Hydropisphaera cyatheae (Dingley) Rossman & Samuels 1999
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Hydropisphaera cyatheae (Dingley) Rossman & Samuels 1999
CONIDIAL STATE: Acremonium sp.
Mycelium ferrugineous hyphae surrounding the base of each perithecium, not apparent elsewhere. Perithecia gregarious, orange and forming extensive orange areas on the substrate, hirsute, urniform, 250-300 µm high x (310-) 375-440 (-530) µm wide, becoming collabent when dry, not changing colour in 3% potassium hydroxide. Perithecial wall 60-75 (-100) µm wide. Surface view: cells circular, (10-) 15-20 (-30) µm in greatest dimension, thin-walled. Longitudinal section: outer region 45-80 µm wide. cells circular, 20-30 µm in greatest dimension, thin-walled. Inner region 15 µm wide, cells flattened and compacted. Perithecial hairs triangular, (60-) 90-120 (-150) µm long x 60-70 µm basally, orange; arising from the surface of the perithecial wall and composed of a fascicle of unbranched, septate, smooth, thin-walled, 3 µm-wide hyphae. Perithecial papilla short, acute, formed of narrow hyphal elements arising from the inner region of the perithecial wall; ostiolar canal periphysate. A.sci clavate, (50-) 60-70 (-80) x (6-) 12-14 (-20) µm, 8-spored; apices rounded, simple; bases pointed; ascospores biseriate, forming throughout the length. Ascospores ellipsoidal to fusiform, 17-23 (-29) x 5-7 µm, equally 2-celled, striate or smooth, not constricted or slightly constricted at the septum, hyaline.
CHARACTERISTICS IN CULTURECMD: Ascospores germinating in low percentage overnight; a single germ tube arising from each end of each ascospore. Colonies 3-5 cm diam., opaque or rarely translucent, grey to white, aerial mycelium sparse to abundant and loose with faint concentric rings of erect, outwardly directed hyphae, margin undulate, non-aromatic, medium nonpigmented. ME: 1 cm or less diam., opaque, white, aerial mycelium lacking or sparse, margin undulate, nonaromatic, medium non-pigmented. OA: 7 cm diam., opaque, white to tan, aerial mycelium dense, with concentric rings of erect, outwardly directed hyphae and hyphal rope-like strands, margin undulate, non-aromatic, medium nonpigmented. WAS: 4-8 cm diam., translucent, nearly invisible, grey, aerial mycelium sparse or lacking, margin entire to slightly undulate, non-aromatic, medium non-pigmented. Perithecia forming within 6 weeks in cultures from single ascospores. Phialophores forming only on CMD, OA, and WAS after 2-4 weeks from aerial mycelium, unbranched, monophialidic, aseptate, straight to sinuous, smooth, 18-43 µm long, 2-3 µm wide basally, 1-1.5 cm wide at the unflared tip. Conidial production sparse. Phialoconidia oblong-elliptical, (5.5-) 6-9 (-1,3) x 2-2.5 (-3) µm, unicellular, hyaline, with or without a slightly protuberant, flattened, basal abscission scar. Arising in basipetal succession, held in a single, terminal, hyaline drop of liquid.
Nectria cyathea and N. suffulta are closely related. N. suffulta is heterothallic and its perithecia, asci, and ascospores are smaller than those of the homothallic N. cyathea. N. suffulta is a common tropical species (Samuels 1976) and is not known from New Zealand. A recent collection (PDD 32561) from New Zealand matched N. suffulta very well in morphological detail, but the isolate was homothallic and the ascospore measurements ranged from 13-22 x 4-7 µm, encompassing the measurements of both species. Ascospores produced in cultures of N. suffulta often have the measurements of the ascospores of N. cyathea, 10 µm longer than is usual for N. suffulta. Perithecia produced in culture from isolates from four collections of "typical" N. cyathea contained eight large ascospores.