Lollipopaia minuta from Thailand, a new genus and species of the Diaporthales (Ascomycetes, Fungi) based on morphological and molecular data

In this paper, we describe the new genus and species Lollipopaia minuta from a tropical rain forest in Thailand. The ascomata were long beaked and seated on a pseudoparenchymatous stroma that was erumpent through the bark of a decaying branch. Mature ascomata were readily formed under laboratory conditions. Lollipopaia minuta had ascomatal walls forming a textura intricata in surface view and deliquescent paraphyses. The asci floated freely at maturity and had a nonstaining apical ring. These characters are found in the Diaporthales. However, the habit of the stroma combined with the filiform ascospores distinguished L. minuta from all known genera of the Diaporthales. Thus, a close relationship to taxa outside the Diaporthales was considered. Lollipopaia minuta was similar to Ophioceras or Pseudohalonectria in shape of the ascomata, asci, and ascospores. However, phylogenetic analyses based on small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences confirmed the placement of L. minuta within the Diaporthales with 100% bootstrap support. A closest relative within the Diaporthales was not determined.Key words: Magnaporthaceae, microfungi, taxonomy, tropical mycology.