Fusarium fici Q. Y. Liu, X. G. Zhang & J. W. Xia, 2025

Fusarium fici Q. Y. Liu, X. G. Zhang & J. W. Xia sp. nov.

Fig. 3 View Figure 3

Etymology.

Referring to the genus name of the host plant Ficus fistulosa .

Typus.

China • Hainan Province, Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County , on leaves of Ficus fistulosa , 10 April 2023, Q. Y. Liu ( HMAS 353395 View Materials , holotype), ex-holotype culture CGMCC 3.27796 View Materials = SAUCC 3249 C-3 .

Description.

Conidiophores arising from aerial mycelium, 17–21 μm long, unbranched, reduced to single phialidic pegs, subulate to subcylindrical; aerial conidia hyaline, smooth, and thin-walled, rarely ellipsoidal to falcate, straight to curved dorsiventrally, a blunt apical cell and barely notched basal cell, 1–3 (– 5) - septate; 1 - septate conidia: (12 –) 12–16 (– 28) × 3–5 μm (av. 17 × 3 μm, n = 18); 2 - septate conidia: (16 –) 17–21 (– 26) × 3–5 μm (av. 19 × 4 μm, n = 17); 3 - septate conidia: (20 –) 22–28 (– 36) × 3–6 μm (av. 26 × 4 μm, n = 31); 4 - septate conidia: (28 –) 31–34 (– 39) × 4–5 μm (av. 33 × 5 μm, n = 14); 5 - septate conidia: (23 –) 32–33 (– 36) × 4–5 μm (av. 31 × 4 μm, n = 5). Sporodochia salmon to saffron, formed abundantly on surface of carnation leaves. Sporodochial conidiophores densely and bearing apical whorls of 1 phialide; sporodochial phialides subulate to subcylindrical, 9–11 × 3–4 μm, smooth, thin-walled, with inconspicuous periclinal thickening; sporodochial conidia falcate, straight to curved dorsiventrally, tapering towards both ends, with slightly papillate, a conical to slightly papillate apical cell, a notched to foot-like basal cell, (0 –) 1–3 (– 5) - septate, hyaline, smooth, and thin-walled; 0 - septate conidia: (10 –) 15–20 (– 21) × 2–4 μm (av. 16 × 3 μm, n = 9); 1 - septate conidia: (13 –) 15–22 (– 25) × 2–5 μm (av. 18 × 4 μm, n = 23); 2 - septate conidia: (13 –) 16–18 (– 23) × 2–5 μm (av. 18 × 3 μm, n = 23); 3 - septate conidia: (19 –) 20–25 (– 29) × 3–5 μm (av. 24 × 4 μm, n = 37); 4 - septate conidia: (28 –) 31–34 (– 36) × 4–5 μm (av. 33 × 4 μm, n = 12); 5 - septate conidia: (34 –) 34–36 (– 38) × 3–5 μm (av. 35 × 4 μm, n = 5). Chlamydospores not observed.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA incubated at 25 ° C in the dark, reaching 76–80 mm diameter in 7 d, flat, convex, with abundant aerial mycelium, colony margin lightly erose; surface white, odor absent; reverse yellowish white, odor absent. On OA in the dark, reaching 85–90 mm diameter in 7 d; aerial mycelium scant in the center forming a vacant circle, reverse white, odor absent.

Additional material studied.

China • Hainan Province, Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County , on leaves of Ficus fistulosa , 10 April 2023, Q. Y. Liu ( HSAUP 44932 ), living culture CGMCC 3.27797 View Materials = SAUCC 3249 C-4 .

Notes.

Phylogenetic analyses of three combined sequences (cal, rpb 2, and tef 1) showed that F. fici constitutes a distinct clade, closely related to F. aberrans . Between F. fici ( CGMCC 3.27796) and F. aberrans ( CBS 131385), there were 11 / 535 differences in cal, 13 / 657 in rpb 2, and 34 / 462 in tef 1. The mycelium on OA of F. fici ( CGMCC 3.27796) is sparser than that of F. aberrans ( CBS 131385). Morphologically, F. fici ( CGMCC 3.27796) and F. aberrans ( CBS 131385) have different sporodochial conidial septa (0–5 - septate in F. fici vs. 1–3 - septate in F. aberrans ) and sporodochial phialides (1 phialide in F. fici vs. 2–3 phialides in F. aberrans ). The aerial conidiophores of F. aberrans (16–110 μm) are longer than F. fici (17–21 μm) ( Xia et al. 2019).