Pleopunctum baoshanense G. C. Ren & Tibpromma 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ren, Guang-Cong
name: Tibpromma, Saowaluck
name: Dong, Kai-Xuan
name: Gao, Chen-Xi
name: Zhang, Chao-Shan
name: Karunarathna, Samantha C.
name: Elgorban, Abdallah M.
name: Gui, Heng
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Fungi
Ascomycota
Dothideomycetes
Pleosporales
Phaeoseptaceae
Pleopunctum
Pleopunctum baoshanense

description: Pleopunctum baoshanense G. C. Ren & Tibpromma sp. nov.
Fig. 7
Etymology.
The specific epithet “ baoshanense ” reflects the location “ Baoshan ” where the holotype was collected.
Holotype.
HKAS 134936.
Description.
Saprobic on decaying wood of Castanopsis calathiformis (Fagaceae) in terrestrial habitat. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Colonies on natural substrate sporodochial, superficial, black, scattered, gregarious. Mycelium immersed in the substratum, composed of septate hyphae. Conidiophores 3–5 µm wide (x ̄ = 3.8 µm, n = 15), macronematous, mononematous, cylindrical, unbranched, septate, hyaline and smooth-walled. Conidiogenous cells monoblastic, terminal, integrated, hyaline. Conidia 33–46 × 22.5–27.6 μm (x ̄ = 39 × 25 μm, n = 40), acrogenous, solitary, muriform, oval to ellipsoidal, smooth-walled, broadly obtuse at apex and dark brown, truncate at base and paler brown, often with a hyaline, elliptical to globose basal cell, 10–14 × 13–15 μm (x ̄ = 12 × 13 μm, n = 30).
Culture characteristics.
Conidia germinated on PDA within 24 h at room temperature (25 ° C). Germ tubes produced from the basal cells of conidia. Colonies on PDA, reaching 30 mm diameter after 2 weeks at 20–25 ° C, mycelia superficial, irregular, umbonate at the center, fimbriate, undulate entire, grey, radially furrowed, with hyaline, glistening, rough, wrinkled, granular droplets of oil; reverse, grey, radially furrowed, grey white at the margin.
Material examined.
China, Yunnan Province, Baoshan (25 ° 18 ' 48 " N, 99 ° 09 ' 50 " E), on dead woody twigs of Castanopsis calathiformis (Fagaceae), 12 July 2020, G. C. Ren, B 194 (HKAS 134936, holotype), ex-type living culture KUNCC 21-0494.
Notes.
Multi-loci phylogenetic analyses based on a concatenated SSU, LSU, ITS, tef 1 - α, and rpb 2 sequence dataset show that our new collection (KUNCC 21-0494) clusters sister to strains of Pleopunctum pseudoellipsoideum (MFLUCC 19-0391, KUMCC 21-0820, HKAS 122915) and P. ellipsoideum (MFLUCC 19-0390, MFLUCC 21-0064) with solid support (100 % ML and 1.00 BYPP, Fig. 3). Sequence comparison for the ITS region between Pleopunctum baoshanense (KUMCC 21-0494) and P. pseudoellipsoideum (MFLUCC 19-0391) showed a 1.54 % (8 / 520 bp, without the gaps) base pair difference, 2.26 % (21 / 930 bp, without the gaps) base pair difference for the tef 1 - α region. Sequence comparison for the ITS region between Pleopunctum baoshanense (KUNCC 21-0494) and P. ellipsoideum (MFLUCC 19-0390) showed a 1.65 % (8 / 486 bp, without the gaps) base pair difference, 1.81 % (15 / 827 bp, without the gaps) base pair difference for tef 1 - α region. Pleopunctum baoshanense, P. pseudoellipticum, and P. ellipsoideum are morphologically similar, they have sporodochial conidiomata; septate hyphae mycelium; mononematous, cylindrical conidiophores; monoblastic, terminal, hyaline conidiogenous cells and muriform, oval to ellipsoidal conidia often with a hyaline, elliptical to globose basal cell, but can be distinguished from P. pseudoellipsoideum and P. ellipsoideum in having hyaline conidiophores and conidiogenous cells, different sizes of conidia (39 × 25 μm vs. 50 × 24 μm vs. 45 × 20 μm), while both of them have medium brown conidiophores and conidiogenous cells (Liu et al. 2019; Xu et al. 2023). Therefore, based on morphology and phylogenetic distinctiveness, we introduce Pleopunctum baoshanense as a new species.
description: Published as part of Ren, Guang-Cong, Tibpromma, Saowaluck, Dong, Kai-Xuan, Gao, Chen-Xi, Zhang, Chao-Shan, Karunarathna, Samantha C., Elgorban, Abdallah M. & Gui, Heng, 2024, Unveiling fungi associated with Castanopsis woody litter in Yunnan Province, China: Insights into Pleosporales (Dothideomycetes) species, pp. 15-45 in MycoKeys 108 on pages 15-45, DOI: 10.3897/mycokeys.108.127560