Abstract
Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa, the type species of Pestalopezia in Leotiomycetes, produces typical cup-shaped ascomata. Because its asexual morph has conidia comprised of five cells including apical and basal appendages and three pigmented median cells, it was first described as Pestalotia gibbosa, which belongs to Sordariomycetes. This contradiction has not been resolved due to the difficulty in isolating this fungus in culture. In this study, we isolated separate strains from the sexual morph and the asexual morph for molecular analysis. Phylogenetic trees of Sporocadaceae based on internal transcribed spacer, partial β-tubulin, and partial translation elongation factor 1-alpha sequence datasets revealed that both strains fall into the same taxon, in a clade in Pestalotiopsis sensu stricto alongside P. gaultheriae and P. spathulata. We provide the first evidence that fungi producing cup-shaped ascomata in Pestalotiopsis belong to Sordariomycetes, and we have proposed the transfer of Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa to Pestalotiopsis gibbosa.
Highlights
Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa (Zeller) Seaver is a leaf spot pathogen on salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh) that produces asci on an apothecium as a sexual morph [1]
Conidia of Pestalotia gibbosa are strikingly similar to those of Neopestalotiopsis species because the three median cells of the conidia are versicoloured, and they could be classified into the genus Neopestalotiopsis based on morphology
The majority of the more than 200 species associated with the well-known genus Pestalotiopsis s. lat. are typified by the asexual morph, while only a few (14) have known sexual states producing perithecial ascocarps typified by the genus Pestalosphaeria [7, 21]
Summary
Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa (Zeller) Seaver is a leaf spot pathogen on salal (Gaultheria shallon Pursh) that produces asci on an apothecium as a sexual morph [1]. The asexual morph of Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa resembles that of Pestalotiopsis sensu lato Lat.) and was first described independently by Harkness [2] as Pestalotia gibbosa. It has been suspected that Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa and Pestalotia gibbosa are the same fungus, because the two fungi have been found in close proximity on the same leaves. Bonar [3] demonstrated that cultures from germinated ascospores of Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa produced conidia that were the same as that of Pestalotia gibbosa. Seaver [4] likewise concluded that Pestalopezia brunneopruinosa was the sexual morph of Pestalotia gibbosa. Phylogenetic analyses of both fungi to clarify their relationship has not been previously conducted
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