Dendroseptoria mucilaginosa: a new anamorphic fungus with stauroconidia and phylogenetic placement of Dendroseptoria. Dendroseptoria mucilaginosa

Coelomycetes with hyaline stauroconidia represent a rare and undersampled group of fungi with often unknown teleomorphs. In the unique savanna-like vegetation at the base of the Barú volcano in Chiriquí Province, Panama, we discovered an anamorphic ascomycete associated with living shoots and leaves of Buddleja nitida (Scrophulariaceae) that produced sporodochial conidiomata with a blue-green-colored rim and complex multiradiate septate hyaline conidia. The genus Dendroseptoria was selected based on an exhaustive literature review to best accommodate this newly described species, Dendroseptoria mucilaginosa. Sequences of ITS, LSU and SSU rDNA obtained from D. mucilaginosa are most similar to sequences deposited in the GenBank database of non-lichenized fungi belonging to the genus Cyanodermella, although with overall low similarity values. A detailed description of D. mucilaginosa is presented and morphologically similar staurosporous coelomycetes are discussed.