Jenniferia griseocinerea Tasanathai, Noisripoom & Mongkolsamrit, 2022

Mongkolsamrit, Suchada, Noisripoom, Wasana, Tasanathai, Kanoksri, Kobmoo, Noppol, Thanakitpipattana, Donnaya, Khonsanit, Artit, Petcharad, Booppa, Sakolrak, Baramee & Himaman, Winanda, 2022, Comprehensive treatise of Hevansia and three new genera Jenniferia, Parahevansia and Polystromomyces on spiders in Cordycipitaceae from Thailand, MycoKeys 91, pp. 113-149 : 113

Jenniferia griseocinerea Tasanathai, Noisripoom & Mongkolsamrit sp. nov.

Fig. 6

Typification.

Thailand, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Khao Yai National Park, 14°26'20.72"N, 101°22'20.02"E, on spider (Non-web builder, Araneae, Thomisidae , Diaea sp.) attached to the underside of a dicot leaf of forest plants, 31 May 2010, K. Tasanathai, P. Srikitikulchai, S. Mongkolsamrit, T. Chohmee, A. Khonsanit, R. Somnuk, K. Sansatchanon, MY6006.01 (BBH 29656, holotype), ex-type culture BCC 42062 isolated from ascospores.

Etymology.

Named after the colour of the fresh specimens, from the Latin ' griseo ', referring to dark grey and ' Hevansia cinerea ' meaning ash grey.

Description.

Spider hosts covered by yellowish-grey mycelium (156C). Sexual morph: Stromata non-stipitate. Perithecia growing in subiculum, aggregated in clusters, superficial, ovoid, 650-850 × 250-320 µm, ostiole pale brown. Asci cylindrical, 8-spored, 375-460 µm long, 5-6 µm broad, with cap 2-6 µm thick. Ascospores hyaline, whole ascospores with septate part-spores alternately connected with thread-like structures, four-terminal cells on each end with six alternating pairs of cells and filaments, sixteen cells per ascospore, up to 400 µm long, each cell narrowly fusiform, 10-15 × 1-2 µm, filiform regions, 35-45 × 0.2-0.8 µm. Asexual morph: Two types of synnemata were produced from all parts of the hosts. Several long synnemata, grey becoming pale brown at terminal ends, cylindrical with blunt end, 2.5-5 mm long, 100-150 μm broad, middle of long synnemata, 50-80 μm broad. Conidiogenous cells producing along long synnemata. Short synnemata, pale grey to dark grey, cylindrical, up to 450 µm long, 20-50 µm broad. Conidiogenous cells producing at the upper part of synnemata. Phialides flask-shaped at the base, 5-10 × 3-5 µm, tapering into distinct necks, 2-3.5 × 0.5-1 µm. Conidia hyaline, fusiform, 3-6 × 1-2 µm.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on OA attaining a diam. of 18-20 mm in 21 days, cottony with high mycelium density, white, reverse pale yellow (165D). Conidia and reproductive structures not observed.

Colonies on PDA attaining a diam. of (16)17-20 mm in 21 days, cottony with high mycelium density, white, reverse pale yellow (165D). Conidia and reproductive structures not observed.

Host.

Spiders ( Araneae, Thomisidae , Diaea cf. dorsata , Diaea sp.).

Habitat.

Specimens were found on the underside of dicot leaves of forest plants.

Additional materials examined.

Thailand, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Khao Yai National Park , 14°26'20.72"N, 101°22'20.02"E, on spider (Non-web builder, Araneae, Thomisidae , Diaea sp.) attached to the underside of a dicot leaf of forest plants, 31 May 2010, K. Tasanathai, P. Srikitikulchai, S. Mongkolsamrit, T. Chohmee, A. Khonsanit, R. Somnuk, K. Sansatchanon, MY6006.02 ( BBH 29656 , paratype) ex-paratype culture BCC 42063 isolated from conidia ; idem, on spider (Non-web builder, Araneae, Thomisidae , Diaea cf. dorsata ) attached to the underside of a dicot leaf of forest plants, 8 November 2012, S. Mongkolsamrit, A. Khonsanit, W. Noisripoom, P. Srikitikulchai, R. Somnuk, MY8241 ( BBH 33219 ) culture BCC 57821 isolated from conidia ; idem, 9 August 2012, K. Tasanathai, S. Mongkolsamrit, A. Khonsanit, W. Noisripoom, K. Sansatchanon, MY7627 ( BBH 36128 ) culture BCC 54893 isolated from conidia .

Notes.

Based on the multi-gene phylogenetic analyses presented in Fig. 1 , Jenniferia griseocinerea is closely related to J. cinerea . It shares similarity with J. cinerea in the production of several cylindrical synnemata arising from all parts of the spider host. However, J. griseocinerea differs from J. cinerea in producing long and short synnemata, while J. cinerea produces only long synnemata. The shape of phialides in J. griseocinerea from the specimens differs from J. cinerea and J. thomisidarum . Phialides in J. griseocinerea are flask-shaped, while phialides in J. cinerea and J. thomisidarum are cylindrical. Conidia in J. griseocinerea and J. thomisidarum are fusiform, occasionally cylindrical in J. thomisidarum . The conidia in J. griseocinerea are shorter than those reported for J. thomisidarum (3-6 × 1-2 µm vs. 3-12 × 1-3 µm) (Table 3 ).

Figures

Figure 1. RAxML tree of Hevansia, Jenniferia, Parahevasia, Polystromomyces and related genera in the Cordycipitaceae from a combined ITS, LSU, tef 1, rpb 1 and rpb 2 dataset. Numbers at the major nodes represent Maximum Likelihood Bootstrap (MLB) and Bayesian Posterior Probabilities (BPP). Bold lines in the tree represent 100 % of MLB and 1.00 of BPP. Symbols on the right-hand side correspond to the types of ascospore morphologies found in each genus that are observed in natural specimens of Cordycipitaceae described in Fig. 2.

Figure 6. Jenniferia griseocinerea a fungus on a spider (BBH 29656) b perithecium c asci d ascus tip e, f whole ascospores with septate part-spores alternately connected with thread-like structures g fungus on a spider (BBH 33219) h short synnema i long synnema j phialides k conidia l, m colonies on OA at 21 days (l obverse, m reverse) n, o colonies on PDA at 21 days (n obverse, o reverse). Scale bars: 2 mm (a, g); 200 µm (b); 100 µm (c, h, i); 10 µm (d, e, f, j, k).