Mucoharknessia anthoxanthi

Mucoharknessia anthoxanthi Dissanayake, Camporesi & K.D. Hyde, in Li et al., Fungal Diversity 78: [19] (2016)

Facesoffungi number: FoF 07456

Saprobic on dead stems of Anthoxanthum odoratum and Dactylis glomerata. Sexual morph: undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata up to 600 µm diam., 170–250 µm high, brown to dark brown, forming in a linear series on the host surface, or solitary, closed when young, partly erumpent when mature, stromatic, pycnidial, globose or subglobose, superficial or semi-immersed, unilocular or multi-locular, glabrous, ostiolate. Ostiole single to each locule, short, circular, papillate, centrally located. Conidiomatal wall 20–35 µm wide, composed of thick-walled, dark brown to pale brown cells of textura angularis in the outer layers, becoming hyaline cells of textura prismatica in the inner layers. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 6–20 × 2–6 µm, arising from innermost layers of conidiomata, hyaline, enteroblastic, phialidic, subcylindrical, determinate, smooth-walled. Conidia 18–31 × 6–9.5 µm (= 24 × 7.6 µm; n = 50), hyaline, ellipsoidal to clavate, rounded at apex, narrowly truncate at the base, unicellular, thick- and smooth-walled, bearing a cone-shaped, or widely flared to cup-like or irregular, undulate, mucoid, apical appendage, arising as segments of a partial mucoid sheath which initially enclosed the upper part of young conidium, basal usually appendages absent.

Material examined: Italy, Province of Forlì-Cesena, Passo delle Forche - Galeata, on dead aerial stems of Anthoxanthum odoratum (Poaceae), 24 November 2012, Erio Camporesi IT981 (MFLU 15–3477, holotype); ibid., on dead aerial stems of Dactylis glomerata (Poaceae), 21 April 2014, Erio Camporesi, IT1828a (MFLU 17-2782), IT1828b (KUN, HKAS 93589).

Notes: We re-examined the type specimen and provide an improved photo plate (Figs. 228, 229). For the fresh collection, despite several attempts we could not isolate it into culture. Therefore, DNA was extracted directly from the conidiomata of dried specimens, and its morphology and phylogeny results correspond to the Mucoharknessia species.

Mucoharknessia anthoxanthi (MFLU 15–3477, holotype) a Herbarium specimen. b, c Appearance of black conidiomata on the host. d, e Vertical section of conidiomata. f Vertical section of peridium. g–k Conidiogenous cells and developing conidia. l–p Conidia (l–o are mounted in India ink). Scale bars b–c = 200 µm, d–e = 50 µm, f = 20 µm, g–k = 5 µm, l–p = 10 µm.