Lamprospora benkertii sp. nov., and an evaluation of Lamprospora spp. with seaveri-type ascospore ornamentation

Abstract

Lamprospora benkertii is described as a new species based on collections from Georgia, Germany, Norway, Slovakia, and Switzerland. It is characterized by orange apothecia without a fimbriate margin, globose ascospores with a seaveri -type ornamentation comprising strong ridges forming a reticulum and a secondary reticulum formed by fine ridges within the meshes of the primary reticulum. The fungus infects rhizoids of Trichostomum crispulum. Delineation of the new species is supported by LSU and EF1α sequence analyses. Lamprospora benkertii is compared with other Lamprospora species with a seaveri -type or similar ascospore ornamentation: L. ascoboloides, L. cailletii, L. dicranellae, L. funigera, L. hispanica, L. irregulariata, L. leptodictya, L. norvegica, L. paechnatzii, L. seaveri. We also present an updated key for this group of species as well as a more complete description of L. hispanica based on our observations from several collections. New host specificity data are provided for L. hispanica, L. leptodictya, L. norvegica, and L. paechnatzii.

Octospora entosthodontophila, a new smooth-spored bryophilous ascomycete on Entosthodon spp.

“…(Eckstein et al 2021). Occasionally, however, a true broader host specificity can be observed, represented with closely related host species belonging usually to the same genus (Benkert 1998, Eckstein et al 2022) and rarely to different genera (Sochorová et al 2019).…”

“…Specimens used in the analysis and their GenBank accession numbers are listed in Table 1, with newly obtained sequences in bold letters. Newly obtained sequences of LSU, SSU, ITS and EF1-α were used together with other sequences of bryophilous Pezizales from previous studies ( Stenroos et al 2010, Lindemann et al 2014, Vega et al 2017, Egertová et al 2018a, Egertová et al 2018b, Sochorová et al 2019, Vega et al 2019, Sochorová et al 2020, Eckstein et al 2021, Sochorová et al 2021, Vega et al 2021b, Eckstein et al 2022, Janošík et al 2023), as well as Otidea concinna (Pers.) Sacc.…”