A new species of Virosphaerella (Ascomycota, Mycosphaerellaceae) on forked ferns (Gleicheniaceae) in Taiwan

A new species of Virosphaerella on leaf spots of living fronds of the forked ferns Di- cranopteris tetraphylla, Diplopterygium blotianum and Dip. chinense (Gleicheniaceae) from Taiwan is described as V. gleicheniacearum based on phylogenetic analysis of ITS, LSU and RPB2 sequences. The other two species of Virosphaerella are known from Eucalyptus species and differ morphologically by their ascus shapes and slime sheath around germinating ascospores from the new species.

Automated summary

A new species of Virosphaerella, named V. gleicheniacearum, was discovered on leaf spots of living fronds of Di-cranopteris tetraphylla, Diplopterygium blotianum, and Dip. chinense (Gleicheniaceae) from Taiwan. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS, LSU and RPB2 sequences revealed morphological differences in ascus shapes and the presence of a slime sheath around germinating ascospores compared to the other two known species of Virosphaerella, which are found on Eucalyptus species.