Coniella grossedentatae D. H. Li, J. W. Xia & X. G. Zhang 2025, sp. nov.

Coniella grossedentatae D. H. Li, J. W. Xia & X. G. Zhang sp. nov. Fig. 4 Holotype. China • Fujian Province: Wuyishan City, Xingcun Town, on diseased leaves of Ampelopsis grossedentata (Vitaceae), 27.749556°N, 117.679038°E, 751.68 m asl., 15 Oct. 2022, D. H. Li, holotype HSAUP 1354-3, ex-type living culture SAUCC 1354-3 = CGMCC 3.27783. Etymology. Named after the species epithet of the host plant, Ampelopsis grossedentata. Description. Hypha superficial, 1.3–3.5 μm wide, branched, multi-septate, hyaline to pale orange. Asexual morph: Conidiomata spherical or narrowly ellipsoid, separate, immersed or superficial, some surfaces enveloped in a gelatinous sheath, some surface uneven, sizes inconsistent, black. Conidiophores cylindrical, aseptate, straight or slightly curved, densely aggregated, simple, usually reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells phialidic, simple, aggregative, hyaline, smooth, 10.6–23.1 × 1.7–3.8 μm (mean ± SD = 16.8 ± 3 × 2.5 ± 0.6 μm, n = 30), with apical periclinal thickening, blastospore at the apex. Conidia nearly spherical, apices acute, widest at the middle, bases tapering to a truncate hilum, multi-guttulate, immature conidia hyaline, mature conidia medium brown, wall darker than medium brown body of conidium, smooth, 8–10.5 × 7.5–9.5 μm (mean ± SD = 9.4 ± 0.6 × 8.4 ± 0.5 μm, n = 30). Sexual morph unknown. Culture characteristics. Colonies on PDA after 14 days of cultivation in the dark at 25 ° C, reaching 86–90 mm in diam., with a growth rate of 6.1–6.4 mm / day; from above: orange in the middle and edges, with white in between, medium aerial mycelium, granular, circular, flat; reverse: similar in color. Colonies on OA covering entire plate after 14 days of cultivation in the dark at 25 ° C; from above: white in the middle and edges, with orange in between, sparse aerial mycelium, flat; reverse: similar in color. Additional material studied. China • Fujian Province: Wuyishan City, Xingcun Town, on diseased leaves of Ampelopsis grossedentata (Vitaceae), 27.749556°N, 117.679038°E, 751.68 m asl., 15 Oct. 2022, D. H. Li, HSAUP 1354-1, living culture SAUCC 1354-1. Notes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Coniella grossedentatae formed an independent clade (Fig. 1) basal to C. dongshanlingensis (CGMCC 3.27785, SAUCC 7265-6), C. fujianensis (CGMCC 3.25353, CGMCC 3.25354), and C. wangiensis (CBS 132530). Coniella grossedentatae can be distinguished from C. dongshanlingensis by 4 / 604, 1 / 793, 52 / 902, and 80 / 532 base-pair differences in ITS, LSU, rpb 2, and tef 1 - α sequences, and from C. fujianensis by 8 / 588, 1 / 798, 34 / 657, and 64 / 313 base-pair differences in ITS, LSU, rpb 2, and tef 1 - α sequences, and from C. wangiensis by 2 / 603, 5 / 798, 35 / 767, and 79 / 329 base-pair differences in ITS, LSU, rpb 2, and tef 1 - α sequences, respectively. Morphologically, the conidiogenous cells of C. grossedentatae (10.6–23.1 × 1.7–3.8 μm) are longer than those of C. dongshanlingensis (7.3–19.2 × 1.5–3.3 μm), C. fujianensis (3.5–8 × 2.5–3.5 μm), and C. wangiensis (15–20 × 3–4 μm); the conidia of C. grossedentatae (8–10.5 × 7.5–9.5 μm) are wider than those of C. dongshanlingensis (7.8–10 × 5.1–7 μm) and C. fujianensis (8–10.5 × 5.5–7.5 μm), and shorter than those of C. wangiensis (9–13 × 7–10 μm) (Crous et al. 2012; Alvarez et al. 2016). Therefore, we describe our collection as a novel species.