Pilaira australis Urquhart, Coulon & Idnurm, 2017

Urquhart, Andrew S., Coulon, Pauline M. L. & Idnurm, Alexander, 2017, Pilaira australis sp. nov. (Mucorales, Mucoromycota) isolated from emu faeces in Australia, Phytotaxa 329 (3), pp. 277-283 : 279-281

Pilaira australis Urquhart, Coulon & Idnurm , sp. nov. ( Figure 2 )

MycoBank number: 820454

Holotype: Consists of a dried specimen of mycelia, sporangia and sporangiospores from an axenic in vitro culture preserved on filter paper, deposited in the National Herbarium of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia ( MEL 2408410 )

COLONIES with radial growth rates on PDA of 28.8 mm after 5 days at 22°C and 29.5 mm at 28°C, no germination at 37°C, light-yellow. SPORANGIOPHORES unbranched, collapsing once reaching a height of 3 to 4 cm, length to 6 cm (typically ~ 4 cm) in an inverted culture after 5 days on PDA, equal in width throughout except for slight constriction at the point of attachment to the columellae in some instances, terminating in a sporangium, desiccated and twisted at sporangium maturity. SPORANGIA oblate hemispheroid, developing sporangia initially yellow then dark brown to almost black at maturity, outer surface covered in spikes. COLUMELLAE initially visible at the base of the sporangium but in mature sporangium the convex lower surface of the sporangium collapses inwards to form a concave circular depression with point of attachment to the sporangiophore in the centre. SPORANGIOSPORES elongated, average length 9.69 μm (90% of spores between 7.5 μm and 12.0 μm) average width 5.27 μm (90% of spores between 3.7 μm and 6.6 μm), not ornamented.

Etymology: australis . Referring to the isolation of a species of Pilaira from the southern hemisphere.

Habitat: Emu faeces

Distribution: Western Victoria, Australia

Carbon utilisation: Capable of assimilation of sole carbon sources L-arabinose (+/–), D-galactose, D-glucose, D-fructose, D-mannose, N-acetyl-glucosamine, amygdalin, arbutin, esculin, salicin, D-cellobiose, D-maltose, Dmelibiose, D-melezitose (+/–), D-raffinose (+/–), amidon, glycogen, gentiobiose. Did not utilised as a sole carbon source glycerol, erythritol, D-arabinose, D-ribose, L- xylose, D-adonitol, methyl β- D-xylopyranoside, L-sorbose, L-rhamnose, dulcitol, inositol, D-mannitol, D-sorbitol, methyl α- D-mannopyranoside, D-lactose, D-saccharose, Dtrehalose, inulin, xylitol, D-turanose, D-lyxose, D-tagatose, D-fucose, L-fucose, D-arabitol, potassium gluconate, potassium 2-keto-gluconate, potassium 5-keto-gluconate.

Ex-type cultures: Deposited at the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Netherlands (CBS 142444); Agricultural Research Service Culture Collection of the United States Department of Agriculture, USA (NRRL 66625); and Jena Microbial Resource Collection, Hans Kröll Institute, Germany (JMRC:SF:12470).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Morphological features of P. australis. Colonies growing on potato dextrose agar, becoming yellow in colour and emanating white sporangiophores that exhibit positive phototropism that collapse once several centimetres tall (A). The columella is visible at the base of the developing sporangium (B). Eventually the lower surface of the columella collapses inwards (C) to form a mature sporangium (D, F, G, H). Spores are elongated in shape (E, H, I). The outer surface of the sporangium is covered with small spikes (G and H). The spores lack surface ornamentation (H and I). B to D dissecting microscope, E DIC image from a compound microscope, F to I SEM images. Scales bares represent 300 μm B to D, 50 μm E, 100 μm F, 10 μm G, 20 μm H and 5 μm I.