Mooraboolomyces wintlei C.P. Hull, A.S. Urquhart & A. Idnurm

Hull, Caitlin P., Urquhart, Andrew S. & Idnurm, Alexander, 2024, Mooraboolomyces wintlei gen. & sp. nov. from Victoria, Australia, Phytotaxa 644 (1), pp. 35-41 : 38

Mooraboolomyces wintlei C.P. Hull, A.S. Urquhart & A. Idnurm , sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 )

MycoBank: MB 851395

Etymology:— wintlei in recognition of the contribution of Brendan A. Wintle in the exploration and preservation of Australian biodiversity.

Holotype:— AUSTRALIA. Victoria: The University of Melbourne Herbarium ( MELU) F155157a as a sample of a culture of mycelia, sporangia and sporangiospores preserved on filter paper derived from the Brisbane Ranges National Park , from leaf litter under a canopy dominated by Eucalyptus obliqua , E. macrorhynchus and Xanthorrhoea australis , as isolated into culture on potato dextrose agar .

Ex-type strains:— UoMD22-5 = JMRC: SF:015237. These strain names refer to the University of Melbourne Diversity collection of 2022 isolate 5 = in the Jena Microbial Resource Collection (Hans Kröll Institute and the Friedrich-Schiller-University, Germany) with their reference system and number.

Description:— Radial growth rates in vitro on potato dextrose agar per day are 0.7 mm 8 °C, 1.7 mm 14 °C, 1.6 mm 20 °C, 2.0 mm 22 °C, 1.2 mm 28 °C, and no growth above 30 °C. Colonies with irregular edges, due to sporangiophore movement and subsequent germination of sporangiophores to form satellite colonies. Colonies initially white, becoming pale grey from the middle outwards with age as asexual sporulation occurs, while from the reverse side colonies have greyish yellow pigmentation that fades over time. Sporangiophore height up to 6 mm from the surface; sporangiophores unbranched. Sporangiophores spherical, acquiring a dark-brown pigmentation, with pigmented forms continuing through a developmental range of diameters (29.7–45.6 µm), as an average 36.7 µm. Sporangiophore hyphal width average 5.0 µm (range 4.1–6.2 µm). Columellae with a distinct pigmented collar at their base. Columellae average width 14.7 µm (range 13.8–16.3 µm) and from collar to tip length an average of 18.3 µm (range 16.3–20.6 µm). Asexual spores are ovoid, hyaline and smooth, length an average of 4.04 µm (3.49–4.47 µm) and width average of 2.34 µm (2.07–2.47 µm). No zygospores observed. Able to grow on D- xylose, D- glucose, D- fructose, D- mannose, N -acetylglucosamine, L- arabitol, xylitol and L- arabinose, and weak growth on D- galactose, as sole carbon sources, with absence of growth on the other carbon sources present in commercial API 50 CH strips.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Physical properties of Mooraboolomyces wintlei. A. Photograph of the location from where the species was obtained. B. Petri dish plates (9 cm diameter) from above (top) or below (bottom) after 13 days at 23 °C on PDA. C. Edge of growing culture with the fungus illuminated to show examples of sporangia and spores extending beyond the starting culture to initiate new growth to account for the images in B. D. Two sporangia. E. Scanning electron microscopy of the spores in a sporangium. F. Columella, featuring the dark structure at its base. G. Asexual spores. Scale bars: C = 1 cm, D = 40 µm, E = 6 µm, F, G = 10 µm.