Anthracocystis ananatum

Anthracocystis ananatum

FIG. 3 View FIGURE 3

Index Fungorum number: IF 901770, Facesoffungi Number: FoF15562

Etymology – Named after the fruit Ananas comosus

Holotype – MFLU23-0446

Description: Saprobic on the crown leaf surface of pineapple. Sexual morph: Not observed. Asexual morph: Hyphomycete white fuzzy, corticolous. Mycelium simple, hyaline, clustered, often branched, and septate with or without constriction. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, Conidiophore smooth wall, long and distinct, 9-33.5x1.75-3.6 (x̅ = 20.2 μm × 2.3 μm, n = 20). Conidia germinating from mycelium, scattered, hyaline, fusiform or cylindrical, immature aseptate, mature become septate, smooth-walled. 3.8 - 9.6 μm x 1.2-2.5 μm (x̅ = 6.1 μm × 1.8 μm, n = 20).

Known distribution: Thailand (this study)

Materials examined: THAILAND, Nang Lae subdistrict, Chiang Rai, 20.032414746 ° and 99.871511148 °, on the crown leaf surface of pineapple, 7 April 2023, S. Shah 6_H (MFLU23-0446), living culture MFLU23-0446.

Culture Characters: Slow growing on PDA at 28 ◦ C, creamy-white with very light brick red, velvety, ropey texture, margins distinct, raised with hyaline edges.

GenBank numbers: MFLU23-0446: ITS = OR817979, LSU = OR817980

Notes: The morphotype of our specimen collected as saprobic has a distinct characteristic compared to the other Anthracocystis species. The presence of true septate hyphae that may be constricted makes it differ from other Anthracocystis , which has been reported to have non-sporogenous hyphae ( McTaggart et al. 2012). Anthracocystis heteropogonicola has been described with its pseudophyphae, unipolar budding, ballistoconidia. It lacks conidiophores, clamp connection and conidigenous cells ( Rush et al. 2020). The asexual morphotype, particularly conidiophores, conidiogenous cells, and mycelium in A. hwangensis has not been reported yet ( Vánky 2003; McTaggart et al. 2012). Anthracocystis sp. is commonly reported as a pathogen from other parts of the world, mainly in its sexual stage (Thirumalachar & Mundkur 1951; Shivas & Vánky 1997; Piątek et al. 2015; McTaggart et al. 2012, 2016). Anthracocystis heteropogonicola was recorded from the fern in southern Louisiana ( USA) and a rust-infected grass in Guyana ( Rush et al. 2020). The phylogenetic analyses showed that our collections MFLU23-0446 grouped with A.hwangensis isolates with 72 % ML bootstrap and 0.97 BYPP probability support. BLASTn base pair comparisons between A. ananatum (MFLU23-0446) and A. mutabilis (BRIP 44111) shows 97% identity of ITS (699/720) and 1% of gaps 10/720. Thus, based on morphology and phylogenetic analysis of combined ITS and LSU nucleotide data sets, we report A. ananatum as a new species in the Didymosphaeriaceae isolated from asymptomatic post-harvested pineapple fruit from the local market of Chaing Rai, northern Thailand.