Tzeananiaceae, a new pleosporalean family associated with Ophiocordyceps macroacicularis fruiting bodies in Taiwan

Abstract

The order Pleosporales comprises a miscellaneous group of fungi and is considered to be the largest order of the class Dothideomycetes. The circumscription of Pleosporales has undergone numerous changes in recent years due to the addition of large numbers of families reported from various habitats and with a large amount of morphological variation. Many asexual genera have been reported in Pleosporales and can be either hyphomycetes or coelomycetes. Phoma-like taxa are common and have been shown to be polyphyletic within the order and allied with several sexual genera. During the exploration of biodiversity of pleosporalean fungi in Taiwan, a fungal strain was isolated from mycelium growing on the fruiting body of an Ophiocordyceps species. Fruiting structures that developed on PDA were morphologically similar to Phoma and its relatives in having pycnidial conidiomata with hyaline conidia. The fungus is characterised by holoblastic, cylindrical, aseptate conidiogenous cells and cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate, guttulated, thin-walled conidia. Phylogenetic analysis based on six genes, ITS, LSU, rpb2, SSU, tef1 and tub2, produced a phylogenetic tree with the newly generated sequences grouping in a distinct clade separate from all of the known families. Therefore, a new pleosporalean family Tzeananiaceae is established to accommodate the monotypic genus Tzeanania and the species T.taiwanensis in Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes. The Ophiocordyceps species was identified as O.macroacicularis and this is a new record in Taiwan.

Species diversity of Pleosporalean taxa associated with Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze in Taiwan

“…Morphological descriptions were made from isolates cultured on 2% potato dextrose agar (PDA; DIFCO) following the method described in Ariyawansa et al 2 . Preparations for microscopy were made in distilled water, checked with an Olympus BX51 microscope with differential interference contrast (DIC) illumination and at least 30 measurements per structure were noted 2 . Voucher specimens were deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University Herbarium (NTUH) 2 .…”

“…Preparations for microscopy were made in distilled water, checked with an Olympus BX51 microscope with differential interference contrast (DIC) illumination and at least 30 measurements per structure were noted 2 . Voucher specimens were deposited in the herbarium of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University Herbarium (NTUH) 2 . Living cultures are stored at the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, National Taiwan University Culture Collection (NTUCC) 2 .…”

“…Various asexual morphs are produced in Pleosporales that can be either coelomycetous or hyphomycetous 3 – 5 , 8 – 10 . The order Pleosporales contains saprobic, endophytic and pathogenic species allied with an extensive range of hosts and substrates 1 , 2 , 9 .…”

“…Massarineae was introduced by Zhang et al 8 and currently comprises 12 families 11 . The suborder Pleosporineae comprises several economically significant plant and human pathogens, and at present, comprises 21 families 1 , 2 , 5 , 11 .…”

“…Multiple studies have been conducted to elucidate the diversity of pleosporalean fungi associated with various hosts and habitats in Taiwan 1 , 2 , 13 – 17 but up to now, no inclusive study has been carried out on pleosporalean linages allied with C. sinensis . The main aim of the present survey is to fill this gap in the information of populations of pleosporalean taxa on C. sinensis in the major tea production provinces in Taiwan and confirm their natural classification via morphology coupled with a phylogenetic analysis of single- and multi-locus sequence data.…”