Bertiella fici Tennakoon, C. H. Kuo & K. D. Hyde, Fungal Diversity 108: 29 (2021)

Fig. 4

Description.

Saprobic on dead leaves of Cinnamomum verum J. Presl (Lauraceae). Sexual morph: Ascomata 160–220 × 230–280 µm (x ̄ = 180 × 240 μm, n = 15), solitary or scattered, semi-immersed to superficial, appeared as black dots on host surface, globose to subglobose, glabrous, unilocular, ostiolate. Peridium 12–20 μm wide, thick-walled, carbonaceous, composed of several layers of brown to dark brown pseudoparenchymatous cells, cells towards the inside hyaline, arranged in a textura angularis, fusing at the outside indistinguishable from the host tissues. Hamathecium comprising numerous, 1–2 µm wide, hyaline, septate, cellular pseudoparaphyses. Asci 50–60 × 7.5–8.5 μm (x ̄ = 52 × 7.8 μm, n = 20), 8 - spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to cylindrical-clavate, short pedicellate, apically rounded, with a distinct ocular chamber. Ascospores 14–18 × 4–5 μm (x ̄ = 15 × 4.2 μm, n = 40), overlapping, 1–2 - seriate, fusiform, initially hyaline, becoming yellowish-brown at maturity, 1 - septate, slightly curved, slightly constricted at the septum, guttulate, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Material examined.

Thailand, Chiang Rai, Doi Mae Salong Mountain, on a dead leaf of Cinnamomum verum (Lauraceae), 15 June 2020, D. S. Tennakoon, DMS 002 (CMUB 40045).

Known hosts.

Cinnamomum verum and Ficus septica (Tennakoon et al. 2021; this study).

Known distribution.

China and Thailand (Tennakoon et al. 2021; this study)

Notes.

Bertiella fici was introduced by Tennakoon et al. (2021) from dead leaves of Ficus septica in China. The morphological characteristics of our collection (CMUB 40045) tally well with the B. fici in having solitary or scattered, semi-immersed to superficial ascomata, cylindrical to cylindrical-clavate asci and yellowish-brown, 1 - septate ascospores with overlapping size ranges (Tennakoon et al. 2021). Multi-gene phylogeny (LSU, SSU, ITS and tef 1 - α) also indicates that our collection nested with B. fici isolates in a 100 % ML and 1.00 BYPP supported clade. This was further confirmed by having only two nucleotide differences in the LSU and SSU genes between our collection and the type of Bertiella fici. Thus, we conclude our collection as a new host record of Bertiella fici from Cinnamomum verum. In addition, this is the first Bertiella fici record from Thailand.