Chapsa wolseleyana2021

Chapsa wolseleyana Weerakoon, Lumbsch & Lücking, in Weerakoon, Rivas Plata, Lumbsch & Lücking, Lichenologist 44(3): 377 (2012)2021

MycoBank No:

Holotype:

---

Morphological description

Sexual morph:Thallus crustose, corticolous, grey-brown, surface dull to slightly shiny, uneven, fissured. Apothecia erumpent, dispersed, sometimes two or three fused, most- y rounded to seldom slightly angular, 0.7–1.2 mm diam.; thalline margin raised to lobulate, lobes erected to recurved, inner part brown, covered with rose-red or white pruina; disc exposed, rose-red, covered with thick, rose-red pruina. Exciple fused, cupular, laterally 180–250 μm wide, yellowish-brown to brown; epihymenium rose-red with granules, 20–50 μm high, K+ green; hymenium 140–230 μm high, clear, colourless, non-amyloid; hypothecium indistinct; paraphyses septate, tips rose-red and moniliform with oval or rectangular cells; periphysoides present, 50–100 μm long. Asci clavate, 1-spored, 110–135 × 35–50 μm; ascospores densely muriform, oblongellipsoid, with hemispherical to roundish ends, 105–130 × 30–45 μm, first reddish, becoming hyaline to slightly olive-brown at maturity, I-. Pycnidia not observed.

Asexual morph:Undetermined.

Cultures: y. No substances detected by TLC but apothecial disc with pigment producing K+ yellow-green efflux, suggesting presence of isohypocrelline

Habitat: Growing on bark exposed to wind and high light intensity in montane forests. Worldwide distribution: Sri Lanka (Weerakoon et al. 2012) and newly reported for China

Distribution: . China. Fujian Province: Quanzhou City, Jiuxian Mountain, Reflecting Pool, 25°42'57"N, 118°07'14"E, alt. 1540 m, on bark, 5 Jul 2019, F.Y. Liu FJ19148-b (LCUF) (GenBank MW009106 for ITS, MW010270 for LSU and MW010279 for SSU); China. Fujian Province: Quanzhou City, Jiuxian Mountain, Natural Observation Path, 25°42'44"N, 118°07'17"E, alt. 1460 m, on bark, 25 Jul 2019, F.Y. Liu FJ19158 (LCUF) (GenBank MW009078 for ITS, MW010273 for LSU and MW010277 for SSU). China. Fujian Province: Quanzhou City, Jiuxian Mountain, Reflecting Pool, 25°42'57"N, 118°07'14"E, alt. 1540 m, on bark, 25 Jul 2019, F.Y. Liu FJ19127-2, same locality, FJ19128-2, FJ19141-2 (LCUF).

GenBank Accession: its MW007918 ;nulsu MW007980; its MW009078; nulsu MW010273; mtssu MW010277; its MW009106 ; nulsu MW010270 ; mtssu MW010279.

---

Notes: Chapsa wolseleyana is characterised by its grey-brown, uneven thallus, apothecia with raised to lobed thalline margin, rose-red discs with similar coloured pruina, rose-red epihymenium and paraphyses tips, distinct periphysoids, 1-spored asci, muriform ascospores, red when young and hyaline to olive-brown when old. Only a few species of Chapsa have pigmented discs and among them C. rubropulveracea Hale ex Mangold, Lücking & Lumbsch is morphologically most similar to C. wolseleyana, but its thallus is farinose and its ascospores are 8 per ascus, smaller (15–20 ×5–6 μm) and transversely septate (Lumbsch et al. 2011). Chapsa wolseleyana was transferred to Astrochapsa, based on a phenotype-based analysis (not molecular phylogeny) (Parnmen et al. 2012). However, our phylogenetic analysis shows that this species belongs in Chapsa, rather than Astrochapsa. Chapsa wolseleyana was associated phylogenetically with a strongly-supported clade (100/1) with C. patens, but with sufficient distance to be considered a distinct species. In addition, the latter differs from C. wolseleyana in having larger pale brown apothecia (up to 2 mm diam.) with white pruina, 

unpigmented epihymenium and unpigmented paraphyses adspersed with fine greyish to brownish granules, hyaline ascospores (Frisch et al. 2006; Joshi et al. 2012; Joshi et al. 2018)

---

Reference: [1] Dou, M. Z. ,  Li, M. , &  Jia, Z. F. . (2021). New species and records of chapsa (graphidaceae) in china.

Chapsa wolseleyana (LCUF FJ19148-b) A habit of thallus with apothecia B apothecia at different developmental stages C apothecium (part of pruina scraped off) D section of apothecium with periphysoids (direction of arrow) E paraphyses F young and mature ascospores. Scale bars: 1.5 mm (A); 1 mm (B); 0.25 mm (C); 120 μm (D); 10 μm (E); 25 μm (F).