Phragmocapnias betle (Syd., P. Syd. & E.J. Butler) Theiss. & Syd., Annls

Haituk, Supitchakorn Thungdee Sukanya, Withee, Patchareeya, Cheewangkoon, Ratchadawan, Suwannarach, Nakarin, Marasinghe, Diana S. & Hongsanan, Sinang, 2023, Unraveling Capnodiaceae species in Northern Thailand, Phytotaxa 620 (2), pp. 143-156 : 152

Phragmocapnias betle (Syd., P. Syd. & E.J. Butler) Theiss. & Syd., Annls mycol. 15(6): 480 (1918) [1917]

Index Fungorum number: IF151279; FIGURE 5

Colonies saprobic, sooty mold-like, growing on leaves of Rosa × damascena (Rosaceae) ( FIGURE 5a, b ). Thallus, dark mycelium growing cover leave surface, black, pelliculose. Mycelium superficial or immersed, hyaline to brown, branched, hyphae smooth, thin-walled, septate ( FIGURE 5g ). Ascomata 90–100 high × up to 120 μm diam. (x = 117 × 98 μm, n = 5), scattered, subglobose to broadly ellipsoidal, firmly attached to the radiating basal hyphae, pale brown, thick-walled, with ostiole when mature. Peridium 14–18 μm wide, pale to dark brown, cells arranged in a textura angularis ( FIGURE 5f ). Asci 38–48 × 17–27 μm (x = 45 × 23 μm, n = 7), 8-spored, bitunicate, broadly clavate, with short pedicle, ( FIGURE 5h, i ). Ascospores 20–23× 5–6.5 μm (x = 22 × 6 μm, n = 10), hyaline, 4–5-septate, fasciculate, cylindric clavate, ends rounded, upper cell slightly wider than the lower cell, smooth-walled, some surrounded by tiny sheath ( FIGURE 5j ).

Material examined: THAILAND, Chiang Mai Province, on living leaves of Rosa × damascena (Rosaceae) , 10 October 2022, S Hongsanan SDBR-CMURS02.1/1= CMUB40027, living culture in SDBR-CMU480

Note: Our sooty mold collection (SDBR-CMU480) was found on living leaves of Rosa × damascena (Rosaceae) . We could not identify the primary insect responsible for producing the sugar excretions that serve as nutrition resources for the sooty mold. Instead, we observed 1–2 black garden ants moving around the leaves. In the phylogenetic analysis ( FIGURE 1 ), this strain grouped with other strains of Phragmocapnias betle (CPC 17762, CPC 20476, CPC 21379, and MFLUCC10-0053), with 88% ML/ 1.00 PP support.The morphological characteristics of SDBR-CMU480 are identical to those epitype specimens of Ph. betle described by Chomnunti et al. (2011). However, our strain SDBR-CMU480 has larger ascomata (90–100 × up to 120 μm diam. vs. 82–93 × 84–105 μm diam.). The size of asci and ascospores in our strain resemble those of the epitype specimen (asci: 38–48 × 17–27 μm vs. 43–53 × 13–33 μm, ascospores: 20–23× 5–6.5 μm vs. 20–24 × 4.8–5.8 μm, Chomnunti et al. 2011). Based on the morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses, we identified our collection as Ph. betle and this is the first report of Ca. coartatum from Rosa × damascena (Rosaceae) .

Figures

FIGURE 1 Phylogram of the best-scoring ML consensus tree based on a combined dataset (LSU, ITS, tef-1α and rpb2) of Capnodiaceae. Sequences obtained in this study are indicated in red, and newly established species are indicated in yellow. Isolates from type materials are in bold. The ML ultrafast bootstrap and Bayesian PP values equal to or greater than 60% and 0.90 are shown at the nodes. The tree is rooted with Scorias leucadendri (CBS 131318) and S. spongiosa (CBS 325.33).

FIGURE 5 Phragmocapnias betle (CMUB40027). a, b Sooty mold on the surface of Rosa × damascena leaves. c Setose ascomata. d, e Ascomata with setae. e, f Vertical section through stalked ascoma. g Network-like hyphae. h, i Asci j Ascospores. k Germinating ascospores. Scale bars: d–e = 50 µm, f–k = 20 µm.