Fungalpedia – Note 1326, Wongia
Wongia Khemmuk, Geering & R.G. Shivas, IMA Fungus 7(2): 249 (2016)
Diaporthomycetidae families incertae sedis, Papulosaceae, Wongia
Index Fungorum number: IF 817529; Facesoffungi number: FoF 10299; 3 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020); 3 species with sequence data.
Pathogenic on roots or saprobic on wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata immersed to superficial, perithecial, solitary or clustered, globose, black, ostiolate. Neck short or long. Peridium comprising cells of textura epidermoidea, outermost cells darker than inner cells. Paraphyses filiform, hyaline, thin-walled, septate. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical, usually straight, short-pedicellate, apex rounded, with J- apical ring. Ascospores uniseriate, cylindrical to fusiform, straight to moderately curved, with rounded ends, 3-septate, end cells subhyaline to pale brown, shorter, median cells dark brown. Asexual morph: Colonies effuse, scattered, hairy, dark brown. Mycelium partly immersed, comprising septate, branched, smooth, brown hyphae. Conidiophores macronematous, mononematous, erect, solitary, flexuous or straight, septate, unbranched, smooth, dark brown. Conidiogenous cells denticulate, polyblastic, integrated, terminal, subhyaline. Conidia acrogenous, clavate to fusiform, 3-septate, apex rounded and narrow, base truncate, median cells dark cells, distal cells subhyaline to pale brown, guttulate (adapted from Khemmuk et al. 2016, Luo et al. 2019).
Type species: Wongia garrettii (P. Wong & M.L. Dickinson) Khemmuk, Geering & R.G. Shivas, IMA Fungus 7(2): 250 (2016)
Notes: This genus was introduced to accommodate two root infecting fungi from Australia, namely, Magnaporthe garrettii and M. griffinii, which formed a well-supported separate clade in Papulosaceae and clustered outside Magnaporthales (Khemmuket al. 2016). Wongia species have J-, apical rings in the asci and 3-septate ascospores that have dark brown middle cells and pale brown to subhyaline shorter distal cells (Khemmuket al. 2016).