Italica
Italica Wanas., Camporesi & K.D. Hyde, in Wanasinghe et al., Fungal Diversity: 10.1007/s13225-018-0395-7, [123] (2018)
Index Fungorum number: IF 554183; Facesofungi number: FoF 04024
Etymology: The generic name reflects the country of origin Italy.
Saprobic in terrestrial habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata immersed to erumpent, solitary, scattered, globose or subglobose, dark brown to black, coriaceous, ostiolate. Ostiole papillate, eccentric, blackish brown, smooth, comprising hyaline to pale-brown cells. Peridium comprising thin-walled, brown to dark brown cells of textura prismatica to textura angularis. Hamathecium comprising numerous, filamentous, branched, septate, pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to clavate, short pedicellate, thick-walled at the apex, with minute ocular chamber. Ascospores overlapping 1–2-uniseriate, oval, ellipsoidal or sub-cylindrical, muriform, 4–6- transversely septate, with 1–2 vertical septa, widest at the middle, slightly constricted at the central septum, initially hyaline, becoming yellowish-brown at maturity, with rounded to conical ends, with or without surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined.
Type: Italica luzulae (Wanas., Camporesi, E.B.G. Jones & K.D. Hyde) Wanas. & K.D. Hyde
Notes: Ariyawansa et al. (2015) introduced Dematiopleospora luzulae as the second species of Dematiopleospora which has muriform ascospores, similar to those characterized in Pleospora. But in a multi-gene phylogenetic analyses (Hyde et al. 2016; Huang et al. 2017, Wanasinghe et al. 2018), D. luzulae is not closely related to taxa in Dematiopleospora. In this study Italica achilleae sp. nov. and Dematiopleospora luzulae, group in a strongly supported monophyletic clade in phylogenetic analysis. We introduce the novel genus, Italica to accommodate these two strains.
References:
Ariyawansa HA, Hyde KD, Jayasiri SC, Buyck B et al. 2015 – Fungal diversity notes 111–252 taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal taxa. Fungal Diversity 75, 27–274.
Huang S, Jeewon R, Wanasinghe DN, Manawasinghe et al. 2017 – Phylogenetic taxonomy of Dematiopleospora fusiformis sp. nov. (Phaeosphaeriaceae) from Russia. Phytotaxa 316, 239–249
Hyde KD, Hongsanan S, Jeewon R, Bhat DJ et al. 2016 – Fungal diversity notes 367–490: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal taxa. Fungal Diversity 80, 1–270.
Wanasinghe DN, Phukhamsakda C, Hyde KD, Jeewon R et al. 2018 – Fungal diversity notes 709–839: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal taxa with an emphasis on fungi on Rosaceae. Fungal diversity 89, 1–236.