Apiospora qingzhenensis X. C. Wang, K. D. Hyde & Yong Wang bis sp. nov.

Fig. 10

Etymology.

The name refers to Qingzhen City in Guizhou Province, where the fungus was collected.

Holotype.

China • Guizhou Province, Qingzhen City, on the leaves of bamboo with spots, 18 January 2024, X. C. Wang, HGUP 25-0008 (holotype); ex-type GUCC 25-0077.

Description.

Associated with bamboo leaf spots. Lesions are black spots on leaves, subglobose in shape, measuring 250–620 μm in diam. Sexual morph: Not observed. Asexual morph: On WA, Hyphae 2.1–5.9 μm in diam, branched, septate, hyaline. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 4.1–6.3 × 2.1–5.7 μm (x ̄ = 5.7 × 3.6 μm, n = 30), cylindrical, mostly polyblastic, aggregated, hyaline or pale green. Conidia 7.1–17.5 × 6.0–11.4 μm (x ̄ = 10.7 × 8.7 μm, n = 30), globose, subglobose to ovate with a straight germ-slit along spore length, green to dark brown. On SNA, Conidiogenous cells 5.2–8.3 × 2.7–6.1 μm (x ̄ = 6.1 × 3.9 μm, n = 30), cylindrical, mostly polyblastic, aggregated, hyaline or pale green. Conidia 6.5–14.3 × 6.0–12.4 μm (x ̄ = 11.8 × 9.3 μm, n = 30), globose to subglobose, pale green for immature and dark brown for mature. Sterile cells extremely rare, pale brown, rolled up, irregularly lobed.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies for 7 days at 25 ° C: On PDA, colonies reach 90 mm diam., flat, spreading, cottony, dense aerial mycelia, with regular margins, surface, and reverse pale flesh. On MEA, colonies reach 77–80 mm diam., flat, with moderate aerial mycelia, irregular margins, surface white, and reverse center pale salmon, with margin white. On CMA, colonies reach mm 71–74 diam., flat, spreading, with moderate aerial mycelia, regular margins, surface and reverse pale salmon. On SNA, colonies reach 90 mm diam., flat, aerial mycelia scant, with regular margins, surface and reverse pale white. On WA, colonies reach 53–57 mm diam., flat, aerial mycelia scant, regular margins filamentous, surface and reverse white. On OA, colonies reach 81–84 mm diam., floccose, flat, spreading, with dense aerial mycelia, regular margins, surface white and reverse pale salmon. Sporulation was abundant on WA and SNA after 14 days.

Material examined.

China • Guizhou Province, Qingzhen City, on the leaves of bamboo with spots, 18 January 2024, X. C. Wang, HGUP 25-0008 (holotype); GUCC 25-0077 (ex-type), GUCC 25-0078, GUCC 25-0079, and GUCC 25-0080.

Notes.

Based on phylogenetic analyses (Fig. 2), four strains (GUCC 25-0077, GUCC 25-0078, GUCC 25-0079, and GUCC 25-0080) formed a distinct and well-supported clade within Apiospora sensu stricto. The closest related species are A. zhaotongensis, A. zhenxiongensis, and A. bambusiparasitica. Since A. zhaotongensis and A. zhenxiongensis have been reported only from their sexual morphs (Han et al. 2024), morphological comparisons were made solely with A. bambusiparasitica. Morphologically, the new species differs from A. bambusiparasitica by having smaller conidiogenous cells (4.1–6.3 × 2.1–5.7 μm vs. 7–17 × 2.0–4.5 μm) and slightly larger conidia (x ̄ = 10.7 × 8.7 μm vs. x ̄ = 9.2 ± 0.9 × 8.1 ± 1.1 μm; Chang et al. 2025). Occasionally, pale brown, elongated sterile cells can be observed in our species. Furthermore, pairwise sequence comparisons across four gene regions revealed clear nucleotide differences between the new species and its closest relatives. The new strains differ from A. zhaotongensis (GMBCC 1015) by 4.34 % in tub 2 (21 / 484 bp, including seven gaps) and 5.66 % in tef 1 - α (25 / 442 bp, including five gaps); from A. zhenxiongensis (GMBCC 1017) by 5.15 % in tub 2 (25 / 485 bp, including eight gaps) and 5.67 % in tef 1 - α (25 / 441 bp, including five gaps); and from A. bambusiparasitica (RCEF 20003) by 4.72 % in tub 2 (23 / 487 bp, including ten gaps) and 6.39 % in tef 1 - α (28 / 438 bp, including six gaps).