Phaeomoniella zymoides and Phaeomoniella pinifoliorum spp. nov., new acid-tolerant epiphytic fungi isolated from pine needles in Korea

Abstract

Two new epiphytes of anamorphic ascomycetes, Phaeomoniella zymoides sp. nov. and Phaeomoniella pinifoliorum sp. nov., were isolated from the needle surface of Pinus densiflora in Korea. The new taxa were characterized by acid-tolerant, slow, partially yeast-like growth and extensive production of emerging cells on convex wrinkled mycelial colonies. Phaeomoniella zymoides produced mycelium with large numbers of intercalary and lateral or terminal vesicles or swollen cells. Large conidiogenous cells had a swollen base and appeared to be phialidic, and many phialoconidia also were produced from lateral hyphal apertures. Maturing colonies of Ph. zymoides were made up of dark green to blackish areas and produced a Phoma-like synanamorph. Primary conidia became elongate mother cells giving rise to polar or lateral secondary conidia. Phaeomoniella pinifoliorum was characterized by reduced, swollen, phialide-like cells, lateral production of conidia from hyphae and terminal or subterminal, or less commonly lateral, secondary production of conidia from yeast-like primary conidia. When ITS and 28S rDNA sequences were compared and analyzed with those of best matching GenBank taxa, the Phaeomoniella group consisted of three lineages, “zymoides,” “pinifoliorum” and “chlamydospora” clades, which again showed a complete sister relationship to Moristroma quercinum ined.

• ITS
• Moristroma
• Phaeomoniella chlamydospora
• Pinus densiflora
• 28S rDNA

This report was supported financially in part by Chonnam National University, by a grant (052-052-040) from the Core Environmental Technology Development Project for Next Generation financed by the Ministry of Environment of Korea, and by the Brain Korea 21 Research Fellowship from the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development. We sincerely thank Prof. W. Gams, CBS, the Netherlands, for the Latin translation of the fungal isolates, and Lizel Mostert, CBS, the Netherlands, for the helpful discussion on the morphology and molecular systematics of the new taxa. Karin van der Tweel is thanked for inking the line drawings and Arien van Iperen and the CBS Collection staff for assistance with cultures.