Pseudogymnoascus zongqii Zhi.Y. Zhang, Y.F. Han & Z.Q. Liang, 2023

Zhang, Zhi-Yuan, Li, Xin, Chen, Wan-Hao, Liang, Jian-Dong & Han, Yan-Feng, 2023, Culturable fungi from urban soils in China II, with the description of 18 novel species in Ascomycota (Dothideomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, Leotiomycetes and Sordariomycetes), MycoKeys 98, pp. 167-220 : 167

Pseudogymnoascus zongqii Zhi.Y. Zhang, Y.F. Han & Z.Q. Liang sp. nov.

Fig. 18

Etymology.

Refers to the name of Prof. Zong-Qi Liang.

Type.

China: Sichuan Province, Chengdu City 30°65'96"N, 104°04'44"E, soil, 8 Aug 2016, Z.Y. Zhang (HMAS 351905 holotype designated here, ex-type living culture CGMCC 3.20878 = GZUIFR 22.025) .

Description.

Culture characteristics (14 d at 25 °C): Colony on PDA 13-15 mm diam., pale orange (6A3) to white (6A1) from centre to margin, fluffy, flocculent, nearly round, margin slightly sunken, exudates absent, diffusible pigments transparent and inconspicuous; reverse brownish-grey (6C2) to light orange (6A5) from centre to margin. Colony on MEA 12-13 mm diam., light yellow (4A4) to white (4A1) from centre to margin, hyphae kink into bundles, raised at the centre, nearly round, margin regular, exudates and diffusible pigments absent; reverse chrome yellow (5B8) to light yellow (4A4) from centre to margin. Colony on OA 12 mm diam., grey (5C1) to white (5A1) from centre to margin, flocculent, dense at the centre, sparse at margins, nearly round, margin regular, exudates absent, diffusible pigments transparent and inconspicuous; reverse raw umber (5F8) to grey (5D1) from centre to margin.

Hyphae branched, septate, hyaline, smooth, 1.0-3.0 μm diam. wide. Conidiophores abundant, solitary, sometimes minimally differentiated from hyphae, hyaline, smooth, arising from the erect hyphae, usually bearing verticils of two to five branches at an acute angle. Aleurioconidia and intercalary conidia are abundant, hyaline, smooth or rough. Aleurioconidia pyriform, occasionally obovoid to subglobose, with a broad truncated basal scar, 3.0-5.0 × 2.5-3.5 µm (av. 4.3 × 3.2 μm, n = 50). Intercalary conidia pyriform to obovoid, 3.5-5.0 × 2.5-4.5 µm (av. 4.6 × 3.8 μm, n = 50), separated by connective cells that undergo rhexolysis; occasionally bearing sessile conidia. Arthroconidia absent. Sexual morph unknown.

Additional specimens examined.

China: Guizhou Province, Zunyi City, the affiliated hospital of Zunyi Medical University 27°70'79"N, 106°94'54"E, soil, 11 Sept 2016, Z.Y. Zhang, GZUIFR 22.042, ibid., GZUIFR 22.043 .

Notes.

Pseudogymnoascus zongqii was placed as a member of clade J (Fig. 14 ). Clade J is composed of P. sinensis and many other strains that remain unidentified species ( Minnis and Lindner 2013; Zhang et al. 2020b). Phylogenetically, P. zongqii forms a distinct lineage with strong support (Fig. 14 ). Morphologically, P. zongqii can be distinguished from P. sinensis by its subglobose conidia and absence of drum- or irregularly shaped intercalary conidia ( Zhang et al. 2020b).

Figures

Figure 14. Concatenated phylogeny of the ITS, LSU, EF 1 A, RPB 2 and MCM 7 gene regions of species in Thelebolaceae. Ninety-nine strains are used. The tree is rooted in Leuconeurospora pulcherrima (CBS 343.76) and Leuconeurospora sp. (15 PA 04 and 02 NH 04). The tree topology of the BI was similar to the ML analysis. Bayesian posterior probability (≥ 0.7) and ML bootstrap values (≥ 70 %) are indicated along branches (PP / ML). Novel species are in blue and bold font, new isolates are in blue and " T " indicates type derived sequences.

Figure 18. Pseudogymnoascus zongqii (from ex-holotype CGMCC 3.20878) a-c upper and reverse views of cultures on PDA, MEA and OA 14 d after inoculation d-f, h, i conidia and intercalary conidia g-k conidiophore and conidia. Scale bars: 10 µm (d-k).