Greiff G.R.L., Büschlen A., Döbbeler P.
Vol. 16 (4) – 24 July 2024
doi: 10.25664/art-0399
Only for subscribers
Abstract: Studies on the foliose liverwort Frullania dilatata infected by the common hypocrealean fungus Bryocentria brongniartii, type species of the genus Bryocentria, resulted in the detection of an unknown hyphomycete. The simple, white, flat and irregularly bordered conidial layers occur in rather inconspicuous patches on the ventral leaf surfaces of dying or dead shoot parts. Morphological analysis revealed a stanjemonium-like ascomycete that forms phialidic conidiogeneous cells and produces tiny conidia, but its relationship to B. brongniartii remained equivocal. Molecular analysis of three specimens, however, showed a match with sequenced B. brongniartii perithecia, indicating that this hyphomycete is indeed part of the B. brongniartii holomorph. Additionally, European Bryocentria brongniartii turns out to consist of two morphologically similar species which can be distinguished mainly by ascospores slightly diverging in shape and size and by DNA sequence data. The separated taxon is proposed as a new species, B. confusa. These studies enrich our understanding of hypocrealean ascomycetes on Frullania, an excellent host genus for hepaticolous ascomycetes in general.
The hypocrealean genus Bryocentria Döbbeler (Bionectriaceae) is comparatively large among ascomycetes on bryophytes and currently contains 18 described species (Index Fungorum, 2024). These species vary by ascospore features, including shape, size and the presence or absence of cyanophilous reactions, in addition to host selection and occupied microniche. Bryocentria is morphologically rather inhomogeneous […]