Neodictyocheirospora appendiculata W.H. Tian, K.D. Hyde & Maharachch., in Tian, Liu, Jin, Chen, Zhou, Wu, Su, Guo, Wanasinghe, Hyde, Liu & Maharachchikumbura, Mycosphere 15(1): 1834 (2024)

Index Fungorum number: IF 855810; MycoBank number: MB 855810; Facesoffungi number: FoF16275

Etymology – The name refers to its subglobose appendages.

Holotype – HKAS 131277

Saprobic on the dead twigs of Cryptomeria fortunei. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Colonies sporodochia, punctiform, velvety, superficial, pulvinate, and dark brown to black. Conidiophores micronematous, simple or branched, hyaline or pale brown, smooth, and thin-walled. Conidiogenous cells 1.3–2 μm (x̅ = 1.6 μm, n = 20) wide, holoblastic, hyaline or pale brown, terminal, determinate, and smooth-walled. Conidia 25–45 × 15–28 μm (x̅ = 38 × 20 μm, n = 40), acrogenous, holoblastic, solitary, cheiroid, oval to ellipsoid, greyish orange to dark brown, and consist of 5–9 vertical rows of cells, each row of 7–13 cells with an apical hyaline, inflated, gelatinous, subglobose, guttulate, cap-like appendage 3.5–7 × 3–4.5 μm (x̅ = 4.9 × 3.8 μm, n = 40); rows not separating and are constricted at the septa and smooth. Sexual morph: Undetermined.

Material examined – China, Sichuan Province, Ya’an City, Longcanggou National Forest Park, N 29°37’36”, E 102°53’13”, elevation 628 m, 28 July 2022, within dead twigs of Cryptomeria fortunei, W.H. Tian LCGS08_2 (HKAS 131277, holotype).

GenBank numbers – ITS: OR887391, LSU: OR887102

Notes – The phylogenetic analyses showed that Neodictyocheirospora appendiculata clustered as sister to Neodictyocheirospora sichuanensis with 98% ML, 1.00 BYPP statistical support. However, they differ in morphology, i.e., conidia of N. appendiculata and N. sichuanensis vary in size (25–45 × 15–28 μm vs. 25–120 × 17–77 μm), shapes (cheiroid and oval to ellipsoid vs. irregular-shaped), cell composition (5–9 vertical rows of cells and each row of 7–13 cells vs. 6–12 vertical rows of subglobose cells and each row with 8–12 cells) and appendages (subglobose and cap-like appendage vs. without appendages). In addition, the colonies of N. appendiculata are velvety, pulvinate, and dark brown to black, while the colonies of N. sichuanensis are scattered, solitary, pale brow. Based on pairwise nucleotide comparisons, N. appendiculata differs from N. sichuanensis by 33/488 bp (gaps: 11/488 bp) in ITS; 20/794 bp (gaps: 3/794 bp) in LSU.

Figure 1 – Neodictyocheirospora appendiculata (HKAS 131277, holotype). a Specimen. b, c Colonies on dead twigs of Cryptomeria fortunei. d Squash mount of a colony. e, f Conidiogenous cells and conidia. g–k Conidia. Scale bars: d = 20 μm, e–k = 10 μm.