Pleosporales » Didymellaceae

Neodidymella

Neodidymella Phookamsak, R.H. Perera & K.D. Hyde, in Ariyawansa et al., Fungal Diversity: 75:61 (2015).

Index Fungorum number: IF 551389; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00904, 1 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 1 species with molecular data.

Biotrophic or hemibiotrophic on living leaves. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered, solitary to gregarious, visible as black dots on the lower epidermis, globose to subglobose, uniloculate, glabrous, ostiole central, with pore-like opening. Peridium thin-walled, of equal thickness, composed of 2–3 layers of large, brown to dark brown, pseudoparenchymatous cells, arranged in a textura angularis. Hamathecium composed of dense, broad, distinctly septate, cellular pseudoparaphyses, constricted at the septum, branched, anastomosing at the apex, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, broadly cylindrical to cylindric-clavate, sessile to subsessile, or short bulbous pedicel, apically rounded, with an indistinct ocular chamber. Ascospores overlapping bi-seriate, hyaline, ellipsoidal to clavate, or fusiform with rounded ends, uniseptate, slightly constricted at the septum, walls echinulate. Asexual morph: Unknown (adapted from Ariyawansa et al. 2015).

Type species: Neodidymella thailandicum Phookamsak, R.H. Perera & K.D. Hyde

Notes: Neodidymella is characterised by scattered, solitary to gregarious ascomata, broadly cylindrical to cylindric-clavate asci, and ellipsoidal to clavate, or fusiform ascospores with rounded ends. Neodidymella morphologically resembles Didymella but can be differentiated in that the latter lacks pseudoparaphyses while the former has dense, broad, distinctly septate, cellular pseudoparaphyses, constricted at the septum (Ariyawansa et al. 2015). Neodidymella also resembles Macroventuria in having didymosporous ascospores and presence of cellular pseudoparaphyses (Zhang et al. 2012). Neodidymella differs from Macroventuria in having setose immersed to erumpent, superficial ascomata, and fusiform ascospores (Hyde et al. 2013). Neodidymella can be differentiated from similar genera based on DNA sequence data. Neodidymella is a distinct genus in Didymellaceae with low bootstrap support hence more taxa are needed to confirm the distinctiveness of the genus within the family. Molecular markers available for Neodidymella are ITS, LSU and TEF-1.

 

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