Coniella quercicola (Oudem.) L.V. Alvarez & Crous, Studies

Lei, Yiming, Yang, Erfu, Dao, Chengjiao, Li, Xi, Karunarathna, Samantha C., Tibpromma, Saowaluck & Yan, Kai, 2023, Endophytic fungi associated with Coriaria nepalensis in an abandoned open-pit phosphate mine in Yunnan, P. R. China, Phytotaxa 616 (1), pp. 27-46 : 34-35

Coniella quercicola (Oudem.) L.V. Alvarez & Crous, Studies in Mycology 85: 27 (2016) ( Figure 4 )

Index Fungorum number: IF817831

Endophytic on fresh leaves of Coriaria nepalensis Sexual morph: Available in Tennakoon et al. (2021). Asexual morph on PDA: Conidiomata 165–265 µm wide (x = 215 µm; n = 20), 150–220 µm high (x = 185 µm; n = 20), pycnidial, solitary, immersed or superficial, obpyriform, from hyaline to yellowish becoming deep brown to black with age, glabrous, ostiolate. Ostiole central 20–30 µm diam. Conidiomatal wall 20–45 µm thick (x = 28 µm; n = 20), comprised by brown, thick-walled cells of textura angularis, multilayered, hyaline to brown outwardly, with plate orientation. Conidiophores densely aggregated, reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 5–7 × 2–4 µm (x = 6 × 3 µm, n = 15), aggregated, subulate, simple, hyaline, smooth-walled. Conidia 15–20 × 3–4.5 µm (x = 17 × 3.8 µm, n = 15), hyaline, fusiform or naviculate to cylindrical, slightly curved, asymmetrical, aseptate, rounded to acute apex, smooth-walled, without a mucoid appendage.

Culture characteristics: Colonies on PDA, reaching around 30 mm diameter after 2 weeks at 20–25 °C, light yellow-brown, dense, circular, flat, smooth, erose or dentate edge from obverse; light brown to brown from reverse. Without pigments produced in PDA.

Distribution: Netherlands; Pakistan ( Alvarez et al. 2016); China ( Taiwan, Guizhou, Yunnan) ( Tennakoon et al. 2021, Wang et al. 2022b, this study).

Substratum: leaf litter of Quercus robur ( Alvarez et al. 2016) ; dead leaves of Celtis formosana (Cannabaceae) ( Tennakoon et al. 2021); leaves of Hypericum patulum , Aralia chinensis and Acer palmatum ( Wang et al. 2022b) ; fresh leaves of Coriaria nepalensis (this study).

Material examined: China, Yunnan Province, Kunming, Kunyang, an abandoned and Open-Pit Phosphate Mine , on fresh leaves of Coriaria nepalensis , 22 August 2022, C. J. Dao, 2 MS1 L10 ( HKAS 129063 ), living culture KUNCC23-13349 . GenBank number ITS: OR094459 , LSU: OR0944594 , rpb2: OR095635, tef1-α: OR095638 .

Notes: Our isolate KUNCC 23-13349 fully matches Coniella quercicola , with forming white to yellowish brown colonies, pycnidial, solitary to gregarious, globose, unilocular, ostiolate conidiomata in PDA; and producing fusiform, hyaline, navicular, smooth-walled conidia, 15–20 × 3–4 µm (this study, Tennakoon et al. 2021). In addition, the BLASTn results of LSU, ITS and rpb2 show 99–100% similarity with Co. quercicola strains viz. CBS 904.69, GUCC 412.3, GUCC 405.6, and CBS 283.76.The mult-gene phylogenetic trees ( ML, BI) also indicate our Co. quercicola ( KUNCC 23- 13349) clustered with other Co. quercicola strains ( Figure 4 ). Based on morphology and phylogeny, we introduce a new host record of Co. quercicola , which was endophytic on leaves of Coriaria nepalensis .

Figures

FIGURE 4. Coniella quercicola (HKAS 129063). (a,e) Obverse and reverse of colonies on PDA; (b–d) Close up of the conidiomata on PDA; (f) Conidiomata; (g) Section of conidiomata; (h) Conidiophores bearing conidiogenous cells and conidia stained by congo red reagent; (i, j) Conidia.