Funbolia dimorpha - Fungal Planet

114 Persoonia – Volume 26, 2011 

Funbolia dimorpha

Fungal Planet description sheets 

115 

Fungal Planet 71 – 31 May 2011 

Funbolia Crous & Seifert, gen. nov. 

Spadicoidis morphologice similis, sed conidiis dimorphis, sine septis fuscatis. 

Etymology. Named after the Fungal Barcode of Life group that convened 

at Front Royal, Virginia (USA) in 2007 to initiate the CBOL Fungal Working 

Group. 

Associated with bark of a living tree. Mycelium of pale brown 

to hyaline, branched hyphae, giving rise to conidiophores. 

Conidiophores solitary, erect, straight to flexuous, cylindrical, 

unbranched, or branched below, brown, finely verruculose, 

multi-euseptate. Conidiogenous cells terminal and lateral, pale 

to medium brown, finely verruculose, subcylindrical to somewhat 

swollen, clavate to irregular; loci aggregated in a rachis, 

at times subdenticulate with minute collarette; scars thickened 

along the rim, erumpent, but not darkened nor refractive. Conidia 

dimorphic, medium brown, finely verruculose, ellipsoidal 

when 1-septate, becoming subcylindrical when multiseptate, 

apex obtusely rounded, tapering from basal septum to an obconically 

truncate hilum, not thickened, nor darkened (at times 

appearing to have a marginal frill); transversely euseptate. 

Type species. Funbolia dimorpha. 

MycoBank MB560161. 

Notes — Funbolia resembles genera such as Spadicoides 

(but conidia lack the darkened septa), Neta (but lacks setae), 

Thysanorea (but has dimorphic conidia), and Catenulisubulispora 

(which lacks dimorphic conidia and has beaked conidia) 

(Seifert et al. 2011). Because it could not be accommodated in 

any of the genera listed here and its DNA sequences did not 

match any fungi currently deposited in GenBank, we introduce 

a new genus here to accommodate it. 

Funbolia dimorpha Crous & Seifert, sp. nov. 

Conidiophora solitaria, erecta, ramosa vel non ramosa, subtiliter verruculosa, 

pluri-euseptata. Cellulae conidiogenae terminales et laterales, pallide vel 

medio-brunneae, subtiliter verruculosae, subcylindraceae vel leniter inflatae, 

clavatae vel irregulares; locis conidiogenis aggregatis in rache, interdum 

subdenticulatis. Conidia dimorpha, medio-brunnea, subtiliter verruculosa, 

conidiis 1-septatis, (6–)8–11(–20) × (4–)5 µm, et conidiis (2–)3(–7)-euseptatis, 

(15–)20–35(–45) × (4–)5 µm. 

Etymology. Named after its dimorphic conidia. 

Mycelium consisting of pale brown to hyaline, smooth, branched 

hyphae, 2–3 µm diam, becoming somewhat verruculose at 

fertile regions, giving rise to conidiophores. Conidiophores 

solitary, erect, straight to flexuous, cylindrical, unbranched, or 

branched below (branched conidiophores developing with age), 

50–100 × 3–4 µm, brown, finely verruculose, multi-euseptate, 

septa 5–17 µm apart, becoming somewhat darkened, but not 

thickened. Conidiogenous cells terminal and lateral, pale to 

medium brown, finely verruculose, subcylindrical to somewhat 

swollen, clavate to irregular, 7–20 × 2.5–5 µm; conidiogenous 

loci dispersed on conidiogenous cells in young cultures, aggregated 

in a rachis on conidiogenous cells in older cultures, at 

times subdenticulate with minute collarette, up to 1 µm tall, and 

1 µm diam; scars thickened along the rim, erumpent, but neither 

darkened nor refractive. Conidia dimorphic, medium brown, 

finely verruculose, ellipsoidal when 1-septate, (6–)8–11(–20) 

× (4–)5 µm, becoming subcylindrical when multiseptate, apex 

obtusely rounded, tapering from basal septum to an obconically 

truncate hilum, 1 µm diam, not thickened, nor darkened (at 

times appearing to have a marginal frill); (2–)3(–7)-euseptate, 

becoming darkened in older conidia, and also constricted at 

septa, (15–)20–35(–45) × (4–)5 µm; microcyclic conidiation 

observed in culture. 

Culture characteristics — (in the dark, 25 °C, after 1 mo): 

Colonies flat, spreading, with sparse to moderate aerial mycelium 

and even, lobate margins, reaching 8–10 mm diam. On 

potato-dextrose agar surface isabelline, reverse olivaceous; on 

oatmeal agar surface isabelline; on malt extract agar margin 

somewhat feathery, surface umber, reverse chestnut, with diffuse 

isabelline pigment surrounding colony. 

Typus. USA, Virginia, Front Royal, N 38°53'35" W 78°10'50", on blackened 

stem bark of unidentified tree, 14 May 2007, P.W. Crous & K.A. Seifert, 

holotype CBS H-20577, cultures ex-type CPC 14170 = CBS 126491, ITS sequence 

GenBank JF951136 and LSU sequence GenBank JF951156, Myco- 

Bank MB560158. 

Notes — Based on a megablast search of NCBI’s GenBank 

nucleotide database, the closest hit using the ITS sequence 

is Didymosphaeria futilis (GenBank EU552123; Identities 

= 471/552 (85 %), Gaps = 28/552 (5 %)) followed by species of 

Cladonia with shorter homology, e.g. Cladonia subtenuis (Gen- 

Bank DQ482701; Identities = 242/271 (89 %), Gaps = 8/271 

(3 %)). Closest hits using the LSU sequence yielded highest 

similarity to Heleiosa barbatula (GU479787; Identities = 

834/891 (94 %), Gaps = 8/891 (1 %)), Caloplaca sublobulata 

(EF489950; Identities = 859/947 (91 %), Gaps = 24/947 (3 %)) 

and Caloplaca regalis (EU161240; Identities = 850/938 (91 %), 

Gaps = 24/938 (3 %). 

Colour illustrations. Blackened bark of unidentified tree at Front Royal, 

Virginia; conidiophores giving rise to dimorphic conidia in culture. Scale bar 

= 10 µm. 

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 

Keith A. Seifert, Biodiversity (Mycology & Botany), Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C6, Canada; 

e-mail: keith.seifert@agr.gc.ca 

© 2011 Nationaal Herbarium Nederland & Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures

Funbolia dimorpha - Fungal Planet

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