Ruwenzoria, a new genus of the Xylariaceae from Central Africa

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ruwenzoria, a new genus of the Xylariaceae from Central Africa

AU - Stadler, M.

AU - Læssøe, Thomas

AU - Fournier, J.

AU - Decock, C.

AU - Persoh, D.

AU - Rambold, G.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - During a foray to the mountain rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a peculiar species of Xylariaceae was found, which could not be accommodated in any of the existing genera. It is recognised as representative of a new genus, named Ruwenzoria, owing to the presence of a new combination of teleomorphic and anamorphic characters that are regarded as significant for generic segregation within the Xylariaceae. Studies on its secondary metabolites in stromata and cultures by high performance liquid chromatography, coupled with diode array and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-DAD/MS), and on its phylogenetic affinities based on 5.8S/ITS rDNA sequence data, respectively, revealed a close relationship of the new taxon to the genera Daldinia and Entonaema, from which it differs by having neither a hollow, gelatinous nor a conspicuously zonate stromatal interior, and an anamorph featuring enteroblastic rather than holoblastic conidiogenesis. A specimen from the same geographic region, previously identified as Daldinia bakeri by R. W. G. Dennis was found to constitute a mixture of stromata of Ruwenzoria and an additional, undescribed Daldinia species. The latter fungus is not formally described due to the scantiness of the material, but its morphological characteristics are illustrated.

AB - During a foray to the mountain rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a peculiar species of Xylariaceae was found, which could not be accommodated in any of the existing genera. It is recognised as representative of a new genus, named Ruwenzoria, owing to the presence of a new combination of teleomorphic and anamorphic characters that are regarded as significant for generic segregation within the Xylariaceae. Studies on its secondary metabolites in stromata and cultures by high performance liquid chromatography, coupled with diode array and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-DAD/MS), and on its phylogenetic affinities based on 5.8S/ITS rDNA sequence data, respectively, revealed a close relationship of the new taxon to the genera Daldinia and Entonaema, from which it differs by having neither a hollow, gelatinous nor a conspicuously zonate stromatal interior, and an anamorph featuring enteroblastic rather than holoblastic conidiogenesis. A specimen from the same geographic region, previously identified as Daldinia bakeri by R. W. G. Dennis was found to constitute a mixture of stromata of Ruwenzoria and an additional, undescribed Daldinia species. The latter fungus is not formally described due to the scantiness of the material, but its morphological characteristics are illustrated.

KW - Ascomycota

KW - Chemosystematics

KW - Extrolites

KW - Taxonomy

KW - Xylariales

KW - RIBOSOMAL DNA-SEQUENCES

KW - DALDINIA

KW - ENTONAEMA

KW - HYPOXYLON

KW - CHEMOTAXONOMY

KW - PROFILES

KW - TAXA

U2 - 10.1007/s11557-009-0623-3

DO - 10.1007/s11557-009-0623-3

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1617-416X

VL - 9

SP - 169

EP - 179

JO - Mycological Progress

JF - Mycological Progress

IS - 2

ER -