Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 January 2024 | 16(1): 24463–24468
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8591.16.1.24463-24468
#8591 | Received 14
June 2023 | Final received 21 August 2023 | Finally accepted 14 December 2023
Two Ceratosporella
(Fungi: Ascomycota) species from oak leaf litter in Almora,
Uttarakhand, India
Manish Kumar Dubey 1,
Ram Sanmukh Upadhyay 2 & Ramesh
Chandra Gupta 3
1 Department
of Biotechnology, University Centre for Research & Development (UCRD),
Chandigarh University, Mohali, Punjab 140413, India.
2 Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technology, Centre of Advanced
Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,
Uttar Pradesh 221005, India.
3 Department of Botany, Kumaun University, Sobhan Singh Jeena Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand
263601, India.
1 mkmkdubey@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 upadhyay_bhu@yahoo.co.uk, 3 rcgupta_alm@rediffmail.com
Editor: Gunjan Biswas, Vidyasagar University, West
Bengal, India. Date of publication: 26 January
2024 (online & print)
Citation: Dubey, M.K., R.S. Upadhyay & R.C. Gupta (2024). Two Ceratosporella (Fungi: Ascomycota) species from oak
leaf litter in Almora, Uttarakhand, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(1): 24463–24468. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8591.16.1.24463-24468
Copyright: © Dubey et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Funding: Self-funded.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author details: Dr. Manish Kumar Dubey is currently working as an assistant professor in University Centre for
Research & Development (UCRD) as well as Department of Biotechnology, Chandigarh University. His area of work includes freshwater fungi, particularly the zoosporic fungi. Dr. Ram Sanmukh Upadhyay is
senior professor in Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University. His expertise includes mycopathology and microbial technology. Dr.
Ramesh Chandra Gupta is
emeritus professor at Department of Botany, Kumaun University, Sobhan Singh Jeena Campus. He is specialized in fungal taxonomy.
Author contributions: The study was conceived and designed by RCG. RCG and MKD performed all worked on the project in the field. MKD performed analyses and led the writing. RSU and RCG supervised the research; also reviewed the manuscript’s final version.
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Head,
Department of Botany, Kumaun University, S.S.J.
Campus, Almora for providing laboratory and library
facilities. We also express our gratitude to the reviewers for their valuable
insights and contributions.
Abstract: Two species of Ceratosporella collected on leaf litter of Mohru Oak Quercus floribunda in Uttarakhand, India,
are described herein and compared with closely allied species. They are Ceratosporella deviata and
Ceratosporella cheiroidea.
Among them, C. cheiroidea is newly recorded
from India. Morphological descriptions, illustrations, and comments are
provided for the aforementioned species.
Keywords: Anamorphic fungi, biodiversity, Binser forest, cellotape
technique, hyphomycetes, Quercus, saprobic, taxonomy.
Introduction
The dematiaceous hyphomycete
genus Ceratosporella Höhn. was established by Höhnel
(1923), with C. bicornis (Morgan) Höhn. as the type species, and subsequently revised by
Hughes (1951). Ceratosporella is characterized
by mononematous, straight, erect, smooth, septate,
pigmented (mid to dark brown) and unbranched conidiophores. Conidiogenous
cells are percurrently extending, monoblastic,
integrated, terminal and produce acrogenous, cheiroid,
bifurcate or stauriform, smooth or verrucose,
septate, brown to dark brown, solitary conidia with schizolytic
secession (Monteiro & Gusmão 2014;
Hernández-Restrepo et al. 2017). Besides these traits, the arms extend from a
single basal cell of the conidium and branch into rows of cells (1–16), that
separate this genus from other morphologically similar anamorphic genera
including Pentaster Koukol,
Actinocladium Ehrenberg, and Triposporium Rope (Manoharachary
et al. 2010; Koukol & Říhová
2013).
Ceratosporella has been reported from temperate and tropical regions worldwide and it
is associated with numerous types of plant substrates such as bark, leaves,
stems or branches, and the petioles of many plant hosts in both freshwater and terretrial ecosystems (Ellis 1971; Wu & Zhuang 2005).
Most species included in this genus are saprobic in nature, often found growing
on decaying plants
debris of a wide range of hosts in contrast to the generic type, C. bicornis, which is a plant pathogenic fungus on Zea mays L. (Hughes 1971; Matsushima 1993; Castañeda-Ruiz et al. 1996; Seephueak
et al. 2010). Some species are also known to interact with trees in the
families Euphorbiaceae, Betulaceae
and Fagaceae such as Carpinus
betulus L., Castanea
sativa Mill. and Hevea brasiliensis Muell. Arg. In
this sense, Ceratosporella disticha Kuthub. was isolated
from leaf litter of the Palm tree Arenga westerhautii Griff in Malaysia (Kuthubutheen
& Nawawi 1991).
The Kumaon
or Kumaun Himalaya region and its associated forests
are considered an important reservoir of Indian biodiversity; nevertheless, the
mycobiota of its ecosystems is poorly documented and
still remains obscure, predominantly the dematiaceous hyphomycetes that grows
on dead and decaying residues of plants. During field work carried out in the
subtropical forest area of Almora District,
Uttarakhand, India, we found two interesting microfungi
associated with decaying Mohru Oak Quercus
floribunda leaf litter material sharing features of Ceratosporella.
These two species, namely C. deviata and C.
cheiroidea, have unique conidia that differ from
other taxa in Ceratosporella and are reported
and described herein.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Isolate and morphology
Leaf litter of Mohru Oak Quercus floribunda Lindl.
ex Camus were collected during a mycological field work in Binser
forest, Almora, Uttarakhand, India in the June of
2017. The collected samples were preserved in separate zip-locked plastic bags
and transported to the laboratory. Once there, they were incubated in moist
chambers consisting of sterile Petri dishes at room temperature (about 25°C)
and periodically examined within two weeks for the presence of microfungi using a dissecting microscope. The samples were
prepared for microscopic examination using a newly developed cellotape technique (Gupta 2016). Microscopic features and
fungal structures such as septation, conidiogenous cells, developmental stages, branching
pattern, conidial size and shape were measured, photographed and studied by
employing standard mycological protocols and relevant literature to enable
species identification. The permanent slides and examined specimens were
deposited in the fungarium of the Department of
Botany, Kumaun University, Almora,
India (HKUM).
Results
Taxonomy
Ceratosporella deviata Subram., Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. Sect.
B. 46: 327, 1957. Image 1A–C
Synonym: Triposporium
deviatum (Subram.) R.F.
Castañeda, Mycotaxon 60:
278, 1996.
Colonies on natural substrate
effuse, brown or dark blackish brown, velvety. Mycelium partly superficial and
partly immersed in the substratum, composed of irregular branches, smooth,
septate, subhyaline to pale or dark brown, 1.5–3.0 µm wide hyphae.
Conidiophores simple, erect, straight or slightly curved, smooth, cylindrical,
brown or pale brown toward the apex, dark brown toward the base, up to 150 µm
long, 4–6 µm wide, often extending percurrently, with
up to 10 septa, dark brown basal cell; conidiogenous
cells monoblastic, integrated, terminal, smooth, pale brown, cylindrical and
truncated at the apex. Conidial secession schizolytic.
Conidia acrogenous, smooth, pale to mid brown, with 2–4 (usually 3) divergent,
subulate, septate arms, often constricted at septa, the apical (central) arm
30–55 × 5–7 µm, lateral arms 15–45 × 4–7 µm, arising from a turbinate or
pyriform basal cell, 8–14 µm long, 5–8 µm wide at the broadest part, 3–5 µm at
the base attached directly to the conidiophores.
Specimen examined: HKU(M) 2623,
10.vi.2012, India, Uttarakhand, Almora, Binser forest, on dead leaf bases of Q. floribunda (Fagaceae), coll. R.C. Gupta.
Note: The collection adequately
fits the original diagnosis of Subramanian (1957) for describing Ceratosporella deviata
on dead leaf bases of Raphiostyles sapida from Chennai (formerly Madras), India. This
species is distint from other representatives of the
genus by its two–four (mostly three) divergent conidial arms. This fungus has a
close resemblance with species such as C. stipitata
and C. bicornis. However, conidia in C.
stipitata are smaller and consistently two-armed
whereas in C. bicornis the two conidial arms
diverge more or less 180⁰C (Monteiro & Gusmão
2014). Castañeda-Ruiz et al. (1996) proposed a new
combination Triposporium deviatum for this species based on the presence of stauroconidia and its strong resemblance with species of Triposporium Corda, particularly T. elegans Corda (Ellis 1971).
Ceratosporella cheiroidea R.C. Sinclair, Morgan-Jones &
Eicker, in Sinclair, Eicker
& Morgan-Jones, Mycotaxon 30: 352, 1987. Image 1D
Colonies on natural substrate
effuse, light brown to dark brown, velvety. Mycelium partly superficial, mostly
immersed in the substratum, composed of septate, branched, pale brown to brown,
smooth hyphae. Conidiophores mononematous,
macronematous, simple, erect, smooth, thick walled, cylindrical, straight or
slightly flexuous, 2–10 septate, 45–110 × 4–6 µm, mostly dark brown with a 4–8
µm wide bulbose base. Conidiogenous
cells monoblastic, integrated, terminal, smooth, brown to pale brown, usually
cylindrical with two–three successive percurrent extensions, truncated at the
apex. Conidial maturation synchronous with conidial ontogeny: conidial
secession schizolytic. Conidia solitary, acrogenous, cheiroid, smooth, composed of a 2-celled stalk-like base
and usually with two or rarely three cylindrical arms, flexuous, 1–6 septate,
usually of unequal sizes, pale brown, 20–55 × 5–7.5 μm,
tapering towards the distal cell with primary arms usually longer than
secondary arms; basal stalk obconic, versicolor and truncate at base.
Specimen examined: HKU(M) 2640,
11.vi.2017, India, Uttarakhand, Almora, Binser forest, on leaf litter of Mohru
oak Q. floribunda, coll. R.C. Gupta.
Note: The most striking feature
of this isolate is the presence of conidia with 2–3 arms, conidial development
pattern and versicolor basal cell. These characteristics were easily observed
in the isolated specimens, agreeing with the original description (Sinclair et
al. 1987). According to Monteiro & Gusmão (2014),
only 12 representatives hitherto described under Ceratosporella
possess cheiroid conidia- C. basibicellularia,
C. basicontinua, C. caliculata,
C. compacta, C. cheiroidea, C. disticha, C. flagellifera,
C. fertilis, C. novae-zelandiae,
C. hernandezii, C. ponapensis,
and C. stipitata. C. cheiroidea
conidia possess 2–3 arms (20–55 µm long in length), with a pattern of conidial
development closely similar to the above mentioned
representatives of Ceratosporella; but the
number of arms, septa, size, and pigmented basal cell are the certain features
that clearly distinguish this fungus from other mentioned representatives
(Sinclair et al. 1987; Monteiro & Gusmão 2014).
Synoptic characteristics for all these mentioned Ceratosporella
species were reviewed and provided by Monteiro & Gusmão
(2014).
DISCUSSION
During a survey of microfungi aimed to shed light on the microfungi
inhabiting leaf litter of Binser forest in
Uttarakhand (India), two dematiaceous hyphomycetous
fungi belonging to the genus Ceratosporella
were found. On critical study and comparison with other known representatives
of the genus, Ceratosporella deviata and Ceratosporella
cheiroidea were found to be newly recorded
species for Uttarakhand and India, respectively. The taxonomic diagnosis of
these recorded species is provided herein. Apart from this, the ecology of the
recorded species is also described with reference to their substratum and
habitat preferences. Our previous surveys also reflect that this region harbors
a huge diversity of unknown mycobiota that could be
discovered through proper mycological surveys (Dubey et al. 2019b, 2020a,b, 2022a,b, 2023); thus, the protection of the Binser forest is mandatory and of the utmost importance. In
recent years, several mycological explorations have been conducted throughout
India aimed for the discovery of its largely unknown mycobiota
(Dubey et al. 2019b, 2020a,b, 2022a,b). Furthermore,
as part of these surveys, several novel fungal species occurring on dead and
decaying leaves or other plant parts have been described recently in India (Verma et al. 2021; Singh et al. 2022).
Over the years, 18 taxa have been
included and described under the genus Ceratosporella,
namely, C. basicontinua (Matsushima, 1993), C.
basibicellularia (Matsushima, 1993), C. bicornis (Höhnel, 1923), C.
cheiroidea (Sinclair et al., 1987), C. caliculata (Lustrati, 1980), C.
disticha (Kuthubutheen
& Nawawi, 1991), C. compacta (Castañeda-Ruiz et al., 1996), C. flagellifera
(Matsushima, 1993), C. fertilis (Castañeda-Ruiz, 1985), C. ponapensis
(Matsushima, 1981), C. novae-zelandiae (Hughes,
1971), and C. stipitata (Hughes, 1952).
However, taxonomic confusion has arisen for some of the taxa due to their
similarity and comparison amongst similar genera. Based on the above fact, Ceratosporella has been generically delimited and
five taxa specifically, C. deviata and C. lambdaseptata, C. goidanichii,
C. longiramosa and C. pulneyensis
were excluded and assigned to other similar genera. Ceratosporella
elegans is a synonym of C. bicornis.
To date, only 12 species are retained in the genus Ceratosporella,
with the criteria used for species identification and delimitation being
primarily based morphological features such as conidial size, shape, septation, depelopmental pattern,
ornamentation, pigmentation and the absence or presence of appendages (Castañeda-Ruiz et al. 1996; Monteiro & Gusmão, 2014). Castañeda-Ruiz et
al. (1996) provided the key to species of Ceratosporella.
However, Monteiro & Gusmão (2014) recently
revised the key and reviewed the synoptic characteristics for all the accepted
species. In this sense, the distinguishing characteristics of all the accepted
species were compared with closely resembling species for taxonomic clarity.
Similar characteristics are also used for distinguishing other known species in
many closely related saprobic dematiaceous hyphomycetes genera, like Cercosporella, where little is known about teleomorph
relationships and molecular data are sparse (Seifert et al. 2011; Heredia et
al. 2014; Xia et al. 2014; Hernández-Restrepo et al. 2017). Even in genera
where molecular data are available, morphology alone is often conclusive
(Almeida et al. 2014). Therefore, the phylogenetic placement of the
representatives in this genus remained highly uncertain until new insights
based on molecular data are provided for these fungi. In this regard,
ecological and taxonomical observations in this genus are, therefore, largely
based on morphology.
Conclusion
In the present study, two Ceratosporella species were investigated based on
their critical morphological characters. These two species possess unique
conidia that differ from other species in Ceratosporella,
and therefore, Ceratosporella deviata is described as a new record for
Uttarakhand whereas Ceratosporella cheiroidea is reported for the first time from India.
Overall, this study contributes to the knowledge of the fungal diversity
present in Uttarakhand, especially in the oak forest-covered regions,
demonstrating the importance to explore other new habitats of the Himalayan
region during mycological surveys.
For image
- - click here for full PDF
References
Almeida,
D.A.C., A.N. Miller & L.F.P. Gusmão (2014). Conidial fungi from the
semi-arid Caatinga Biome of Brazil. New species of Anungitopsis,
Codinaea, Stanjehughesia
and new combinations of Janetia and Minimelanolocus. Nova Hedwigia
98(3–4): 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2013/0162
Castañeda-Ruiz, R.F. (1985). Deuteromycotina
de Cuba, Hyphomycetes II. La Habana, Instituto de Investigaciones
Fundamentales en
Agricultura Tropical “Alejandro de Humboldt”.
Castañeda-Ruiz, R.F., J. Guarro & J. Cano (1996). Notes on conidial fungi. X. A
new species of Ceratosporella and some new
combinations. Mycotaxon 60: 275–281.
Dubey, M.K.,
R.S. Upadhyay, D. Kamil & R.C. Gupta (2018). Sporidesmium binserum
sp. nov. from Binser forest
of Almora Himalaya, India. Indian Phytopathology
71(3): 457–462. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-018-0044-9
Dubey, M.K.,
Z. Jinnah, R.S. Upadhyay & R.C. Gupta (2019a). First report of Brachysporium britannicum
(Trichosphaeriaceae) from India. Indian
Phytopathology 72(3): 555–559. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-019-00159-0
Dubey, M.K.,
T.Y. James, A. Zehra, M. Aamir & R.S. Upadhyay
(2019b). First record
of Newbya recurva
(Saprolegniaceae) from India. Nova Hedwigia 109: 81–93. https://doi.org/10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2019/0537
Dubey, M.K.,
R.S. Upadhyay, Z. Jinnah, D. Arya & R.C. Gupta (2020a). Quadracaea
mediterranea, a new record from Kumaun Himalaya region, India. Mycotaxon
135(4): 795–799. https://doi.org/10.5248/135.797
Dubey, M.K.,
R.S. Upadhyay & R.C. Gupta (2022a). Spadicoides obovata: a new record from Kumaun Himalaya, India. Vegetos
35: 258–263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-021-00273-3
Dubey, M.K.,
M.H. Gajbhiye & R.S. Upadhyay (2020b). Achlya
bisexualis (Achlyaceae,
Saprolegniales, Oomycota) –
A new record for India. Nova Hedwigia
111(1–2): 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2020/0589
Dubey, M. K.,
M.H. Gajbhiye & R.S. Upadhyay (2022b). New records, rare and noteworthy
species of the genus Nowakowskiella (Cladochytriaceae, Chytridiomycota)
from India. Current Science 123(12): 1462–1472.
Dubey, M. K.,
M. Aamir, A. Zehra, M. Yadav, P. Kumari,
M.H. Gajbhiye, & R.S. Upadhyay (2023). Morpho-molecular identification,
characterization and management of Pythium catenulatum,
the causative agent of root rot disease in Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean).
Journal of Phytopathology 171: 92–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/jph.13156
Ellis, M.B.
(1971). Dematiaceous
hyphomycetes. Commonwealth Mycological Institute, Kew, 608 pp.
Gupta, R.C.
(2016). A simple and
quick cellotape technique to study litter decomposing
fungi. Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology 46(4): 294–295.
Heredia, G.,
R.M. Arias, R.F. Castañeda-Ruiz & D.W. Minter
(2014). New species
of Lobatopedis and Minimelanolocus
(anamorphic fungi) from a Mexican cloud forest. Nova Hedwigia
98(1–2): 31–40. https://doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2013/0146
Hernández-Restrepo,
M., J. Gené, R.F. Castañeda-Ruiz,
J. Mena-Portales, P.W. Crous & J. Guarro (2017). Phylogeny of saprobic microfungi from southern Europe. Studies in Mycology
86(1): 53–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simyco.2017.05.002
Höhnel, F. (1923). Studien über Hyphomyzeten.
Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie 60: 1–26.
Hughes, S.J.
(1951). Studies on Micro-fungi. XII. Triposporium, Tripospermum,
Ceratosporella and Tetraposporium
(gen. nov.). Mycological Paper 46: 1–35.
Hughes, S.J.
(1952). Speira stipitata. Transactions
of the British Mycological Society 35: 243–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0007-1536(52)80033-6
Hughes, S.J.
(1971). New Zealand Fungi 16. Brachydesmiella,
Ceratosporella. New Zealand Journal of Botany 9(2): 351–354. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.1971.10429147
Koukol, O. & D. Říhová
(2013). Pentaster cepaeophilus gen. et sp. nov.
described from surface of empty shells of Cepaea
hortensis. Nova Hedwigia
96 (3–4): 495–500. https://doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2013/0086
Kuthubutheen, A.J. & A. Nawawi (1991). A new species of Ceratosporella
and Triposporium lambdaseptatum
(Matsush.) comb. nov. from
Malaysia. Mycological Research 95(2): 158–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0953-7562(09)81005-8
Lustrati, L. (1980). Ceratosporella
caliculata, sp. nov.
nuova specie di ifale demaziaceo. Micologia Italiana 3: 11–14.
Manoharachary, C., I.K. Kunwar, G.S. Kumar,
B.S. Reddy & D.K. Agarwal (2010). Two new species of Actinocladium Ehrenb.
from India. Indian Phytopathology 63(1): 83–84.
Matsushima,
T. (1981). Matsushima
Mycological Memoirs No. 2. Published by the Author, Kobe, Japan.
Matsushima,
T. (1993). Matsushima
Mycological Memoirs No. 7. Published by the Author, Kobe, Japan.
Monteiro,
J.S. & L.F.P. Gusmão (2014). Two new species of Ceratosporella (anamorphic fungi) from Brazilian
Amazon forest. Nova Hedwigia 98(3–4): 481–490.
https://doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2014/0165
Seephueak, P., V. Petcharat
& S. Phongpaichit (2010). Fungi associated with leaf
litter of para rubber (Hevea brasiliensis). Mycology 1(4): 213–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/21501203.2010.536594
Seifert, K.,
G. Morgan-Jones, W. Gams & B. Kendrick (2011). The genera of hyphomycetes.
CBS biodiversity series. Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Sinclair,
R.C., A. Eicker & G. Morgan-Jones (1987). Notes on Hyphomycetes. LVI. Ceratosporella cheiroidea,
a new species. Mycotaxon 30: 351–355.
Subramanian,
C.V. (1957).
Hyphomycetes - IV. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, B
46(5): 324–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03053847
Singh, A., S.
Yadav, R. Singh & N. Dubey (2022). Taxonomy and phylogeny of a new species of Pseudocercospora on Solanum nigrum
from India. Turkish Journal of Botany 46(5): 507–516. https://doi.org/10.3906/bot-2012-27
Verma, S.K., S. Yadav, R. Singh, B. Chaurasia & S. Kumar (2021). Pseudodeightoniella
indica gen. and sp. nov.,
a hyphomycete from India. Mycotaxon 136(4):
769–778. https://doi.org/10.5248/136.769
Wu, W. &
W. Zhuang (2005). Sporidesmium, Endophragmiella
and related genera from China. Fungal Diversity Press, Hong Kong.
Xia, J.W., L.G. Ma, R.F. Castañeda Ruiz & X.G. Zhang (2014). A new species of Sporidesmiopsis
and three new records of other dematiaceous hyphomycetes from southern China. Nova
Hedwigia 98(1–2): 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1127/0029-5035/2013/0145