Morenoina palmicola
Morenoina palmicola J. Frohl., K.D. Hyde & Joanne E.Taylor
Index Fungorum number: IF482754 Facesoffungi number: FoF04833
Sexual morph: Thyriothecia 155–895 (up to 2400) μm long, 80–190 μm wide (x̄ = 455 × 135 μm, n = 30), occurring on host surfaces, solitary, aggregated, or gregarious, easily removed from the host surface, superficial, ellipsoid, oblong, curved, X- or Y-shaped, flat, with longitudinal, slit-like opening, linear fissure, which are branched at the margin, from the centre to the outer rim, free hyphae and appressoria at the margin. Upper wall comprises linear cells, with irregular, filiform hyphae, radiating from the centre to the outer rim. Asci 19–26 × 10–12 μm (x̄ = 24 × 11 μm, n = 10), 8-spored, bitunicate, globose to subglobose or clavate, or saccate to globose, apedicellate, with a distinct, thickened apical region. Ascospores 9–14 × 4–7 μm (x̄ = 12 × 6 μm, n = 20), oblong or fusiform, wider at the apex, with slightly acute ends, 1-septate, with two large guttules in each cell, hyaline, smooth-walled.
Asexual morph: Undetermined.
Culture characteristics: Ascospore germinating on MEA within 24 h and germ tube produced from both end cells. Colonies on MEA reaching 3–4 cm diam., after two weeks, grey to olivaceous, dense, with a fairly fluffy surface, hyphae, septate, branched, and smooth-walled.
Material examined: Thailand, Krabi Province, on dead petiole of Salacca sp. (Arecaceae), 8 December 2014, Sirinapa Konta, KBR05 (MFLU 15-0030, isotype), ex-type living culture (MFLUCC 15-0284).
GenBank Accession No: ITS: MK120273, LSU: MK120272, SSU: MK120299.
Notes: Morenoina has long taxonomic confusion concerning its familial placement. Until recently, there was no sequence data to confirm the relationships of this genus. Theissen (1913) introduced Morenoina with M. antarctica as the type species. Doidge (1942) synonymised Morenoina with Lembosia and Von Arx and Muller (1975) placed Morenoina in Leptopeltidaceae. Frohlich and Hyde (2000) described and illustrated M. palmicola in Asterinaceae. Lumbsch and Huhndorf (2010) also suggested that its placement should be in Asterinaceae. Hongsanan et al. (2014) transferred Morenoina to Aulographaceae based on morphological characters. Tibpromma
et al. (2017) introduced a new species M. calamicola and showed its unstable phylogenetic placement. There are 26 epithets of Morenoina listed in Index Fungorum (2019). We collected a fresh specimen which is similar to M. palmicola J. Frohl. et al. but from a dead petiole of Salacca (Arecaceae) collected in Krabi, Thailand. The holotype was found on Calamus (Arecaceae) in Australia (Frohlich and Hyde 2000). Since they have similar features it is wise to introduce our novel isolate as a new host record of Morenoina palmicola and this is the second species which has DNA based sequence data for phylogenetic analyses. In our analyses of combined LSU, and SSU sequence data, Morenoina palmicola and M. calamicola did not group in Asterinaceae sensu stricto. Both species have a close phylogenetic affiliation to Melaspileellaceae and Stictographaceae without statistical support. Limited taxon sampling in the phylogenetic analyses may have resulted in inadequate resolution of this genus. Wider taxon sampling and accurate taxonomic information based on morphological examination of specimens, coupled with phylogenetic data are needed, to better integrate Morenoina into an appropriate taxonomic system.
Figure X. Morenoina palmicola (MFLU 15-0013, new host record). a Appearance of thyrothecia on host substrate. b, c Close up of thyrothecia. d Cell walls of thyrothecium with radial arrangement. e Asci. f, g Ascospores. h, i Germinated ascospores. j, k Culture on MEA. Scale bars: a = 500 μm, b, c = 200 μm, d, e = 10 μm, f–i = 5 μm.
Reference: Hyde KD, Tennakoon DS, Jeewon R, Bhat DJ, et al. (2019) Fungal diversity notes 1036–1150: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungal taxa. Fungal Diversity 96(1): 1–242.
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