Ashley Marie Walz
Biology 1615
Article Summary
American Journal of Botany 88(1): 52-61. 2001.
“Aliquandostipitaceae, A New Family For Two New Tropical Ascomycetes With
Unusually Wide Hyphae and Dimorphic Ascomata”
Authors
Patrick Inderbitzin, Sara Landvik, Mohamed A. Abdel-Wahab, and Mary L. Berbee
Abstract
Two new species of fungi, near to the class Dothideomycetes, were discovered as part of new genus Aliquandostipite and included in new family
Aliquandostipitaceae. Aliquandostipite khaoyaiensis was found in Thailand and A.
sunyatsenii in southern China. Based on phylogenetic analyses of DNA Sequences, these closely related species have a yet uncertain relationship to other taxa of the
Euascomycetes. Distinguishing features of these new species include the widest hyphae known in ascomycetes and the presence of both stalked and sessile ascomata side by side
Introduction
The current understanding of diversity among microfungal organisms is, to say the least, lacking. Most known microfungi belong to the largest phylum of fungi, the Ascomycota. However, it is estimated that the known fungi constitute only 5% of the mycota in existence. New species are being discovered regularly, especially in areas with little to no previous exploration in search of such organisms.
This article discusses two particular surveys of fruitbody-producing microfungi found on decaying wood in wet conditions. Of six total species found in
Thailand and southern China, two were of particular interest, both as yet un-

described by science and both members of the new family Aliquandostipitaceae.
These species are also classified under the new genus Aliquandostipite:
Aliquandostipite khaoyaiensis was found in a tropical rain forest in Thailand;
Aliquandostipite sunyatsenii found in a small stream in southern China.
Both Aliquandostipite species were noted to have far wider hyphae than the widest observed in ascomycetes to date. Hyphae are the threadlike filaments comprising the mycelium of water molds or fungi. These newly investigated species were also noted to have both sessile and stalked ascomata (the fruiting body, consisting of the hyphae) side by side on a single species. Previously classified species were known to have either sessile or stalked, but not both. This brought up the issue of whether this was an indication of dimorphism within a species.
Dimorphism is the expression of two phenotypes simultaneously.
This paper describes A. khaoyaiensis and A. sunyatsenii and the new genus
Aliquandostipite, to which they belong. Also, the relationship of these new species to previously classified phylogenetic orders of Dothideomycetes will be inferred.
Discussed next will be materials and methods, results and finally a discussion of the surveys and their results.
Materials and Methods
Decaying wood was collected in the rain forest in Thailand and from a stream in Southern China, was placed into plastic bags for storage and relocated to the laboratory for examination. The actual fungi were located using an Olympus ZH10 or a Leica Wild M3Z stereomicroscope, examined with an Olympus BH-2 or a Leica
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Leitz DMRB microscope and photographed with an Olympus or a Leica photoautomat using Kodak TMAX 100 film.
Once in the lab, the fruiting bodies of the fungi were sliced open using a razor blade and the tissue inside containing ascospores was removed and placed in sterile tap water. (Ascospores are cells specific to ascomycetes, each with a complete copy of the ascomycetes’ chromosomes, contained inside an ascus. One ascus usually contains four pairs of ascospores.) To culture the ascospores, drops of the suspension were placed on petri dishes containing Corn Meal Agar and placed in the dark at 25  C. Once germinated, the spores were transferred to petri dishes containing Potato Dextrose Agar and placed either in the dark at 25  C or out on a bench exposed to daylight and artificial light, darkness during the night at room temperature.
DNA was then extracted and analyzed. New DNA sequences were assembled and compared to sequences retrieved from GenBank in order to classify the new species A. khaoyaiensis and A. sunyatsenii.
Results
After chromosomal analysis, the authors report to formally describe new taxa of ascomycetes beginning with new family Aliquandostipitaceae, based on new genus Aliquandostipite containing Aliquandostipite khaoyaiensis (Thailand) and A.
sunyatsenii (China.) The authors define and describe each new taxa with a Latin diagnosis and extensive English descriptions. Then molecular data is presented including the new DNA sequences obtained and the results of the phylogenetic analysis of said sequences.
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Of the results of the survey, the establishment and description the two new species is described in much detail. A few overview items include the etymology, habitat and specific measurements of hyphae and ascomata. A. khaoyaiensis etymology comes from the location the ascomycetes was discovered. A.
khaoyaiensis was found on decaying branches on the ground of a tropical rainforest in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. Here the authors describe specific ascomata and hyphae.
New species A. sunyatsenii etymology: after Dr. Sun Yat-Sen. Interestingly, he is also the name-sake of the city of Zhongshan, in Southern China. Here the authors describe specific ascomata and hyphae. Molecular Data and phylogenetic analyses are provided.
Discussion
The purpose of this discussion is to justify the inclusion of both new species in one genus, Aliquandostipite, and the establishment of said genus and the new family, Aliquandostipitaceae. Distinguishing features of the new ascomycetes include the presence of two different phenotypes of ascomata present side-by-side on the same species and the presence of unusually wide hyphae. After providing extensive evidence, the authors claim the relation of the new species of ascomycetes and the separation between them an their closest know relatives. Molecular evidence provides support for the close relationship between the two new congeneric species and for the distant relationship they hold to their nearest relatives as do the presence of dimorphic ascomata and the widest hyphae in ascomycetes.
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