Two new species in a new genus and a critical revision of Brachybasidiaceae (Exobasidiales, Basidiomycota) in honor of Franz Oberwinkler

M. Hartmann,M. Piepenbring,M. Lutz,T. A. Hofmann

doi:10.1007/s11557-020-01564-w

M. Hartmann, M. Piepenbring + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-020-01564-w

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Abstract

The Brachybasidiaceae are a family of 22 known species of plant-parasitic microfungi belonging to Exobasidiales, Basidiomycota. Within this family, species of the largest genus Kordyana develop balls of basidia on top of stomatal openings. Basidial cells originate from fungal stroma filling substomatal chambers. Species of Kordyana typically infect species of Commelinaceae. During fieldwork in the neotropics, fungi morphologically similar to Kordyana spp. were found on Goeppertia spp. (syn. Calathea spp., Marantaceae), namely on G. panamensis in Panama and on G. propinqua in Bolivia. These specimens are proposed as representatives of a genus new to science, Marantokordyana, based on the distinct host family and molecular sequence data of ITS and LSU rDNA regions. The specimens on the two host species represent two species new to science, M. oberwinkleriana on G. panamensis and M. boliviana on G. propinqua. They differ by the size and shape of their basidia, molecular sequence data of ITS and LSU rDNA regions, and host plant species. In the past, the understanding of Brachybasidiaceae at order and family level was significantly improved by investigation realized by Franz Oberwinkler and his collaborators at the University of Tübingen, Germany. On species level, however, our knowledge is still very poor due to incomplete species descriptions of several existing names in literature, scarceness of specimens, as well as sequence data lacking for many taxa and for further barcode regions. Especially species of Kordyana and species of Dicellomyces are in need of revision.Graphical

Highlights

The Exobasidiomycetes (Ustilaginomycotina, Basidiomycota) include orders traditionally considered smut fungi because of the presence of thick-walled probasidia, like in Doassansiales, Entylomatales, Georgefischeriales, and Tilletiales
Calathea panamensis Rowlee, Marantaceae) based on keys and descriptions in the Flora of Panama (Woodson and Schery 1943) and herbarium specimens deposited in PMA
For the two specimens of Brachybasidiaceae on Goeppertia panamensis from two localities in Panama, the ITS2 region of the ribosomal DNA (ITS) and large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU) sequences were identical, while the sequences obtained from the specimen collected in Bolivia on Goeppertia propinqua differed in 36 bp/6.4% for the ITS region and 32 bp/2.6% for the LSU

Summary

Introduction

The Exobasidiomycetes (Ustilaginomycotina, Basidiomycota) include orders traditionally considered smut fungi because of the presence of thick-walled probasidia (teliospores), like in Doassansiales, Entylomatales, Georgefischeriales, and Tilletiales. This class includes fungi without teliospores mainly in Ceraceosorales, Exobasidiales, and Microstromatales (Begerow et al 2002, 2018). On the basis of different types of soral structures, basidia, and ultrastructural characteristics, Bauer et al (1998, 2001) distinguished four families within the Exobasidiales, namely Brachybasidiaceae, Cryptobasidiaceae, Exobasidiaceae, and Graphiolaceae These groups have been treated as orders in the past as well as recently by Oberwinkler (2012a, b).

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