Cytospora sophoricola C. M. Tian & X. L. Fan

Pei, Tingqian, Xiong, Dianguang & Liang, Yingmei, 2025, New species and records of Cytospora (Cytosporaceae, Diaporthales) from tree branches in Hebei Province, China, MycoKeys 126, pp. 187-212 : 187-212

Cytospora sophoricola C. M. Tian & X. L. Fan , Mycoscience 55 (4): 254 (2013)

Fig. 7

Description.

Sexual morph: not observed. Asexual morph: Conidiomata Group AIII (type a 11), immersed in the bark, scattered, erumpent through the bark surface, circular to ovoid, with multiple locules. Conceptacle absent. Disc conspicuous, grey to black, circular to ovoid, 260–320 μm in diam, with one ostiole per disc. Ostiole in the center of the disc, black, 50–110 µm. Locules numerous, subdivided frequently with common walls, 106–212 µm. Conidiophores hyaline, branched at the base or occasionally unbranched, 11–16 × 0.7–1.4 (av. = 13 ± 2.1 × 1.1 ± 0.3, n = 50) μm. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic, phialidic. Conidia hyaline, elongate-allantoid, smooth, aseptate, 5.9–7.9 × 1.5–2.0 (av. = 6.5 ± 0.4 × 1.6 ± 0.1, n = 50) μm.

Culture characteristics.

Cultures on PDA initially white, reaching a diameter of 5 cm after 10 d, entirely covering the 6 cm Petri dish, colonies appear flat with uneven growth, later turning tan-brown.

Materials examined.

China, Hebei Province, Saihanba , 42°23'33"N, 117°22'17"E, from branches of Caragana microphylla , 8 July 2024, C. M. Tian, T. Q. Pei & Y. Y. Wu ( BJFC -S 2554 , living culture CFCC 72610 ) .

Notes. Cytospora sophoricola was first observed on branches of Sophora japonica in Gansu Province by Fan et al. (2014). It is similar to C. schulzeri (recorded from Malus ) and C. carbonacea (reported from Ulmus ), but it can be distinguished from them based on the diameters of the disc and locules, the number of ostioles, and the size of the conidia. In this study, CFCC 72610 was isolated from branches of Caragana microphylla and clustered in a well-supported clade ( MLBP / BPP = 100 / 1.00) with CFCC 89595 (the ex-holotype culture of C. sophoricola ) (Fig. 3 ). Therefore, CFCC 72610 is identified as C. sophoricola , representing a new host record for C. sophoricola on Caragana microphylla and its first documented occurrence in Hebei Province, China.

Figures

Figure 3. Phylogenetic tree inferred from ML analysis based on combined ITS, act, rpb 2, tef 1 - α, and tub 2 sequence data of the Ribis SC. The tree was rooted with Cytospora donglingensis (CFCC 53159) and C. viticola (CBS 141605). Numbers above the branches indicate MLBP ≥ 75 % and BPP ≥ 0.90. Ex-type isolates are in bold. Isolates in this study are highlighted in two different colors, with the new species shown in orange and the known species shown in green.

Figure 7. Cytospora sophoricola (BJFC - S 2554). A, B. Habit of pseudostromata on branch; C. Transverse section through conidiomata; D. Longitudinal section through conidiomata; E. Conidiophores and conidiogenous cells; F. Conidia. Scale bars: 100 µm (B – D); 10 µm (E, F).