Ciliochorella savannica H.X. Wu & J.Y. Song sp. nov.

Etymology.

Epithet derived from the type locality (Yuanjiang Savanna Ecosystem Research Station).

Holotype.

IFRD9467.

Description.

Saprobic on leaf litter. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous. Conidiomata 530-950 μm diameter (x¯ = 758 μm, n = 23), unilocular, semi-immersed, circular areas, black, mostly aggregated, sometimes solitary, with a papilla central circular ostiole (Fig. 5a-c). Conidiomata wall comprises a few to several layers of cells of textura angularis, with the inner layer being mostly thin, brown, whereas the outer layer appears dark brown to black. The longitudinal section is lenticular, the base is well developed (Fig. 5d). Conidiophores are reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic phialidic, formed from the innermost layer of the wall, hyaline to pale brown, smooth (Fig. 5e). Conidia 11-16 × 2-3 μm (x¯ = 14 × 2.6 μm, n = 22) excluding apical appendages, mean conidium length/width ratio = 5.4:1, navicular to subcylindrical, slightly curved, 1-septate, narrow basal cell, wide middle two cells with apical cell transformed into two forked filiform cellular appendages 7-13 μm (x¯ = 10 μm, n = 22), 2-4-guttulates on the surface of the conidia, without basal appendages (Fig. 5f-i). Sexual morph: Unknown.

Culture characteristics.

Conidia germinated and hyphae grew in emission form the center to the outside (Fig. 5j, k). Colonies growing on PDA, reaching a diameter of 4.4 cm (n = 3) after 7 days at 26 °C, producing dense mycelium, circular, margin rough. Surface white from the surrounding of the mycelium on PDA and pale yellow in reverse.

Material examined.

China. Yunnan Province, Yuanjiang County, Yuanjiang Savanna Ecosystem Research Station (Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences), 23°28'31"N, 102°10'38"E, 579 m, on dead leaves of an unidentified plant, June 2021, Hai-Xia Wu, Jin-Chen Li, and Xin-Hao Li (IFRD9467, holotype; IFRD9473, paratype; IFRDCC3201, ex-type).

Notes.

Two strains of Ciliochorella savannica (holotype and paratype) correspond to Ciliochorella described by Sydow and Mitter (1935). The phylogenetic analysis showed that this species is only distantly related to other species in Ciliochorella. The number of different bases in ITS and LSU sequences of holotype and paratype was 7 (1033/1040) and 4 (1406/1410), respectively. These two strains of C. savannica formed a subclade within Ciliochorella, with 97% ML and 1.00 Bayesian posterior probabilities (Fig. 1). They differ morphologically from other species in conidiomata size (530-952 μm) and mean conidium length/width ratio (5.4:1) (Table 2). The significant characteristic is that C. savannica has conidia that lack basal appendages, whereas Ciliochorella species have this characteristic.