Anthracocystis ananatum

FIG. 3

Index Fungorum number: IF 901770, Facesoffungi Number: FoF15562

Etymology – Named after the fruit Ananas comosus

Holotype – MFLU23-0446

Description: Saprobic on the crown leaf surface of pineapple. Sexual morph: Not observed. Asexual morph: Hyphomycete white fuzzy, corticolous. Mycelium simple, hyaline, clustered, often branched, and septate with or without constriction. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, Conidiophore smooth wall, long and distinct, 9-33.5x1.75-3.6 (x̅ = 20.2 μm × 2.3 μm, n = 20). Conidia germinating from mycelium, scattered, hyaline, fusiform or cylindrical, immature aseptate, mature become septate, smooth-walled. 3.8 - 9.6 μm x 1.2-2.5 μm (x̅ = 6.1 μm × 1.8 μm, n = 20).

Known distribution: Thailand (this study)

Materials examined: THAILAND, Nang Lae subdistrict, Chiang Rai, 20.032414746 ° and 99.871511148 °, on the crown leaf surface of pineapple, 7 April 2023, S. Shah 6_H (MFLU23-0446), living culture MFLU23-0446.

Culture Characters: Slow growing on PDA at 28 ◦ C, creamy-white with very light brick red, velvety, ropey texture, margins distinct, raised with hyaline edges.

GenBank numbers: MFLU23-0446: ITS = OR817979, LSU = OR817980

Notes: The morphotype of our specimen collected as saprobic has a distinct characteristic compared to the other Anthracocystis species. The presence of true septate hyphae that may be constricted makes it differ from other Anthracocystis, which has been reported to have non-sporogenous hyphae (McTaggart et al. 2012). Anthracocystis heteropogonicola has been described with its pseudophyphae, unipolar budding, ballistoconidia. It lacks conidiophores, clamp connection and conidigenous cells (Rush et al. 2020). The asexual morphotype, particularly conidiophores, conidiogenous cells, and mycelium in A. hwangensis has not been reported yet (Vánky 2003; McTaggart et al. 2012). Anthracocystis sp. is commonly reported as a pathogen from other parts of the world, mainly in its sexual stage (Thirumalachar & Mundkur 1951; Shivas & Vánky 1997; Piątek et al. 2015; McTaggart et al. 2012, 2016). Anthracocystis heteropogonicola was recorded from the fern in southern Louisiana (USA) and a rust-infected grass in Guyana (Rush et al. 2020). The phylogenetic analyses showed that our collections MFLU23-0446 grouped with A.hwangensis isolates with 72 % ML bootstrap and 0.97 BYPP probability support. BLASTn base pair comparisons between A. ananatum (MFLU23-0446) and A. mutabilis (BRIP 44111) shows 97% identity of ITS (699/720) and 1% of gaps 10/720. Thus, based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis of combined ITS and LSU nucleotide data sets, we report A. ananatum as a new species in the Didymosphaeriaceae isolated from asymptomatic post-harvested pineapple fruit from the local market of Chaing Rai, northern Thailand.