zaamin District, Zaamin National Nature Park, river of Ettisuv, Turkestan range of Pamir-Alay Mountains, on dead stem of Cousinia umbrosa Bunge (Compositae), 11 July 2019, Y. Gafforov and T. Kholmuradova, YG-Z2-1 (TASM 6156, new host and geographical record).

GenBank Numbers – ITS=MZ576205, LSU=MZ577238, SSU=MZ577240, TEF1-α=MZ605436.

Notes – In phylogenetic analysis of Lophiostoma, our strain (TASM 6156) clusters with the reliable strain Lophiostoma caudatum (KT 530) with 83% MLBS, 0.99 BYPP (Fig. 2). However, our strain shares similar morphological characters of ascomata, asci and ascospores (Fig. 1) with L. caudatum (KT 530) (Thambugala et al. 2015). Pairwise comparison of the ITS, LSU, SSU and TEF1-α sequences of L. caudatum (TASM 6156) and L. caudatum (KT 530) reveals 0.61% in ITS, 0.11% in LSU and SSU, and 0.61% in TEF1-α are not significantly different. Therefore, L. caudatum is reported as a new host and geographical record on Cousinia umbrosa for Uzbekistan.

Figure 1 – Lophiostoma caudatum (TASM 6156, new host and geographical record). a, b Appearance of ascomata on host surface. c Vertical section of ascoma. d Ostiolar canal. e Peridium. f Pseudoparaphyses. g–i Asci. j–m Ascospores. Scale bars: c, d=50 µm, e–i=20 µm, j–m=10 µm

Figure 2 – Phylogram generated from maximum likelihood analysis based on combined SSU, LSU, ITS, TEF1-α and RPB2 sequence data for Lophiostomataceae. One hundred twelve strains are included in the combined analyses which comprise a total of 4199 characters. Teichospora rubriostiolata TR7 and Teichospora trabicola C134 are selected as the outgroup taxa. The best RAxML tree with a final likelihood value of − 30611.078207 is presented. RAxML analysis yielded 1567 distinct alignment patterns and 25.77% of undetermined characters or gaps. Estimated base frequencies were as follows: A=0.248812, C=0.247504, G=0.267733, T=0.235951, with substitution rates AC=1.717311, AG=4.965346, AT=1.578028, CG=1.454739, CT=10.722777, GT=1.000000; gamma distribution shape parameter alpha=0.639152. Support values for maximum likelihood (MLBS, left) greater than 70% and Bayesian posterior probabilities (BYPP, right) greater than 0.90 are given at the nodes. Extype strains are in bold and newly generated sequences are in blue

Figure 2 – (continued)