Lectera longa P.F. Cannon

Cannon, Paul F., Buddie, Alan G., Bridge, Paul D., Neergaard, Eigil de, Luebeck, Mette & Askar, Mohamed M., 2012, Lectera, a new genus of the Plectosphaerellaceae for the legume pathogen Volutella colletotrichoides, MycoKeys 3, pp. 23-36 : 28

Lectera longa P.F. Cannon sp. nov.

Description.

Differs from Lectera colletotrichoides by its longer conidia (7.8-10 × 2-2.5 µm; mean 8.87 µm, sd 0.56, n=20) with a mean length/breadth ratio of 3.98: 1, with three short insertions and a single substitution in the ITS sequence.

Typification: Australia.

Western Australia: Nedlands, isol. ex Triticum sp., 25 Jan. 1974, K. Sivasithamparam 530 (IMI 181698) - holotype of Lectera longa (dried specimen) and associated living culture.

Host species.

Associated with Triticum sp. ( Poaceae ).

Distribution.

Only definitely known from the type locality.

Interactions.

No details are known; the data associated with the type do not indicate whether the fungus was thought to be pathogenic.

Conservation assessment.

The species is only known from a single collection made in 1974, though a strain isolated from Viola sp. and identified as Volutella colletotrichoides with an identical ITS sequence (AJ301962) was deposited in the BBLF culture collection as BBA 71246. Its geographical origin is unknown, and the status of the living culture is uncertain. Its conservation status ( Dahlberg and Mueller 2011) must be considered as Data Deficient, but is potentially Critically Endangered.