AUTHOR=Jiang Hong-Bo , Jeewon Rajesh , Karunarathna Samantha C. , Phukhamsakda Chayanard , Doilom Mingkwan , Kakumyan Pattana , Suwannarach Nakarin , Phookamsak Rungtiwa , Lumyong Saisamorn 

TITLE=Reappraisal of Immotthia in Dictyosporiaceae, Pleosporales: Introducing Immotthia bambusae sp. nov. and Pseudocyclothyriella clematidis comb. et gen. nov. Based on Morphology and Phylogeny

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.656235

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.656235

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Immotthia</italic> is a poorly known genus, and currently, no DNA sequence data are available to ascertain its proper phylogenetic placement and evolutionary relationships with other bitunicate fungi. To date, there are only two species accepted in the genus. During our ongoing research study of bambusicolous fungi in southwest China and Thailand, a fungus associated with stromata of <italic>Hypoxylon</italic> sp. was found on dead bamboo culms in Loei Province, Thailand. Preliminary morphological identification revealed that the fungal collection belongs to <italic>Immotthia</italic>. A novel species, <italic>Immotthia bambusae</italic>, is introduced herein based on a comparison of morphological characteristics with the type specimen of <italic>I. hypoxylon</italic> (≡ <italic>Amphisphaeria hypoxylon</italic> Ellis and Everh.), a synonym of <italic>I. atrograna</italic> (Cooke and Ellis) M. E. Barr. Phylogenetic analyses of a concatenated ITS, LSU, SSU, and TEF1-α DNA sequence matrix showed that <italic>Immotthia</italic> belongs to Dictyosporiaceae, Pleosporales. Despite <italic>I. bambusae</italic> strains constituting a supported subclade, they are nested with the genus <italic>Pseudocoleophoma</italic>. <italic>Pseudocoleophoma clematidis</italic> is morphologically different from all other <italic>Pseudocoleophoma</italic> species, while its conidial characteristics are similar to <italic>Cyclothyriella</italic>. Multigene phylogenetic analyses showed that <italic>P. clematidis</italic> formed a clade basal to <italic>Immotthia</italic>, separated from <italic>Pseudocoleophoma</italic> with strong statistical support. Therefore, we introduce a monotypic genus, <italic>Pseudocyclothyriella</italic> Phukhams. and Phookamsak, gen. nov. to accommodate the single species, <italic>Pseudocyclothyriella clematidis</italic> (Phukhams. and K. D. Hyde) Phukhams. and Phookamsak, comb. nov. Detailed descriptions, color micrographs, and phylogenetic trees to show the placement of the new taxa are provided. In addition, an updated taxonomic treatment of the genera <italic>Immotthia</italic> and <italic>Pseudocyclothyriella</italic> is also provided based on the study of the type materials and phylogeny generated from DNA sequence data.</p>