Apiospora bambusilentiginis K. M. Yu & Y. L. Jiang, 2025

Apiospora bambusilentiginis K. M. Yu & Y. L. Jiang sp. nov.

Fig. 4 View Figure 4

Type.

China • Guizhou Province: Guiyang City , on diseased stems of bamboo, 6 June 2023, 5 June 2022, K. M. Yu, holotype HGUP 18.51 ; ex-type culture GUCC 18.51 ).

Etymology.

The word bambusilentiginis originated from “ bambusaceae, ” referring to the host plant, and “ speckle, ” referring to cracks caused on bamboo stems, from which this fungus was isolated.

Description.

Asexual morph: On WA, hyphae smooth, branched, septate, 1–5.5 µm diam (n = 30). Conidiophores cylindrical, septate, flexuous, sometimes reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells smooth, globose to subglobose, 1–5 × 1–2.5 μm (x ̄ = 1.6 × 1.5 µm, n = 30). Conidia globose, subglobose to ovate, lenticular, with a longitudinal germ slit over the entire length, brown to dark brown, smooth, 6–8.5 × 4.5–8 µm (x ̄ = 7.5 × 7.5 µm, n = 30). Sexual morph: Not observed.

Culture characteristics.

Colonies on PDA attaining 5 cm diam. after 5 days at 25 ° C, circular, flat, radiating outwards, irregular edge, diffuse yellow pigment, the surface of the culture medium is covered with aerial mycelia, mycelia white, reverse faint yellow.

Additional specimen examined.

China • Guizhou Province: Huaxi District , on diseased branch of bamboo, June 2023, K. M. Yu, HGUP 18.51 , ex-paratype living culture; living cultures GUCC 18.51 , GUCC 18.52

Notes.

The phylogenetic analysis showed that Apiospora bambusilentiginis is closely related to Ap. guizhouensis and Ap. sacchari (Fig. 1 View Figure 1 ). They differ in distinct morphological characters (Table 3 View Table 3 ) and nucleotide differences (Table 5 View Table 5 ). Apiospora bambusilentiginis differs from Ap. guizhouensis by 18 nucleotides (8 / 580 in ITS, 8 / 442 in TEF 1 - α, and 2 / 440 in TUB 2) and Ap. sacchari by 42 nucleotides (35 / 583 in ITS, 1 / 440 in TEF 1 - α, and 6 / 483 in TUB 2). Morphologically, it differs from Ap. guiyangensis and Ap. sacchari in its conidia. The conidia of Apiospora bambusilentiginis are globose, subglobose to ovate, lenticular, while the conidia of Ap. guizhouensis are guttulate, globose to ellipsoid. In addition, comparing with Ap. guizhouensis (5.0–7.5 × 4.0–7.0 μm), the conidia of Apiospora bambusilentiginis (6–8.5 × 4.5–8 (x = 7.5 × 7.5 µm, n = 30) show larger sizes ( Crous and Groenewald 2013; Wang et al. 2018).