Genus

Paraliomyces

Species

lentiferus

Author

Kohlm.

Class

Dothideomycetes

Order

Pleosporales

Family

Lophiostomataceae

Synonymy:

Description

Ascomata: up to 680 μm high, 540 μm diam., subglobose to pyriform, subiculate or non-subiculate, immersed or erumpent, ostiolate, papillate or epapillate, carbonaceous, thick-walled, black, solitary.

Papillae: short or absent, ostiolar canal ca. 70 μm diam., periphysate.

Peridium: one-layered, composed of cells of textura angularis.

Pseudoparaphyses: 140-160 × 0.5-1.2 μm, filamentous, numerous, persistent.

Asci: 85-115 × 13-17 μm, eight-spored, cylindrical, short pedunculate, bitunicate, thick-walled, without apical apparatus, developing at the base of the ascoma.

Ascospores: 17-26.5(-27.5) × 8-12 μm, ellipsoidal to subfusiform, 1-septate below the middle, constricted at the septum, hyaline, at first surrounded by a gelatinous sheath that contracts to form a lateral, lentiform, viscous appendage over the septum, 7.5-12.5 μm diam., 1-3 μm thick.

Culture: -

Anamorph: undetermined.

Key references:

Cuomo V, Jones EBG, Grasso S. (1988) Occurrence and distribution of marine fungi along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Progress in Oceanography 21: 189-200.

Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Ariyawansha H, Liu JK, Binder M, Jayawardene N, Boehm E, Boonmee S et al. (2013) Families of Dothideomycetes. Fungal Divers 63: 1-313.

Read SJ, Hsieh SY, Jones EBG, Moss ST, Chang HS. (1992) Paraliomyces lentiferus: an ultrastructural study of a little-known marine ascomycete. Canadian Journal of Botany 70: 2223-2232.

Suetrong S, Schoch CL, Spatafora JW, Kohlmeyer J, Volkmann-Kohlmeyer B, Sakayaroj J, Phongpaichit S, Tanaka K, Hirayama K, Jones EBG. (2009) Molecular systematics of the marine Dothideomycetes. Studies in Mycology 64: 155-173.

Tam WY, Pang KL, Jones EBG. (2003) Ordinal placement of selected marine bitunicate ascomycetes inferred from SSU ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. Botanica Marina 46:487-494.

Image: Paraliomyces lentiferus. (a) Section of immersed ascoma with a periphysate neck. (b) One-layered peridium of cells of textura angularis. (c) Cylindrical bitunicate asci and pseudoparaphyses. (d) Hyaline, bicelled ascospore with a pad-like appendage at the septum.
Scale bar: a=100 μm; b, d=10 μm, c=30 μm. Photo reproduced with the permission of the National Taiwan Ocean University.

Type & Location:

Other Specimens:

Substratum:

dead mangrove wood.

Habitat:

Distribution:

Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Taiwan, USA.

Pertinent Literature:

Nova Hedwigia 1: 81 (1959)

Comments:

This is a monotypic genus, occurring on submerged wood and geographically known only in the tropics (Tam et al. 2003). In a combined SSU and LSU DNA, TEF-1-α and RPB2 dataset, P. lentiferus clusters within a group of Lophiostoma species in the Lophiostomataceae (Suetrong et al. 2009). However, only one isolate was available for study and further sequences are required to confirm its generic assignment. Ultrastructuraly, the ascospores of P. lentiferus are interesting because it has a single lateral, equatorial, lentiform, mucilaginous appendage (pad-like) which can be easily overlooked. Read et al. (1992) showed that the spores are surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath (340-380 nm), with numerous electron-opaque granules, while the appendage comprises longitudinally orientated micro-fibrils in an amorphous matrix and is attached to the episporium. There is one report of the species from Italy, and this requires verification by further collections (Cuomo et al. 1988). Further collections of this species are required to confirm its position in the Lophiostomataceae (Hyde et al. 2013).

Images

Fig 2