Dendrostoma aurorae C.M. Tian & N. Jiang

Jiang, Ning, Fan, Xin-Lei, Crous, Pedro W. & Tian, Cheng-Ming, 2019, Species of Dendrostoma (Erythrogloeaceae, Diaporthales) associated with chestnut and oak canker diseases in China, MycoKeys 48, pp. 67-96 : 72-73

Dendrostoma aurorae C.M. Tian & N. Jiang sp. nov. Figure 3

Diagnosis.

Dendrostoma aurorae differs from D. chinensis and D. shandongense by the existence of obvious central column.

Holotype.

CHINA. Shaanxi Province: Lan’gao County, chestnut plantation, 32°13'43"N, 109°00'44"E, 1820 m a.s.l., on branches of Castanea mollissima , 3 Jul. 2017, N. Jiang (holotype: BJFC-S1561; ex-type culture: CFCC 52753).

Etymology.

Aurorae, referring to the orange conidiomata with exuding conidial tendrils.

Description.

Sexual morph not observed. Asexual morph: Conidiomata pycnidial, conical to pulvinate, occurring separately, bright yellow to orange, semi-immersed in bark, 300-500 μm high, 800-1400 μm diam.; wall of several layers of bright yellow textura angularis; conidiomata exuding slimy orange masses of conidia; central column beneath the disc more or less conical, pale yellow. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells lining the inner walls of the cavity, hyaline, smooth, subcylindrical to ampulliform, 4-15 × 2.5-4 μm. Conidia hyaline, aseptate, smooth, multiguttulate, thin-walled, ellipsoid to fusoid, straight to curved, (7.2 –)8.1–9.8(– 10.3) × (2.1 –)2.3–2.6(– 2.8) μm, l/w = (2.7 –)3.2–4.1(– 4.2) (n = 50).

Culture characters.

On PDA, cultures are initially white, becoming isabelline after 2 weeks. The colonies are flat with irregular edge; texture uniform within 1 month at 25 °C in the dark.

Additional specimen examined.

CHINA. Shaanxi Province: Lan’gao County, chestnut plantation, 32°13'43"N, 109°00'44"E, 1820 m a.s.l., on branches of Castanea mollissima , 3 Jul. 2017, N. Jiang, living culture CFCC 52754 (BJFC-S1562).

Notes.

Dendrostoma aurorae was discovered on stems of dying chestnut trees and appears morphologically similar to the chestnut blight pathogen, Cryphonectria parasitica . However, these two diaporthalean pathogens can be distinguished by the existence of a central column inside the conidiomata of Dendrostoma aurorae . In the genus Dendrostoma , D. aurorae differs from D. chinensis and D. shandongense by the existence of an obvious central column.