Two new species of the genus Collodiscula (Xylariaceae) from China

Multi-Gene Phylogenetic Analyses Reveals Heteroxylaria Gen. Nov. and New Contributions to Xylariaceae (Ascomycota) from China

An in-depth study of the phylogenetic relationships of Xylaria species associated with nutshells of fruits and seeds within the genus Xylaria and related genera of Xylaceaecea was conducted in China. The multi-gene phylogenetic analyses were carried out based on ITS, RPB2, and TUB sequences of 100 species of 16 known genera in Xylariaceae around the world. Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, morphological observations, and ecological habitats, a new genus, Heteroxylaria, is established to accommodate four new species, viz. H. cordiicola, H. juglandicola, H. meliicola, and H. terminaliicola, and four new combinations, viz. H. oxyacanthae, H. palmicola, H. reevesiae, and H. rohrensis. The genus is characterized by cylindrical stromata with conspicuous to inconspicuous perithecial mounds, surface black, having brown to dark brown ascospores with a germ slit, and it grows on nutshell of fruits. The combined ITS+RPB2+TUB sequence dataset of representative taxa in the Xylariaceae demonstrate that Heteroxylaria is grouped with Hypocreodendron but forms a monophyletic lineage. All novelties described herein are morphologically illustrated and compared to similar species and phylogeny is investigated to establish new genera and species.

Morphology and multigene phylogeny reveal four new Xylaria (Xylariales, Xylariaceae) species from karst region in China

This study presents the identification of four novel Xylaria species, discovered in the karst region of China. The discovery was facilitated by a rigorous analysis that encompassed both morpho-anatomical features and multi-locus phylogenetics utilizing sequences from the ITS, rpb2, and TUB2 loci. The newly identified species are designated as Xylariajichuanii sp. nov., X.nanningensis sp. nov., X.orientalis sp. nov., and X.taiyangheensis sp. nov. The distinction of these species from their known counterparts was verified through comparison of morphological features and phylogenetic analysis. The study further provides detailed morphological descriptions, illustrative representations, and a phylogenetic tree, all of which contribute to the taxonomic positioning of these novel species.

Addition of Five Novel Fungal Flora to the Xylariomycetidae (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota) in Northern Thailand

The deviation of conventional fungal niches is an important factor in the implications of hidden fungal diversity and global fungal numbers. The Xylariomycetidae (Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota), which is also referred to as xylarialean taxa, has a wide range of species that demonstrate a high degree of variation in their stromatic characteristics, showing either conspicuous or inconspicuous forms. In this study, samples were collected while focusing on temporal and spatial parameters and substrate characteristics. Based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 28S large subunit rDNA (LSU), RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (RPB2), and β-tubulin (TUB2) multigene phylogeny and morphology, five new species are introduced as Muscodor brunneascosporus, M. lamphunensis (Xylariaceae), Nigropunctata hydei, N. saccata (Incertae sedis), and Xenoanthostomella parvispora (Gyrotrichaceae). Plant substrates in the early stages of decay and attached to the host were feasible sample niches, with an emphasis on the collection of inconspicuous, hidden xylarialean species. The appearance of inconspicuous saprobic xylarialean forms during the rainy season may be linked to the change in nutritional mode, from endophytic mode during the dry season to saprobic in the wet. Therefore, it would be fascinating to concentrate future research on how seasonal fluctuations affect nutritional mode shifts, especially in northern Thailand, which would provide the optimal spatial characteristics. In order to establish a comprehensive linkage between endophytic and saprobic modes, it is imperative to have a substantial representation of endophytic isolate sequences resembling inconspicuous xylariaceous fungi within publicly accessible databases.

About spirals and pores: Xylariaceae with remarkable germ loci

Based on phylogenetic analyses of a multi-gene matrix of nuITS-LSU rDNA, RPB2 and TUB2 sequences and morphology, xylariaceous species with uni- to pauciperitheciate stromata and ascospores having a spirally coiling (helicoid) germ slit are revised and reclassified, including detailed descriptions and illustrations. The genus Helicogermslita is redefined and restricted to seven species with massive, erumpent, clypeus-like carbonaceous stromata, and Rosellinia somala is combined in Helicogermslita. Within the core Xylariaceae, the poorly known Leptomassaria simplex is shown to be closely related to Anthostoma insidiosum, for which the new genus Oligostoma is established, and Anthostoma rhenanum is demonstrated to be synonymous with O. insidiosum. The new genus Albicollum, characterised by immersed ascomata and a collar of white pseudostromatic tissues surrounding the ostioles, is established for Amphisphaeria canicollis, Anthostoma chionostomum, Sordaria (= Helicogermslita) fleischhakii and Anthostoma vincensii. Anthostoma ostropoides is synomymised with Albicollum canicolle, and Al. berberidicola, Al. longisporum and Al. novomexicanum are described as new species. Rosellinia (= Helicogermslita) gaudefroyi is transferred to the new genus Spiririma. Anthostoma amoenum and Euepixylon udum, both with a poroid germ locus, are shown to be only distantly related, and An. amoenum is reclassified within the asexual genus Digitodochium. Based on phylogeny, the genus Euepixylon is treated as a synonym of Nemania. A new species, Nemania ethancrensonii, which is closely related to the two formerly accepted Euepixylon species (E. sphaeriostomum, E. udum) but strongly deviates from the morphological concept of Euepixylon and Nemania, is described from the eastern USA. The genera Anthostomelloides, Clypeosphaeria, Digitodochium, Emarcaea, Induratia, Linosporopsis, Magnostiolata, Occultitheca and Spiririma are revealed to form a morphologically heterogeneous lineage in a basal position of Xylariaceae. Anthostoma vincensii, Quaternaria simplex and Rosellinia gaudefroyi are lectotypified, and Amphisphaeria canicollis, Anthostoma amoenum, An. rhenanum, An. vincensii, Quaternaria simplex, Rosellinia gaudefroyi and Valsa insidiosa are epitypified. Keys to uni- to pauciperitheciate xylariaceous genera with sigmoid to helicoid germ slits and to species of Albicollum are provided. Citation: Voglmayr H, Tello S, Jaklitsch WM, et al. 2022. About spirals and pores: Xylariaceae with remarkable germ loci. Persoonia 49: 58-98. https://doi.org/10.3767/persoonia.2022.49.02.

Note on the genus Nemania (Xylariaceae) - first records and a new species of the genus from Iran

In a survey of xylarialean fungi in northern Iran, some specimens attributable to the genus Nemania were collected, cultured and sequenced. Morphological evidence and phylogenetic analyses of a combined ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TUB2 gene dataset confirmed the presence of Nemaniadiffusa and N.serpens in Iran for the first time. Furthermore, the new species N.hyrcana, which shows similarities to N.subaenea and its putative synonym N.plumbea, but significantly differs from the latter in its DNA sequences, was encountered. All species are illustrated, described and discussed. In the phylogenetic analyses, for the first time, the overlooked ex-type ITS sequences of the neotype of the generic type, N.serpens and that of the holotype of N.prava, were added to a multi-gene matrix of Nemania. This revealed that the two accessions of N.serpens (HAST 235 and CBS 679.86), for which multigene data are available in GenBank, are misidentified, while the Iranian accession of N.serpens has an almost identical ITS sequence to the neotype, confirming its morphological species identification. The two previously accepted species of Euepixylon, E.udum and E.sphaeriostomum, are embedded within Nemania and are revealed as close relatives of N.serpens, supporting the inclusion of Euepixylon in Nemania.

A taxonomic study of Nemania from China, with six new species

During an investigation of Xylariaceae from 2019 to 2020, isolates representing eight Nemania (Xylariacese) species were collected from Yunnan, Guizhou and Hainan Provinces in China. Morphological and multi-gene phylogenetic analyses, based on combined ITS, α-actin, rpb2 and β-tubulin sequences, confirmed that six of them are new to science, viz. Nemaniacamelliae, N.changningensis, N.cyclobalanopsina, N.feicuiensis, N.lishuicola and N.rubi; one is a new record (N.caries) for China and one is a known species (N.diffusa). Morphological descriptions and illustrations of all species are detailed. In addition, the characteristics of Nemania are summarised and prevailing contradictions in generic concepts are discussed.

Phylogenetic and Chemotaxonomic Studies Confirm the Affinities of Stromatoneurospora phoenix to the Coprophilous Xylariaceae

The genus Stromatoneurospora was erected in 1973 by Jong and Davis to accommodate the pyrophilic pyrenomycete Sphaeria phoenix and has traditionally been placed in the family Xylariaceae based on morphological features. However, no living culture of this genus has so far been available in the public domain. Molecular data were restricted to an internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence that only confirmed the familial position, and was generated from a strain that is not deposited in a public culture collection. We have recently collected fresh material and were able to culture this fungus from Thailand. The secondary metabolites of this strains were analysed after fermentation in multiple media. The the prominent components of these fermentation were purified, using preparative chromatography. Aside from two new eremophilane sesquiterpenoids named phoenixilanes A–B (1–2), four other components that are known from species of the xylariaceous genera Xylaria and Poronia were identified by spectral methods (nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high resolution mass spectrometry). Notably, (−)-(R)-6-hydroxy-3-methyl-4-dihydroisocoumarin-5-carboxylic acid (6) has not been reported as a natural product before. Moreover, DNA sequences of Stromatoneurospora phoenix clustered with members of the genera Poronia and Podosordaria in a multi-locus molecular phylogeny. These results confirmed that the genus belongs to the same evolutionary lineage as the coprophilic Xylariaceae. The results also suggest that this lineage has evolved independently from the plant-inhabiting saprotrophs and endophytes that are closely related to the genus Xylaria. These findings are discussed in relation to some theories about the endophytic vs. the pyrophilic/coprophilic fungal life style.

Linosporopsis, a new leaf-inhabiting scolecosporous genus in Xylariaceae

Based on molecular phylogenetic and morphological evidence, the new genus Linosporopsis (Xylariales) is established for several species previously classified within Linospora (Diaporthales). Fresh collections of Linospora ischnotheca from dead overwintered leaves of Fagus sylvatica and of L. ochracea from dead overwintered leaves of Malus domestica, Pyrus communis, and Sorbus intermedia were isolated in pure culture, and molecular phylogenetic analyses of a multi-locus matrix of partial nuITS-LSU rDNA, RPB2 and TUB2 sequences as well as morphological investigations revealed that both species are unrelated to the diaporthalean genus Linospora, but belong to Xylariaceae sensu stricto. The new combinations Linosporopsis ischnotheca and L. ochracea are proposed, the species are described and illustrated, and their basionyms lecto- and epitypified. Linospora faginea is synonymized with L. ischnotheca. Based on similar morphology and ecology, Linospora carpini and Linospora magnagutiana from dead leaves of Carpinus betulus and Sorbus torminalis, respectively, are also combined in Linosporopsis. The four accepted species of Linosporopsis are illustrated, a key to species is provided and their ecology is discussed.

Recommendations for competing sexual-asexually typified generic names in Sordariomycetes (except Diaporthales, Hypocreales, and Magnaporthales)

With the advance to one scientific name for each fungal species, the generic names in the class Sordariomycetes typified by sexual and asexual morphs are evaluated based on their type species to determine if they compete with each other for use or protection. Recommendations are made for which of the competing generic names should be used based on criteria such as priority, number of potential names changes, and frequency of use. Some recommendations for well-known genera include Arthrinium over Apiospora, Colletotrichum over Glomerella, Menispora over Zignoëlla, Microdochium over Monographella, Nigrospora over Khuskia, and Plectosphaerella over Plectosporium. All competing generic names are listed in a table of recommended names along with the required action. If priority is not accorded to sexually typified generic names after 2017, only four names would require formal protection: Chaetosphaerella over Oedemium, Diatrype over Libertella, Microdochium over Monographella, and Phaeoacremonium over Romellia and Togninia. Concerning species in the recommended genera, one replacement name (Xylaria benjaminii nom. nov.) is introduced, and the following new combinations are made: Arthrinium sinense, Chloridium caesium, C. chloroconium, C. gonytrichii, Corollospora marina, C. parvula, C. ramulosa, Juncigena fruticosae, Melanospora simplex, Seimatosporium massarina, Sporoschisma daemonoropis, S. taitense, Torpedospora mangrovei, Xylaria penicilliopsis, and X. termiticola combs. nov.