Vittaliana Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma, 2019

Devadatha, Bandarupalli, Mehta, Nikita, Wanasinghe, Dhanushka N., Baghela, Abhishek & Sarma, V. Venkateswara, 2019, Vittaliana mangrovei Devadatha, Nikita, A. Baghela & V. V. Sarma, gen. nov, sp. nov. (Phaeosphaeriaceae), from mangroves near Pondicherry (India), based on morphology and multigene phylogeny, Cryptogamie, Mycologie 20 (7), pp. 117-132 : 120-124

Genus Vittaliana Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma , gen. nov.

TYPE SPECIES. — Vittaliana mangrovei Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma , sp. nov.

INDEX FUNGORUM NUMBER. — IF556887.

FACESOFFUNGI NUMBER. — FoF 04668.

ETYMOLOGY. — In honour of Prof. B.P.R Vittal for his contributions to Marine mycology.

DESCRIPTION

Saprobic on mangrove wood.

Sexual morph

Ascomata. semi-immersed to erumpent, globose to subglobose, gregarious to solitary, pyriform, coriaceous, dark brown to black, short-ostiolate.

Peridium. thick-walled of equal thickness, composed of several layers having an inner stratum of hyaline to light brown, thick-walled cells of textura angularis and an outer stratum of light-brown to dark-brown cells of textura angularis fusing with the host tissues.

Hamathecium. comprising of unbranched, cellular, hyaline, septate pseudoparaphyses resembling hyphae, anastomosing above the asci and embedded in a gelatinous matrix.

Asci. 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to clavate, short pedicellate, apically rounded and thickened, lacking an ocular chamber.

Ascospores. phragmosporous, distoseptate, uni- to biseriate, partially overlapping, constricted at the 4th septum, lower most cells usually longer than other cells, hyaline when young becoming yellow to golden yellow at maturity, smooth-walled, cylindrical, rounded at the apices, tapering to a more nar - rowly rounded base, lacking mucilaginous sheaths or any ornamentation.

Asexual morph

Undetermined.

NOTES

Combined multi-locus phylogenetic analysis indicated that Vittaliana Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma , gen. nov., belongs to Phaeosphaeriaceae and closely related to Italica . This new genus shares with Italica similar ascomata and asci characters but is also distinctly different in having ascospores that are phragmosporous, distoseptate, golden yellow at maturity and by their occurrence in a marine habitat. Whereas Italica is markedly different from it in having a thinwalled peridium, muriform, yellowish-brown ascospores and occurs in terrestrial habitats ( Wanasinghe et al. 2018). Hence, we introduce Vittaliana Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma as a new genus typified by V. mangrovei Devadatha, Nikita, A.Baghela & V.V.Sarma , gen. nov., sp. nov., in the family Phaeosphaeriaceae based on morphology and molecular sequence analyses.