Aplosporella hesperidica Speg.

Aplosporella hesperidica Speg. , Anal. Soc. cient. argent. 13 (1): 18 (1882).

Fig. 10 View Figure 10

Description.

Sexual form: Not observed. Asexual form: Fruiting bodies distributed on dead twigs of Platycladus orientalis , mostly breaking through the host epidermis, appearing brown-black or gray-black. Conidiomata pycnidial, immersed or semi-immersed, light brown, solitary, multiloculate, 205–588 µm diam., the outer wall composed of light brown textura angularis, gradually becoming lighter inward, with the inner region hyaline. Ostiole central, black or dark brown, 41.7–57.1 µm diam. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells smooth, hyaline, nearly cylindrical, thin-walled, 5.8–11.9 × 1.8–3.5 µm (av. ± S. D. = 8.4 ± 2.1 × 2.4 ± 0.5). Paraphyses long-cylindrical, 31.4–87.1 × 1.6–4.9 µm, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, occasionally branched at the base. Conidia initially hyaline with a truncate base, turning brown or black at maturity, aseptate, subellipsoid or broadly ellipsoid, 14.1–22.2 × 8.1–15.6 µm (av. ± S. D. = 16.7 ± 1.8 × 10.8 ± 1.4).

Culture characteristics.

On PDA at 25 ° C under dark conditions for approximately 7 days, colonies reach a diameter of 60 mm. Initially white, the colonies exhibit radial growth patterns. The aerial mycelium appears appressed to floccose, ranging in color from white to smoke-grey. Mycelial density shows regional variation — being relatively sparse near the central region while becoming more densely distributed towards the marginal zone.

Specimens examined.

China • Beijing City, Changping District, Ming Tombs Reservoir , 40°14'52"N, 116°15'30"E, on the dead branches of Platycladus orientalis , 2 October 2024, Z. X. Bi, BJFC -S 2566 , living culture CFCC 72635 GoogleMaps .

Notes.

Aplosporella hesperidica was first discovered on Citrus × aurantium in Argentina ( Spegazzini 1882). Subsequently, Dissanayake et al. (2021) reported its first occurrence in China, followed by Lin et al. (2023 b) detecting this fungal species on Euonymus japonicus . Additionally, A. hesperidica has been found to cause stem rot in cowpea in India ( Deepika et al. 2020). Comprehensive phylogenetic and morphological analyses identified the fungal strain CFCC 72635 as A. hesperidica . This is the first report of A. hesperidica on Platycladus orientalis .