Leucaenicola osmanthi Ariyawansa, I. Tsai & Thambugala 2020, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ariyawansa, Hiran A.
name: Tsai, Ichen
name: Hozzein, Wael N.
name: Thambugala, Kasun M.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Fungi
Ascomycota
Dothideomycetes
Pleosporales
Bambusicolaceae
Leucaenicola
Leucaenicola osmanthi

description: Leucaenicola osmanthi Ariyawansa, I. Tsai & Thambugala sp. nov. FIGURE 2.
MycoBank number: MB833892
Type: — TAIWAN. Taipei City, Nangang District, Nangang Tea Processing Demonstration Center (N: 25°07′10′′, E: 121°61′21′′), on leaves of Osmanthus fragrans (Oleaceae), 24 March 2018, Tsai Ichen, holotype NTUH 18-101-1, ex-holotype NTUCC 18-101-1.
Associated with leaf lesions of Osmanthus fragrans. Leaf lesions expanded, developing from apex to middle of leaves. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata 125–215 × 280–390 μm (x̅ = 172.7 × 331.3 μm), pycnidial, solitary, scattered, immersed to slightly erumpent through the host tissues, uni-loculate, globose to subglobose. Conidiomatal wall comprising few layers of brown to lightly-pigmented, thick-walled, cells of textura angularis. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 5–11 × 2–4 μm (x̅ ± SD = 8.5 ± 1.6 × 3.4 ± 0.5 μm), holoblastic, hyaline, smooth, ampulliform to doliiform or cylindrical, lining the conidiomatal cavity. Conidia 3–4 × 2–3 μm (x̅ ± SD = 3.5 ± 0.2 × 2.3 ± 0.1 μm), ellipsoidal to cylindrical, initially hyaline, becoming pale brown, thinwalled, smooth, aseptate, with 1–2 guttules.
Etymology: —The species epithet “osmanthi ” refers to the host genus on which the fungus was collected.
Additional material examined: — TAIWAN. Taipei City, Nangang District, Nangang Tea Processing Demonstration Center (N: 25°07′10′′, E: 121°61′21′′), on leaves of Osmanthus fragrans (Oleaceae), 24 March 2018, Ariyawansa H. A., NG14-2 (NTUH 18-101-2), ex-type culture (NTUCC 18-101-2); ibid. 25 April 2018, Ariyawansa H. A., NG14-3 (NTUH 18-101-3), ex-type culture (NTUCC 18-101-3).
Notes: Morphologically and phylogenically, Leucaenicola osmanthi is a unique taxon (FIGURES 1 and 2). Leucaenicola osmanthi varies from the generic type; Leucaenicola aseptata by relatively larger conidiomata (125–215 × 280–390 μm versus 80–100 × 100–125 μm), larger conidiogenous cells (5–11 × 2–4 μm versus 2.5–3 × 1.5–2 μm), larger conidia (3–4 × 2–3 μm versus 3–4 × 1.5–2 μm), host (Osmanthus versus Leucaena), pathogenicity (pathogenic versus saprobic) and distribution (Taiwan versus Thailand). Our new species diverges from its phylogenetically closely related species, Leucaenicola phraeana by larger conidiomata (125–215 × 280–390 μm versus 90–115 × 130–150 μm), larger conidiogenous cells (5–11 × 2–4 μm versus 3–4 × 1.5–2 μm), relatively larger conidia (3–4 × 2–3 μm versus 3–4 × 1.5–2 μm), host (Osmanthus versus Leucaena), pathogenicity (pathogenic versus saprobic) and distribution (Taiwan versus Thailand).
description: Published as part of Ariyawansa, Hiran A., Tsai, Ichen, Hozzein, Wael N. & Thambugala, Kasun M., 2020, Leucaenicola osmanthi sp. nov. (Bambusicolaceae, Pleosporales), causing leaf spot of Osmanthus fragrans in Taiwan, pp. 23-31 in Phytotaxa 437 (1) on page 28, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.437.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/13875078