Botanical Studies (2006) 47: 453-456. TAXONOMY A new species of Piptocephalis from Taiwan Hsiao-ManHO* Department of Science Education, National Taipei University of Education, No. 134, Sect. 2, Ho-Ping E. Rd., Taipei, TAIWAN, Reublic of China (ReceivedOctober14,2005;AcceptedApril10,2006) ABSTRACT. Piptocephalis graefenhanii, isolatedfromforestsoilinTaiwan,isdescribedasnew.Itis characterizedbyratherdelicatesporophores,globoseheadcells,two-sporedmerosporangiawiththeapical sporeproducedfromthebasalone,andsporemassesremainingdrywhenmature. Keywords: Piptocephalisgraefenhanii; Taiwan;Zygomycetes. INTRODUCTION insterilizedplasticbags.Twotothreemilligramsof soil particles were placed on 1.7% corn meal agar ThegenusPiptocephalisdeBary (Piptocephalidaceae, (BectonDickinson)plates.Theplateswereincubated Zoopagales,Zygomycetes)containsapproximately at24oCfornearlyaweek,beforebeingobservedunder 20species(Gräfenhan,1998;Kirketal.,2001),three adissectingmicroscope.SporophoresofPiptocephalis of which have been reported inTaiwan (Ho, 2003, weretransferredalongwithitshosttofreshcornmeal 2004).Piptocephalisspecieshavesporophoresthat agarplatesandincubatedat24oC.Afteroneweek,the aredichotomouslybranchedseveraltimes.Asterile maturesporesofPiptocephalisweretransferredagainby deciduousheadcellisusuallyproduceddistally.Many touchingmaturesporangiawithasterilizedneedletopre- merosporangiaarebornontheheadcell.Thenumberof markedspotsonfreshcornmealagarplates.Adayafter sporescontainedwithinamerosporangiumisvariable. inoculationofPiptocephalissporangia,thesporesofthe Thematuresporesremaindryorareenclosedinaliquid hostwereinoculatedinthevicinityoftheparasite.After drop(Kirk,1978).SpeciesofPiptocephalisareobligate 4-7days,thehostwasparasitizedbythePiptocephalis. parasitesofotherfungimainlyintheMucorales.The PertinentmaterialswereselectedforSEMstudies knownhabitatsincludedung,soil,andleaflitter. usingadissectingmicroscopeandfixedfor1hwith APiptocephalisspecies isolatedfromasoilsample 2.5%glutaraldehydeindistilledwater,andthenpost- collectedinTaiwanhasfeaturesmuchlikethoseofP. fixedfor1hwith1%osmiumtetraoxideindistilled richardiiBaijal&B.S.Mehrotra(Gräfenhan,1998). water.Thespecimenswerewashedwithdistilledwater Piptocephalis richardiiwasfirstintroducedbyBaijal anddehydratedinagradedacetoneseries.Specimens andMehrotra(1968),whoapparentlydidnotintendto weredriedinacriticalpointdryer,coatedwithgold, describeitbutmerelymentionedthatthenamewouldbe andobservedwithaHitachiS-520scanningelectron publishedlaterbyDr.R.K.Benjamin.Gräfenhan(1998), microscope(SEM)at20KV. whilerevisingthegenusPiptocephalisinhisM.S.thesis, adoptedP.richardiiforaspeciesresemblingmyTaiwan TAXONOMY fungus.Tomyknowledge,P.richardiihasneverbeen validlypublishedandonlyexistsasanomen nudum.I Piptocephalis graefenhanii H.-M.Ho,sp.nov. thusproposeanewnameP.graefenhaniifortheTaiwan Figures1-2 isolatetorecognizeGräfenhan’scontributiontothegenus Piptocephalis. Hyphaevegetativaeplerumquesubmersae,hyalinae. Sporophoraerectavelascendentia,laevia,posteaprostrata MATERIALS AND METHODS etdistanterseptata;stipitesprincipales900-4000µm longi,2.5-5µmlati,dichotomissuccessivisusquead SoilsampleswerecollectedfromYangmingshan septempraediti;ramibasiles600-2000×2.5-5µm;rami NationalPark,Taipei,andbroughtbacktothelaboratory paenultimi8-25×1.3-1.5µm;ramitermiles6-18×1µm. Cellulaecapitulideciduae,globosae,projecturisconicis, (2-)3-5(-6)µmdiam,merosporangis3-15praeditae. *Correspondingauthor:E-mail:[email protected];Tel: Merosporangia bispora, spora apicali e spora basili inflata. +886-2-27321104ext.3319;Fax:+886-2-27375419. Sporangiosporaeellipsoideae,laeves,hyalinae,(4-)5-6(-7) 454 Botanical Studies, Vol. 47, 2006 Figure 1. Piptocephalis graefenhanii.A-E,SEM;F,LM. A,Distalendofsporophoresshowingheadcellsbearingmerosporangia. Bar = 5.0 μm; B, Ultimate branch of a sporophore after the head cells and merosporangiospores are detached. Bar = 6.0 μm; C, Two detached merosporangiospores. Bar = 1.5 μm; D, Terminal portion of two sporophores each bearing a head cell. Bar = 1.5 μm; E, A detached head cell. Bar = 1.0 μm; F, A zygospore with two suspensors. Bar = 20 μm. HO — A new species of Piptocephalis 455 Figure 2.Piptocephalis gaefenhanii. a. Terminal portion of a typical sporophore. Bar = 0.1 mm; b, Ultimate branches after the head cells are detached. Bar = 5.0 μm; c, Terminal portion of an ultimate branch bearing young merosporangia. Bar = 4.3 μm; d, Apex of an ultimate branch bearing mature merosporangia. Bar = 2.5 μm; e, Detached head cells. Bar = 3.0 μm; f, Detached merosporangiospores. Bar = 1.35 μm. ×3-4(-4.8)µm,massissporaesiccisadmaturitatem successivedichotomies;basalbranches600-2000×2.5-5 persistentibus.Zygosporaesupervelsubpaginaagari µm;penultimatebranches8-25×1.3-1.5µm;terminal factae,globosae,verrucosae,33-37µmdiam,brunneolae, branches6-18×1µm.Headcellsdeciduous,globosewith suspensoribusseptatis22.5-27.5×12.5-13.8µm. conicalprojections,(2-)3-5(-6)µmdiam,bearing3-15 Vegetative hyphae usually submerged, hyaline. merosporangia.Merosporangiatwo-spored,withtheapical Sporophoreserectorascending,smooth-walled,becoming sporebuddingfromthebasalspore.Sporangiospores prostrateanddistantlyseptatewithage;mainstalks ellipsoidal,smooth-walled,hyaline,(4-)5-6(-7)×3-4(-4.8) 900-4000µmlong,2.5-5µmwide,bearinguptoseven µm,sporemassesremainingdryatmaturity.Zygospores 456 Botanical Studies, Vol. 47, 2006 formedonorunderthesurfaceofagarmedia,globose, LITERATURE CITED roughened,33-37µmdiam,lightbrown,withseptate suspensors22.5-27.5×12.5-13.8µm. Baijal, U. and B.S. Mehrotra. 1968. An interesting species of Holotype. TAIWAN.TaipeiCity,Yangmingshan Piptocephalis.Zentralbl.Bakteriol.Hyg.,2.Abt.122: NationalPark,Apr2000,fromhumus,H.-M.Ho,Symwt 181-184. 0103(TNMF18433),thelivingculturedepositedat Gräfenhan, T. 1998. Taxonomic revision of the genus BCRC. Piptocephalis(Fungi).Master’sthesis.Mathematisch- Etymology. TorecognizeGräfenhan’scontributionto NaturwissenschaftlichenFakultätderernst-Moritz-Arndt- thegenusPiptocephalis. Universiät. Greifswald, Germany, 102 pp. Commentary. This species is characterized by Ho, H.-M. 2003. The Merosporangiferous Fungi from delicatesporophores,globoseheadcells,andtwo-spored Taiwan(III):ThreeNewRecordsofPiptocephalidaceae sporangia.Theapicalsporebudsfromthebasalone. (Zoopagales,Zygomycetes).Taiwania48:53-59. Piptocephalis lepidula(Marchal)R.K.Benjaminappears Ho, H.-M. 2004. The Merosporangiferous Fungi from closelyrelatedtothisspecies,butdiffersinhavingmore Taiwan (IV): Two New Records of Piptocephalis robust,distinctlystriatedsporophoresandnarrower (Piptocephalidaceae,Zoopagales).Taiwania49:188-193. sporangiospores. Kirk,P.M.1978.AnewandunuaualspeciesofPiptocephalis (Mucorales).Trans.Brit.Mycol.Soc.70: 335-340. Acknowledgements. ThisstudywassupportedbyGrant Kirk,P.M.,P.F.Cannon,J.C.David,andJ.A.Stalpers(eds.). NSC92-2621-B-152-001fromtheNationalScience 2001.Dictionaryofthefungi.9th.ed.CABIInternational, Council,Taiwan,ROC.TheauthorisgratefultoDr.Yu- Wallingford, UK, 655 pp. MingJuoftheInstituteofPlantandMicrobialBiology, AcademiaSinica,Taipeiforhiskindlyreviewingand givingsuggestionsonthemanuscript. 台灣產一新種頭珠黴菌 何小曼 國立台北教育大學自然科學教育系 本文描述與圖示一新種頭珠黴菌Piptocephalis graefenhanii，是由陽明山國家公園土壤分離得到， 此種的特徵包括孢子囊柄纖細、頭細胞圓形、孢子囊孢子數目為兩個及末端孢子由基部孢子出芽而形 成。 關鍵詞：葛拉芬頭珠黴；台灣；接合菌綱。.