Preussia octocylindrospora N. Lundq. & Kruys, 2015

Kruys, Åsa, 2015, New species of Preussia with 8 - celled ascospores (Sporormiaceae, Pleosporales, Ascomycota), Phytotaxa 234 (2), pp. 143-150 : 145

Preussia octocylindrospora N. Lundq. & Kruys , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 ).

MycoBank no.: MB811844

Type: — KENYA. Central: Thika Distr., c 5 km WSW of Thika, B. Harris Farm, elevation 1500 m, lat. -1.06667 long. 37.05, on goat dung? in moist chamber, Uppsala, 24 January 1970, Nils Lundqvist 6649-b, F-529978 (holotype UPS!).

Pseudothecia scattered to gregarious, semi-immersed, 550–810 diam × 800–1160 μm high, subglobose to obpyriform, ostiolate, dark brown to black, opaque, covered with short, white hairs around the base of the neck. Neck short to moderately long, 200–300 diam × 200–350 μm high, cylindrical. Peridium pseudoparenchymatous. Pseudoparaphyses abundant, filiform, ca. 4 μm wide, septate and constricted at the septa, hyaline, mixed with asci. Asci fissitunicate, clavate, eight-spored, 420–475 × 58–64 μm, with a medium long to long stalk. Ascospores eight-celled, cylindrical, (125–) 130–160 × 15–17 μm, hyaline to light brown in early stages, becoming reddish-dark brown when mature, break easily into two groups of four cells each, septa transverse, all cells longer than broad, end cells slightly narrower than the other and rounded at apex, germ slits parallel, gelatinous sheath hyaline, narrow.

Etymology: —the species epithet refers to the eight-celled, cylindrical ascospores.

Habitat and distribution: — Preussia octocylindrospora is to date only known from goat (?) dung in Kenya.

Taxonomic remarks: —This species is distinct by its hairy neck and the long, eight-celled, cylindrical ascospores, which part in the middle and have parallel germ slits. When comparing P. octocylindrospora with other eight-celled Preussia species, the spore size is closest to S. insignis , S. octomegaspora and S. splendens , but without matching any of them.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Preussia octocylindrospora A–B. ascomata, C–D. pseudoparaphyses E–G. asci, H–I. ascospores. J. part of an ascospore with enhanced germ slits A–J. Coll. F-529978 (UPS). Scale bars: A–B=100 μm, C–D= 10 μm, E–G= 20 μm, H–J=10 μm.