Ramopenidiella cycadicola Crous & R.G. Shivas, in Crous et al., Persoonia 32: 207 (2014)
Index Fungorum number: IF 808900; MycoBank number: MB 808900; Facesoffungi number: FoF 11419
Etymology – Named after the host genus from which it was isolated, Cycas.
Mycelium consisting of branched, septate, smooth, pale brown, 1.5–2 μm diam hyphae. Conidiophores dimorphic. Microconidiophores erect, brown, smooth, subcylindrical, reduced to conidiogenous cells, up to 15 μm long, 3–4 μm diam. Macroconidiophores erect, brown, smooth, thick-walled, flexuous, unbranched, subcylindrical, 3–8-septate, 40–130 × 3–4 μm; base arising from hyphae, lacking rhizoids. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal, brown, smooth, subcylindrical, 8–17 × 3–5 μm, containing several truncate, apical loci that are subdenticulate, 1 μm diam, and give rise to several ramoconidia. Primary ramoconidia brown, smooth, fusoid-ellipsoid, aseptate, 8–10 × 3–4 μm. Secondary ramoconidia pale brown, smooth, fusoid-ellipsoid, aseptate, 8–14 × 2.5–3 μm. Intercalary and terminal conidia pale brown, smooth, fusoid, ellipsoid, aseptate, (5–)8–9(–10) × 2(–2.5) μm; hila somewhat thickened and darkened, 0.5 μm diam.
Culture characteristics — Colonies reaching up to 8 mm diam after 2 wk at 22 °C, spreading, with sparse aerial mycelium and feathery, uneven margins. On PDA surface and reverse olivaceous-grey. On OA surface olivaceous-grey. On MEA surface olivaceous-grey, reverse iron-grey.
Typus – Australia, Queensland, Cairns, S16°02’19.8″ E145°27’39.1″, on Cycas calcicola (Cycadaceae) leaf litter, 8 Aug. 2009, P.W. Crous & R.G. Shivas (holotype CBS H-21684, culture ex-type CPC 17291 = CBS 137973;
GenBank accession numbers – ITS: KJ869125, LSU: KJ869182, TEF: KJ869237.
Notes — The genus Penidiella was established by Crous et al. (2007a) to accommodate dematiaceous hyphomycetes with solitary, brown conidiophores, an apical set of branches and conidiogenous cells, and branched chains of 0(–1)-septate brown conidia with slightly thickened and darkened hila. The genus was too broadly defined however, and recently Quaedvlieg et al. (2014) showed that it was paraphyletic. The genus Ramopenidiella is distinguished from Penidiella in that the first whorl of primary ramoconidia appear as conidiophore branches qua pigmentation (darker than that of other conidia), but they are ramoconidia though not primary ramoconidia (sensu Bensch et al. 2012), as they are constricted at the base and very distinct in morphology from the secondary ramoconidia.