Fusicladium peltigericola - Fungal Planet

128 Persoonia – Volume 25, 2010 

Fusicladium peltigericola

Persoonial Reflections 

129 

Fungal Planet 54 – 23 December 2010 

Fusicladium peltigericola Crous & Diederich, sp. nov. 

Conidiophora solitaria, erecta, subcylindrica, recta vel geniculata-sinuosa, 

non ramosa, 1–4(–7)-septata, 10–40(–90) × 3–4 µm, brunnea, laevia. 

Cellulae conidiogenae terminales, brunneae, laeviae, sympodialiter proliferantes, 

subcylindricae, 10–30 × 3–4 µm; cicatrices conidiales applanatae, 

inconspicuae vel leniter fuscatae, sed non refractivae et non incrassatae, 

2–2.5 µm diam. Ramoconidia in 1–3 seriebus, subcylindrica, in medio 

unieuseptata, (27–)33–40(–65) × 4(–5) µm; conidia intercalaria et terminalia, 

subcylindrica, mediobrunnea, subtile verruculosa, 0–1-euseptata, 

(18–)25–33(–40) × (3.5–)4(–5) µm. 

Etymology. Named after the lichen host from which it was collected, 

Peltigera rufescens. 

Mycelium consisting of smooth, branched, septate, brown, 2–3 

µm diam hyphae. Conidiophores solitary, erect, subcylindrical, 

straight to geniculous-sinuous, unbranched, 1–4(–7)-septate, 

10–40(–90) × 3–4 µm, brown, smooth. Conidiogenous cells 

terminal, brown, smooth, proliferating sympodially, subcylindrical, 

rarely straight, mostly geniculate-sinuous, 10–30 × 3–4 

µm; scars flattened, inconspicuous to somewhat darkened, 

but not refractive, not appearing thickened, 2–2.5 µm wide. 

Ramoconidia in 1–3 series, subcylindrical, medianly 1-euseptate, 

relatively thick-walled, medium brown, finely verruculose, 

basal hilum flattened, somewhat darkened, 2–2.5 µm wide, 

with one to several sympodial, apical loci; frequently with lateral 

branch up to 10 µm long, 3–4 µm wide, (27–)33–40(–65) × 

4(–5) µm; older ramoconidia at times developing up to 3 septa; 

intercalary and terminal conidia subcylindrical, medium brown, 

finely verruculose, apex obtusely rounded or flattened, proliferating 

in sympodial fashion to form short chains of conidia, 

0–1-euseptate; septum mostly in upper third of conidium, 

(18–)25–33(–40) × (3.5–)4(–5) µm; hila flattened, 2–2.5 µm 

wide, somewhat darkened, not thickened. 

Culture characteristics — (in the dark, 25 °C): Colonies on 

oatmeal agar spreading, with moderate aerial mycelium; surface 

smooth, fuscous-black, margin lobate, smooth; reaching 

15 mm diam after 1 mo. Colonies on cornmeal agar erumpent, 

spreading with dense, moderate aerial mycelium and lobate, 

smooth to feathery margins; colonies reaching 15 mm diam 

after 1 mo; surface olivaceous-grey to fuscous-black. 

Typus. Luxembourg, Lamadelaine, in a disused quarry, on terricolous 

Peltigera rufescens, over galls induced by Hawksworthiana peltigericola, May 

2008, P. Diederich, CBS-H 20487 holotype, culture ex-type CPC 15252 = 

CBS 128206, ITS sequence GenBank HQ599579, MycoBank MB517532. 

Notes — The genus Fusicladium is recognised as anamorph 

of Venturia 1–3 . Presently no Fusicladium species are known from 

lichens, nor are there any DNA sequence data of similar species 

currently deposited in GenBank. The closest sister taxa in Gen- 

Bank based on the ITS sequence are Fusicladium betulae (Gen- 

Bank FJ839641; Identities = 459/464 (99 %), Gaps = 2/464 

(0 %)), Venturia tremulae var. tremulae (GenBank EU035475; 

Identities = 704/712 (99 %), Gaps = 4/712 (0 %)) and Venturia 

ditricha (GenBank EU035456; Identities = 704/712 (99 %), Gaps 

= 4/712 (0 %)). Morphologically F. peltigericola is distinct from 

all taxa treated in the recent monograph by Schubert et al. 2 

based on the combination of characters, namely its large, 

subcylindrical ramoconidia that become up to 3-septate, and its 

terminal conidia that become 1-septate in the upper third of the 

conidium. Although F. peltigericola was isolated from a Peltigera 

thallus colonised with Hawksworthiana peltigericola (which 

could not be cultivated), there was no conclusive macroscopic 

proof that F. peltigericola is lichenicolous. However, conidia 

isolated from the thallus took up to 2 wk to germinate, and grew 

extremely slowly for the first few months, suggesting that there 

may be an association with P. rufescens. Further collections 

would be required, however, to clarify its ecology. 

Acknowledgement The authors acknowledge G. Marson for the background 

photograph. 

Colour illustrations. Peltigera rufescens; conidiophores with conidiogenous 

cells giving rise to conidia. Scale bars = 10 µm. 

References. 1 Beck A, Ritschel A, Schubert K, Braun U, Triebel D. 2005. 

Phylogenetic relationships of the anamorphic genus Fusicladium s. lat. as 

inferred by ITS nrDNA data. Mycological Progress 4: 111–116. 2 Schubert 

K, Ritschel A, Braun U. 2003. A monograph of Fusicladium s. lat. (hyphomycetes). 

Schlechtendalia 9: 1–132. 3 Crous PW, Schubert K, Braun U, 

Hoog GS de, Hocking AD, Shin H-D, Groenewald JZ. 2007. Opportunistic, 

human-pathogenic species in the Herpotrichiellaceae are phenotypically 

similar to saprobic or phytopathogenic species in the Venturiaceae. Studies 

in Mycology 58: 185–217. 

Pedro W. Crous & Johannes Z. Groenewald, CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, P.O. Box 85167, 3508 AD Utrecht, The Netherlands; 

e-mail: p.crous@cbs.knaw.nl & e.groenewald@cbs.knaw.nl 

Paul Diederich, Musée national d’histoire naturelle, 25 rue Munster, L-2160 Luxembourg, Luxembourg; e‐mail: paul.diederich@education.lu 

© 2010 Nationaal Herbarium Nederland & Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures

Fusicladium peltigericola - Fungal Planet

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