Neocucurbitaria
Neocucurbitaria Wanas., E.B.G. Jones & K.D. Hyde, in Wanasinghe, Phookamsak, Jeewon, Li, Hyde, Jones, Camporesi & Promputtha, Mycosphere 8(3): 408 (2017)
Indexfungorum number: IF552832; Facesoffungi number: FoF 02902
Etymology – Name reflects the fact that although morphologically similar, it is distinct from the genus Cucurbitaria
Saprobic on dicotyledons, trees and shrubs in terrestrial habitat or parasitic on human skin. Sexual morph: Ascomata black, superficial to semi-immersed, confluent, gregarious, sometimes scattered beneath the host periderm or on decorticated wood, fully or partly erumpent, globose, uniloculate, with an ostiole. Ostiole central, slightly sunken, short and broad papillate, inconspicuous at the surface, black, smooth, filled with hyaline periphyses. Peridium comprising 6–10 layers, outer most layer heavily pigmented, thin-walled, comprising blackish to dark brown amorphous layer, middle layer heavily pigmented, thick-walled, comprising blackish to dark brown loosely packed cells of textura angularis, inner layer composed 3–4 layers, reddish-brown to hyaline, cells towards the inside comprising lighter, flattened, thick-walled cells of textura angularis. Hamathecium comprising numerous, filamentous, branched, septate pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical, short-pedicellate, apex rounded with a minute ocular chamber. Ascospores overlapping uniseriate, muriform, mostly ellipsoidal, 6−8 transverse septa, with a longitudinal septum, deeply constricted at the middle septum, slightly constricted at remaining septa, initially hyaline, becoming pale brown at maturity, symmetrical, slightly paler ends, conical and narrowly rounded at the ends. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous. Conidiomata pycnidial, solitary to confluent, globose to subglobose, papillate ostiolate. Ostiole single, central, circular. Setae abundant around the ostiole, erect, dark brown to black, thick-walled. Conidiogenous cell doliiform to cylindrical, septate, hyaline. Conidia hyaline, aseptate, cylindrical/ellipsoidal, smooth-walled (Sutton 1980).
Type species: Neocucurbitaria unguis-hominis (Punith. & M.P. English) Wanas., E.B.G. Jones & K.D. Hyde 2017
Notes: De Notaris (1849) introduced Pyrenochaeta to accommodate P. nobilis as the type species and twelve other closely related taxa, which are characterized by branched, filiform, septate, acropleurogenous conidiophores (Schneider 1979, de Gruyter et al. 2010). De Gruyter et al. (2010) accepted Cucurbitaria as the sexual morph of Pyrenochaeta. Based on DNA sequence data coupled with morphological evidence Wanasinghe et al. (2017) introduced Neocucurbitaria to accommodate Neocucurbitaria acerina, Pyrenochaeta quercina and P. unguis-hominis (see Wanasinghe et al. 2017).
References:
de Gruyter J, Woudenberg JH, Aveskamp MM, Verkley GJ et al. 2010 – Systematic reappraisal of species in Phoma section Paraphoma, Pyrenochaeta and Pleurophoma. Mycologia 102, 1066–1081.
de Notaris. 1845 – Micromycetes Italici novi vel minus cogniti. V. Memorie della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino Ser. 2. 10, 333–350.
Schneider R. 1979 – Die Gattung Pyrenochaeta De Notaris. Mitteilungen aus der Biologischen Bundesanstalt fur Land- und Forstwirtschaft Berlin-Dahlem 189, 1–73.
Sutton BC. 1980 – The Coelomycetes. Fungi imperfecti with pycnidia, acervuli and stromata. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew
Wanasinghe DN, Phookamsak R, Jeewon R, Li WJ et al. 2017 – A family level rDNA based phylogeny of Cucurbitariaceae and Fenestellaceae with descriptions of new Fenestella species and Neocucurbitaria gen. nov. Mycosphere 8, 397–414.