Pseudopestalotiopsis zhangzhouensis Z. A. Heng & J. Z. Qiu 2025, sp. nov.

Pseudopestalotiopsis zhangzhouensis Z. A. Heng & J. Z. Qiu sp. nov. Fig. 5 Type. China • Fujian Province: Zhangzhou City, 24°30'36"N, 117°39'0"E, on diseased leaves of Ixora chinensis, September 2023, Z. A. Heng, holotype HMAS 353371; ex-holotype culture CGMCC 3.28547. China • Fujian Province: Zhangzhou City, 24°30'36"N, 117°39'0"E, on diseased leaves of Ixora chinensis, September 2023, Z. A. Heng, paratype HMAS 353372; ex-paratype culture CGMCC 3.28548. Etymology. Referring to the locality from which it was collected, China, Fujian Province, Zhangzhou City. Diagnosis. Asexual morph on PDA: conidiomata acervular, globose, dark brown or black, solitary or aggregated, semi-submerged on PDA, releasing conidia in a black, slimy, globose mass. Conidiophores indistinct and reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells discrete, smooth-walled, cylindrical or finely lobed. Conidia fusiform, straight or slightly curved, 20.1–27.3 × 4.2–6.9 μm (mean = 23.3 × 5.5 μm); 4 – septate, slightly constricted at the septa; basal cells obconical, 2.9–5.2 μm (mean = 4.2 μm) long, hyaline, smooth, thin-walled; the three intermediate cells columnar or cylindrical, homochromatic, pale brown to brown, 13.8–17.9 μm (mean = 15.5 μm) long, septa and periclinal walls darker than rest of the cell; second cell from the base pale brown, 4.1–6.3 μm (mean = 4.9 μm) long; third cell brown, 3.9–5.8 μm (mean = 4.8 μm) long; fourth cell pale brown to brown, 3.9–5.3 μm (mean = 4.5 μm) long; apical cell hyaline, subcylindrical, 2.2–5.1 μm (mean = 3.4 μm) long; with 2–3 tubular apical appendages (mostly 3) arising at different parts of the apical cell, unbranched, 25.1–36.7 μm (mean = 28.5 μm) long; basal appendages single, tubular, unbranched, 2–5.5 μm (mean = 3.9 μm) long. Sexual morph not observed. Cultivation characteristics. Colonies on PDA grew fast, covering the Petri plate after 7 d of incubation at 25 ° C. Colony edges wavy, white or yellowish, with solitary or aggregated clusters of conidiomata on the surface, reverse side of the colony, white. Notes. Two strains Pseudopestalotiopsis zhangzhouensis (CGMCC 3.28547 and CGMCC 3.28548) were isolated from diseased leaf spots on Ixora chinensis. Pseudopestalotiopsis zhangzhouensis (CGMCC 3.28547 and CGMCC 3.28548) formed a distinct branching relationship to Ps. theae (MFLUCC-0055 and SC 011) with 98 % ML / 0.99 BYPP statistical support (Fig. 2). The isolate is closely related to Ps. theae (MFLUCC-0055) and comparisons of their nucleotides showed 14 bp nucleotide differences in three loci (6 bp for tub 2 and 8 bp for tef 1, including two gaps). Ps. zhangzhouensis was morphologically distinct from Ps. theae in its narrower conidia 4.2–6.9 μm vs. 6.6–8.3 μm and shorter basal appendages 2–5.5 μm vs. 5–9 μm (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2014 b).