New Species of Byssosphaeria (Melanommataceae, Pleosporales) from the Mexican Tropical Montane Cloud Forest

TL;DR

This paper describes four new species of the Byssosphaeria genus found in Mexican cloud forests, increasing the known diversity of this group in the region.

Contribution

The study introduces four new Byssosphaeria species based on morphology and molecular phylogenetic analysis.

Findings

Four new Byssosphaeria species were identified in Mexican tropical montane cloud forests.

The new species are saprophytic and found on wood rot in mesophilic mountainous forests.

Molecular markers confirmed the distinctiveness of the new species within the genus.

Abstract

Byssosphaeria Cooke is a monophyletic genus of the family Melanommataceae. The genus is characterized by ascomata smaller than 1000 µm, globose, well-developed subiculum, with a flat ostiole, and yellow-orange or reddish-brown color around the ostiole. The peridium is composed of an external layer of irregular cells followed by an internal layer of thinner cells. Clavate asci have fusiform ascospores, a hyaline-to-brown color, with one or more septa. The genus Byssosphaeria is composed of 29 species: saprophytes, endophytes, and parasites of woody angiosperms, and they are found in wood, leaves, and other decaying substrates. The distribution of these species is cosmopolitan, and four species have been described in Mexico. This study describes, through morphological characteristics and the phylogenetic analysis of molecular markers (ITS, SSU, LSU, tef1-α), four new species of Byssosphaeria: B. bautistae, B. chrysostoma, B. neorhodomphala, and B. neoschiedermayriana. These species are saprophytes on wood rot and are distributed in mountainous mesophilic forests from the states of Hidalgo, Puebla, and Oaxaca. The significance of this study is in the diversity of this genus in Mexico since eight species have been described.

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