Pestalotiopsis buxicola – Facesoffungi number: FoF 17096

Pestalotiopsis buxicola Ning Jiang & B. Cao, in Cao et al., Fungal Diversity 132: 462 (2025)

Index Fungorum number: IF 571957; MycoBank number: MB 571957; Facesoffungi number: FoF 17096; Fig. 1

Etymology – “buxi” refers to the host genus Buxus and “-cola” means inhabiting.

Holotype – CAF800090.

Conidiomata in culture sporodochial, aggregated or solitary, erumpent, pulvinate, black, 100–250 µm diam., exuding black conidial masses. Conidiophores indistinct, usually reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, smooth, cylindrical to spherical, annelidic, 8.5–26 × 2.5–4.5 µm. Conidia fusoid, straight or slightly curved, 4-septate, smooth, slightly constricted at the septa, (14.5–)16–20.5(–22.5) × (5.5–)6–7(–8) µm; basal cell obconic with a truncate base, thin-walled, hyaline or pale brown, 3.5–5.5 µm; median cells 3, trapezoid or subcylindrical, concolorous, brown, thick-walled, the first median cell from base 3.5–5 µm long, the second cell 4–5 µm long, the third cell 4–5.5 µm long, together 11.5–15.5 µm long; apical cell conic with an acute apex, thin-walled, hyaline, 2.5–4 µm long; basal appendage single, unbranched, tubular, centric, straight or slightly bent, 4–6.5 µm long; apical appendages 2–3, unbranched, tubular, centric, straight or bent, 6–15.5 µm long. Colonies on MEA flat, spreading, with flocculent aerial mycelium and entire edge, white, reaching 70 mm diam. after 7 d at 25 °C, forming black conidiomata; on PDA flat, spreading, with flocculent aerial mycelium and entire edge, white, reaching 70 mm diam. after 7 d at 25 °C, forming black conidiomata.

Material examined – CHINA, Shaanxi Province, Ankang City, Xiangxidong Park, 32°40’32”N 109°18’57”E, 2504 masl, on leaf spots of Buxus bodinieri, 8 Jul 2017, Ning Jiang, JN17.245 (CAF800090, holotype; CFCC 57357, ex-type) and JN17.246 (living culture CFCC 57358).

GenBank – CFCC 57357: PP965518 (ITS), PP957899 (tef1), PP957901 (tub2); CFCC 57358: PP965519 (ITS), PP957900 (tef1), PP957902 (tub2).

Notes – Two isolates from leaf spots of Buxus bodinieri cluster a distinct clade from all known species of Pestalotiopsis (Supplementary data, Online Resource 1), representing a new species named P. buxicola. Pestalotiopsis buxicola is phylogenetically close to P. photiniicola from Photinia serrulate, but has wider conidia (6–7 µm vs. 4–5 µm) (Chen et al. 2017b).

Figure 1 – Pestalotiopsis buxicola (CFCC 57357, ex-type). a Colony on PDA after 10 d at 25 °C. b Colony on MEA after 10 d at 25 °C. c Conidioma formed on PDA. d, e Conidiogenous cells giving rise to conidia. f, g Conidia. Scale bars: c = 200 µm, d–g = 10 µm.