Sigarispora junci

Sigarispora junci Wanas., Camporesi, E.B.G. Jones & K.D. Hyde, in Wanasinghe et al., Fungal Diversity: 10.1007/s13225-018-0395-7, [69] (2018)

Index Fungorum number: IF554149; Facesofungi number: FoF 03989

Etymology: The specific epithet reflects the host genus Juncus.

Holotype: MFLU 16-0178.

Saprobic on Juncus. Sexual morph: Ascomata 200–300 μm high, 200–250 μm diam. (x̄ = 268.6 × 227.6 μm, n = 10), solitary, immersed, coriaceous, black, subglobose, ostiolate. Ostiole rounded or slit-like, variable in shape, up to 40–60 μm long and 20–30 μm wide, central, papillate, with a crest-like apex and a pore-like opening, plugged by gelatinous tissue, made up of lightly pigmented, pseudoparenchymatous cells. Peridium 10–40 μm wide, wider at the apex, thinner at the base, comprising a single stratum, with lightly pigmented, thick-walled cells of textura angularis, cells towards the inside lighter, at the outside, darker, somewhat flattened, fusing and indistinguishable from the host tissues. Hamathecium comprising 2–3 μm wide, numerous, filamentous, branched, septate, pseudoparaphyses, situated between and above the asci, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Asci 120–140 × 14–18 μm (x̄ = 130.2 × 16.4 μm, n = 40), 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindric-clavate, with a short, bulbous pedicel, rounded at the apex, with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 26–33 × 6.5–8 μm (x̄ = 28.1 × 7.2 μm, n = 50), uni to bi-seriate, partially overlapping, hyaline when young, becoming yellowish brown at maturity, fusiform with narrow, acute ends, slightly curved, 5–7-septate, constricted at the central septum, cells above central septum swollen, guttulate, rough-walled, surrounded by a thick mucilaginous sheath. Sheath 5–8 μm thick, deeply constricted at the middle septum. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Material examined: ITALY, Ravenna Province, Marina Romea, on dead aerial stems of Juncus sp. (Juncaceae), 28 November 2013, Erio Camporesi IT 1544 (MFLU 16-0178, holotype); ex-type living culture, MFLUCC 14-0938.

GenBank Numbers: ITS: MG828966, LSU: MG829078, SSU: MG829178.

Notes: Sigarispora junci shares some similar morphological characters with the type species, S. ravennica in having 5–7-septate, fusiform, brown ascospores surrounded by a thick mucilaginous sheath. It is distinctly different from S. ravennica in having longer asci and ascospores. Phylogenetically, Sigarispora junci is closely related to S. rosacea, but with low bootstrap support. However, Sigarispora rosacea is different from S. junci in having mostly curved, 5-septate ascospores with distinct appendages (2–5 μm long, 2–2.5 μm wide) at both ends. Sigarispora junci is different from other Sigarispora species in the dimensions of ascomata, asci and ascospores.