Research Article |
Corresponding author: M. Catherine Aime ( maime@purdue.edu ) Academic editor: Alfredo Vizzini
© 2018 M. Catherine Aime, Teeratas Kijpornyongpan, Mehrdad Abbasi, Kenneth R. Wood, Tim Flynn.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Aime MC, Kijpornyongpan T, Abbasi M, Wood KR, Flynn T (2018) A new species of Cintractiella (Ustilaginales) from the volcanic island of Kosrae, Caroline Islands, Micronesia. MycoKeys 42: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.42.27231
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Cintractiella is an unusual genus of smut fungi containing two described species that produce sori as adventitious gall-like spikelets on members of tribe Hypolytreae (subfam. Mapanioideae, Cyperaceae). In September 200, during a botanical expedition on the volcanic island of Kosrae located in the eastern Caroline Islands and within the Federated States of Micronesia, a specimen of Mapania pacifica was collected displaying Cintractiella-like sori in adventitious spikelets on the host leaves. Sori were hypophyllous, occurring in groups of spikelets composed of olivaceous-brown scale-like leaves, 1–1.5 mm wide and up to 6 mm long. Microscopic comparison with the protologue and drawings of the type material of C. lamii show several differences in teliospore and sori characters between it and the newly collected material on Mapania. To our knowledge, this represents only the second known collection of any member of Cintractiella on vegetative organs of Hypolytreae and a third species for this genus and the only known smut species infecting Mapania, herein described as Cintractiella kosraensis sp. nov.
Biodiversity, phytopathogens, sedges, South Pacific, Ustilaginomycotina , 1 new taxon
There are strong correlations between the classification of smut fungi and the systematics of their host plants. For example, species of the smut genera Anthracoidea, Aurantiosporium, Cintractia, Dermatosorus, Farysia, Kuntzeomyces, Leucocintractia, Moreaua, Orphanomyces, Schizonella, Testicularia, Trichocintractia and Ustanciosporium exclusively infect members of Cyperaceae (
Cintractiella Boedijn, with only two known species, is an example of a smut genus that appears to be restricted to Cyperaceae, in this case wholly within the tribe Hypolytreae. Cintractiella lamii Boedijn, the type species of the genus, is only known from the locus classicus from Indonesia. The species produces sori in adventitious spikelets on leaves of a Hypolytrum sp. (Cyperaceae, subfam. Mapanioideae, tribe Hypolytreae). The type specimen was collected in Indonesia in 1920 and preserved in alcohol at Herb. Bogoriense (BO).
In September 2009, an unusual smut fungus producing spikelets on the leaves of Mapania pacifica (Hosok.) T.Koyama (Hypolytreae) was discovered on the island of Kosrae within the Federated States of Micronesia, herein described as a third species of Cintractiella, C. kosraensis sp. nov. To our knowledge, C. kosraensis is the only smut species known to infect a species of Mapania.
Field surveys for botanical specimens were conducted on the island of Kosrae (5°20'N and 163°0'E) in September 2009. Due to the extreme steepness, inaccessibility and thickness of vegetation within this study region, survey transects were chosen intuitively and conformed to regional contours that were safely approachable. Herbarium voucher collections have been made in order to document common and rare plant taxa and for species identifications. Data for plant specimen vouchers are entered into the National Tropical Botanical Garden (PTBG) herbarium database. Specimens are being curated primarily at the Bishop Museum (BISH) and PTBG herbaria. Photographs of plants and habitats are curated by the NTBG and stored within a digital asset management system (i.e. ResourceSpace). The NTBG maintains a checklist of vascular plant taxa observed within the study region (Microsoft Excel database). Latitude and longitude coordinates were recorded by a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx (Garmin corp., Olathe, Kansas, U.S) unit in Lat/Long decimal for herbarium specimen data. The new smut species was found along the summit ridge of Mt. Oma in Malem Municipality (Fig.
Spores were mounted in lactic acid in glycerol. Light microscopic analyses were performed using a Nikon Eclipse 80i microscope (Nikon corp., Tokyo, Japan). Photomicrographs were obtained with a DS-Fi1 Nikon camera. Measurements are of a minimum of sixty randomly selected spores.
Differs from the similar Cintractiella lamii in having thin walled mostly depressed-globose spores with no visible germ pore and in lacking the hard, cylindrical curved mass of spores and hypertrophic parenchymatic tissue on the leaves, characteristic of C. lamii.
CAROLINE ISLANDS: The State of Kosrae: Malem Municipality, Mount Oma, 410 m alt., on Mapania pacifica (Hosok.) T. Koyama, 4 Sep 2009, K.R.Wood 13895 (holotype: PTBG-070102; isotype: PUL F2910).
Sori amphigenous, mostly hypophyllous, clustered in groups of spikelets, each composed of olivaceous-brown, scale-like leaves, 1–1.5 mm wide, up to 6 mm long (Fig.
Cintractiella kosraensis sp. nov. is only known from the type location along the summit ridge of Mt. Oma in Malem Municipality and type host–the indigenous sedge M. pacifica–on the volcanic island of Kosrae, located in the eastern Caroline Islands and within the Federated States of Micronesia in the general vicinity of 5°20'N, 163°0'E (
kosraensis = for the island of Kosrae, where this species was discovered.
Caroline Islands. The State of Kosrae: Malem Municipality, Mount Oma, 410 m alt., on M. pacifica, 4 Sep 2009, K.R.Wood 13895 (holotype: PTBG-070102; isotype: PUL F2910).
Cintractiella is an unusual genus amongst smut fungi that produces sori in adventitious spikelets on vegetative or generative organs of members of tribe Hypolytreae (subfam. Mapanioideae, Cyperaceae). Only two other species have been described: C. diplasiae and C. lamii. Cintractiella diplasiae differs from C. kosraensis in producing sori in the host inflorescences and also producing teliospores with walls covered by blunt, rather densely situated, rarely confluent warts of variable sizes (
All three known members of Cintractiella parasitise members of Mapanioideae in Cyperaceae. The only report of C. lamii is from Hypolytrum sp. from Indonesia; C. diplasiae is found on Diplasia karataefolia in Brazil, Trinidad and Venezuela (
Ideally, the description of new taxa is supported by abundant material from multiple collections. However, especially when considering microfungi from remote locales, these optima often cannot be met. Nonetheless, description of new species, even from limited material, adds to our understanding of fungal diversity (
We would like to thank Mr. Mehrdad Mehranfard from the Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Department of Botany for the line drawing of C. kosraensis sori. The authors acknowledge funding from NSF DEB #1502887 and NSF DEB #1458290 to MCA. This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Hatch project 1010662.