Fungalpedia – Note 672, Aldona
Aldona Racib., Parasit. Alg. Pilze Java’s (Jakarta) 1: 19 (1900).
Citation when using this data: D. S. Marasinghe et al. 2023 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.
Classification: Parmulariaceae, Asterinales, Dothideomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Epiphytic and parasitic on the surface of living leaves appearing and developing as dark brown to pseudostomatic structures, brownish at the margin. Sexual morph: Asco- mata gregarious, semi-immersed to erumpent, black, linear, radial or star-shaped, branching, coriaceous, shiny, opening by longitudinal slits with ascomatal wall composed of brown cells of textura angularis. Hamathecium composed of dark brown to hyaline, filiform, branching, pseudoparaphyses or paraphysoids. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, clavate to cylindrical, long pedicellate or subsessile, apically rounded with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 2–7-septate, hyaline, elongate- clavate, trans-septate with unequal upper and basal cells, constricted at the septa, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Conidiomata solitary to gregarious, black, shiny, globose or irregular, mostly growing on the spot, surrounded by ascomata. Conidiomatal wall comprising 2 layers, outer layer thick and composed of darkly pigmented cells, inner layer composed of hyaline to pale brown cells of textura angu- laris. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, enteroblastic, phialidic, determinate, forming from the inner cell walls, broadly at the basal and narrow at apex. Conidia aseptate, hyaline or sometime slightly greenish, fusiform, tapering at both ends, smooth- walled, embedded in a gelatinous matrix (Adapted from Müller and Patil 1973; Tian et al. 2016).
Notes: Raciborski (1900) introduced Aldona, typifying Aldona stella-nigra which was collected from living leaves of Pterocarpus indicus in Indonesia. Aldona was initially placed in Hysteriaceae by Raciborski (1900) and later trans- ferred to Phacidiaceae to Parmulariaceae (Saccardo 1904; von Höhnel 1917; Müller and Patil 1973; von Arx and Mül- ler 1975). This genus was reported with its’ asexual morph as a pathogenic taxon (Wijayawardene et al. 2018, 2020). Aldona is characterized by erumpent to semi-immersed, black, linear, radial or star-shaped, coriaceous, shiny asco- mata opening by longitudinal slits and elongate-clavate, hyaline, trans-septate ascospores with upper cells larger and wider, basal cells short and narrow (Tian et al. 2016; Hongsanan et al. 2020a). The hamathecium of Aldona has been recorded with pseudoparaphyses and paraphysoids. Paraphysoids are stretched, tissues occurring between the asci which resemble pseudoparaphyses. However, they do not develop from top to bottom like pseudoparaphyses. The asexual morph has been recorded growing on the same sub- strate as the sexual morph.
Type species: Aldona stella-nigra Racib., Parasit. Alg. Pilze Java’s (Jakarta) 1: 19 (1900).
Other accepted species: species Fungorum – search Aldona.
References
Müller E, Patil BV 1973 – The genus Aldona (Ascomycetes). Trans Br Mycol Soc 60:117–121.
Raciborski M 1900 – Batavia, Indonesia, Staatsdruckerei. Parasitische Algen Und Pilze Javas 1:1–39.
Entry by
Diana Sandamali Marasinghe, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand, Mushroom Research Foundation, 128 M.3 Ban Pa Deng T. Pa Pae, A. Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai, 50150, Thailand
Published online 29 August 2023