Tremella anaptychiae J.C. Zamora & Diederich, 2017

Zamora, Juan Carlos, Diederich, Paul, Millanes, Ana M. & Wedin, Mats, 2017, An old familiar face: Tremella anaptychiae sp. nov. (Tremellales, Basidiomycota), Phytotaxa 307 (4), pp. 254-262 : 257-259

Tremella anaptychiae J.C. Zamora & Diederich , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

MycoBank MB 821018.

Diagnosis:—Basidiomata growing parasitically on different parts of the thallus of Anaptychia ciliaris , cream-coloured to blackish, 0.2–2 mm in diameter; context hyphae clampless, thick-walled; basidia two-celled and stalked, stalk 2–21(24) μm long, basidial upper part 15–20 × 10–15 μm, septum oblique or longitudinal, more rarely transverse; basidiospores 5.5–9 × 5–9 μm; further distinguished by its characteristic ITS–28S rDNA sequences.

Etymology:—Growing on Anaptychia .

Type:— SPAIN. Castilla-La Mancha: Guadalajara, El Cardoso de la Sierra, near Jarama river, 41º6ʹ15ʺ N, 3º29ʹ20ʺ W, 1260 m, on Anaptychia ciliaris thallus, on Crataegus monogyna branches, 16.4.2011, J.C. Zamora & B. Zamora s.n., holotype MAF-Lich. 21306 (DNA: AM499), isotypes in AH, MA-Fungi, S, and herb. Diederich.

Description:—Basidiomata subglobose to somewhat tuberculate when old, waxy-gelatinous, cream-coloured, pinkish, brownish or blackish, rarely with greenish shades, 0.2–2 mm diam, growing on the thallus (both surfaces), including cilia of the host, more rarely on the margin of apothecia ( Fig. 2A ). Context hyphae and subbasidial hyphae thick-walled, slender, (2.5)3–5.5(6.5) μm diam., clampless, but small spur-like swellings (perhaps pseudoclamps) have been seen at few septa, exceptionally with clamps. Haustorial branches very abundant, mother cell subglobose to broadly ellipsoid, 3–4 × 3–3.5 μm diam., haustorial filament 1.5–7(11) × 1 μm, unbranched or with few and short apical branches ( Fig. 2B2 ). Hymenium well-developed, hyaline or with a subtle brownish tinge, containing numerous probasidia ( Fig. 2B 1 ). Hyphidia absent or indistinct. Probasidial initials mostly claviform to narrowly ellipsoid, rarely subglobose, with a long, thick-walled stalk, clampless, but often with an asymmetric attachment to the subtending hypha, rarely with a small spur-like swelling (perhaps a pseudoclamp, Fig. 2B 3, 2B12–B15). Mature basidia two-celled, with often longitudinal or oblique septa, sometimes transverse, stalked, thick-walled (walls thicker towards the base); stalk 2–21(24) μm long; upper part (without stalk) ellipsoid, claviform or subglobose, 15–20 × 10–15 μm; epibasidia subcylindrical or slightly dilated close to the apex, 3–4(5) × 10–30(60) μm, developing an apical sterigma, 3–5 μm long ( Fig. 2B 16−B31). Basidiospores globose to subglobose, sometimes broadly ellipsoid, 5.5–9 × 5–9 μm, inamyloid, germinating by repetition to form ballistoconidia (similar to basidiospores but slightly smaller) and blastic conidia (yeast-like cells), the latter ellipsoid, 4–6 × 3–5 μm ( Fig. 2B 6–B11). Asteroconidia sometimes present, with 4 arms, 10–15 μm in diam., individual arms 3.5–8 μm long, basal arm often longer and connected to the conidiogenous cell; conidiogenous cells 17–26 μm long, 1.5–4 μm in diam., with a few or several branches close to the apex up to 4 μm long, very numerous in the hymenium of some basidiomata in which basidia are sparse ( Fig. 2B 4−B5).

Additional specimens examined (on Anaptychia ciliaris , unless otherwise indicated):— ITALY. Calabria: Cosenza, Pollino timpa di Porac, 1300 m, [no date], [no collector] (CLU). MACEDONIA. Sar planina: Rudoka, Popova sapka W Tetovo, Hänge W der Bergstation der Bergbahn, 8.9.1977, J. Hafellner 3906 (herb. Hafellner at GZU). SPAIN. Canary Islands: Gran Canaria, Strasse GC150 Tejado-Pico de las Nieves, nähe Forsthaus, 27.988839° N, 5.593184° W, 1600 m, 2014, E. Zimmermann 1065 (herb. Diederich). La Palma, Cumbre vieja, Puntade los Roqus, BE exp. Felswand, 2000 m, [no date], F. Berger 10454 (herb. Berger). SPAIN, Iberian Peninsula. Castilla-La Mancha: Guadalajara, Condemios de Arriba, Aldeanueva de Atienza, 31.10.2009, J.C. Zamora s.n. (MAF-Lich. 21307). La Rioja, Villoslada de Cameros, hayedo cerca de Puente Ra, 1260 m, 42º03ʹ N, 02º42ʹ W, 30.3.2005, S. Pérez-Ortega s.n. (MAF-Lich.) (DNA:AM130). Navarra, Lezaun, entrada al puerto de Lizárraga, [no date], J. Etayo s.n. (MA-Lichen 4014). País Vasco, Ullibarri, [no date], Etayo s.n. (herb. Etayo). SWEDEN. Gotland: Fårösund, Lake Hau, 57º53ʹ28.50ʺ N, 18º58ʹ51.17ʺ E, 14.6.2012, T. Knutsson s.n. (S) (DNA: AM493).

Ecology and distribution:—The new species is known from Italy, Macedonia, Spain (incl. Canary Islands), and Sweden. It seems to be confined to Anaptychia ciliaris . As for most lichenicolous fungi, the distribution is primarily dependent on the host. Anaptychia ciliaris is a palearctic species, known from Scandinavia, the British Isles, Central and Southern Europe, north Africa, the Canary Islands and eastern Europe including Turkey, with scattered Asian records ( Rose 1998), growing mainly within the “temperate broadleaf and mixed forests” and the “Mediterranean forest, woodlands and scrub” biomes ( Olson et al. 2001). Since the studied samples of T. anaptychiae indeed cover an important part of this distribution, it is expected that it may be present in any place where the host is common.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Fifty-percent majority rule Bayesian consensus phylogram with average branch lengths, from the combined analyses of ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2, and 28S datasets. Bayesian Posterior Probability values are indicated over the branches, and bootstrap values obtained in the maximum likelihood analysis are added below the branches. White circles represent nodes supported only in the Bayesian analysis. Black circles represent nodes supported in both Bayesian and ML analyses. BPP values ≥ 0.5 are indicated above the branches, and ML bootstrap values ≥ 50%, below branches. The newly described species is highlighted in bold font, and the type specimen is indicated with (T). Some lichenicolous groups distinguished by Millanes et al. (2011) are indicated in grey in the right margin. Branch lengths are scaled to the expected number of nucleotide substitutions per site.

FIGURE 2. Morphological characteristics of T. anaptychiae, A morphological variation of the basidiomata on the host thallus, B micromorphological features; B1 hymenium; B2 young hyphae with haustorial branches (black arrows); B3 young cell (perhaps a probasidial initial) with a spur-like basal swelling (white arrow); B4–B5 asteroconidia and conidiogenous cell (black arrow); B6–B11 basidiospores, in B11 collapsed basidiospore with yeast-like cells; B12–B18 basidial development, note that basidia are often thick-walled, particularly towards the stalk; B19–B20 epibasidia with an apical sterigma, in B19 with an asymmetrically attached young basidiospore; B21–B24 basidia with transverse (B21), almost longitudinal (B22) or oblique (B23, B24) septa; B25 young long-stalked basidium. B26– B31; mature basidia with epibasidia in different degrees of development; B1–B11 and B19–B31, phloxin B in 5% KOH; B12–B18, Congo red and phloxin B in 5% KOH. Scale bars: A=1 mm (all photographs at the same scale), B=20 μm (B2–B31 at the same scale). B4–B5 from E. Zimmermann 1065, all other photographs from the holotype.