Torula chinensis W. H. Tian, Y. P. Chen & Maharachch., J. Fungi 9 (2, no. 150): 4 (2023)

Fig. 2

= Torula phytolaccae Y. X. Li, C. F. Liao & Doilom, Phytotaxa 584 (1): 9 (2023)

Description.

Saprobic on dead branches of Phytolacca americana L. (Phytolaccaceae). Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Colonies effuse on the natural substrate, dense, velvety, scattered, hairy, dark brown to black, dry. Mycelium immersed to superficial on the substrate, septate, branched, smooth to minutely verruculose, brown. Conidiophores 10–28 × 3–6 μm (x ̄ = 20 × 5 μm, n = 20), micronematous to semi-macronematous, mononematous, flexuous, unbranched, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to subcylindrical, consisting of 1–3 cells or reduced to conidiogenous cells, smooth, straight, or slightly flexuous, pale brown to brown. Conidiogenous cells 4–7 × 5–8 μm (x ̄ = 5 × 5.5 μm, n = 20), mono- or polyblastic, integrated, lateral to terminal, dark brown to black, verruculose, thick-walled, doliiform to cupulate. Conidia (16 –) 22–35 (– 65) × 5–9 μm (x ̄ = 29 × 7 μm, n = 30), solitary to catenate, acrogenous, simple, phragmosporous, straight or slightly curved, dark brown to black, verrucose, predominantly 3–5 - septate, rounded at both ends, mostly subcylindrical, composed of subglobose cells, thick-walled, constricted at the septa, subhyaline to pale brown at the apex.

Culture characteristics.

Conidia germinated on the PDA within 24 h, and germ tubes are produced from the basal cells. Colonies growing on PDA reached 30–33 mm in diam. after three weeks at 25 ° C in the dark. Colonies from above are medium dense, regular, white aerial mycelium slightly raised, fluffy, filiform, pale greenish-grey in the center, white hairy at the margin; in reverse, pale yellow at the center, off-white at the margin, the color gradually lightens from the center to the edge, without pigment produced in PDA.

Material examined.

China • Guizhou Province, Guiyang City, Huaxi District, 26°30'41"N, 106°39'23"E, elevation 1,126 m, on dead branches of Phytolacca americana (Phytolaccaceae), 24 January 2021, Hong-Zhi Du, S 62 (HUEST 24.0247), living culture UESTCC 24.0234.

Notes.

Torula chinensis was introduced by Tian et al. (2023) from unidentified dead woody substrates and formally published on 22 January 2023. Around the same time, T. phytolaccae was described by Li et al. (2023) from dead stems of Phytolacca acinosa and published on 9 February 2023. In our phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1), our collection (UESTCC 24.0234) and T. phytolaccae (ZHKUCC 22-0107 and ZHKUCC 23-0884) clustered together with the ex-type strain (UESTCC 22.0085) of T. chinensis. Comparisons of nucleotides between T. chinensis (UESTCC 22.0085) and T. phytolaccae (ZHKUCC 22-0107, ex-type strain) showed 100 % similarity (534 / 534 bp, without gaps) in ITS, 99.9 % (803 / 804 bp, without gaps) in LSU, and 99.4 % (810 / 815 bp, without gaps) in SSU. Additionally, our collection (UESTCC 24.0234) shows 100 % similarity to T. chinensis in the ITS, LSU, and SSU gene regions. Therefore, following the guidelines of Jeewon and Hyde (2016), we synonymized T. phytolaccae under T. chinensis, identified our collection as T. chinensis, and reported it as a new host record from the medicinal plant Phytolacca americana in Guizhou Province, China.