Short Communication Phaeoseptum aquaticum (Halotthiaceae): new record for American continent in a new host for science

Phaeoseptum aquaticum (Ascomycota: Halotthiaceae) described for France, Haute Garonne, Palaminy, in a swamp, on submerged branch of Robinia pseudoacacia and at Martres Tolosane, e Moulin, banks of Garonne River, on driftwood of Salix sp., is reported as a new record for American continent in Juá village, municipality of Paulo Afonso, Bahia state, northeastern Brazil, colonizing a new host, Syagrus coronate , palm tree well suited to dry and arid regions from the Caatinga biome.

Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc., licuri or ouricury palm tree, is a species typical of the semiarid northeast that has a clear preference for the dry and arid regions of the caatingas (Noblick 1986). Several parts of S. coronata are exploited by people in the semi-arid of Bahia for the manufacture of objects that are sold, playing an important role in the local subsistence economy (Crepaldi et al. 2004).
The palm tree S. coronata also presents great ecological value, representing a source of resources for the native fauna, especially in the Caatinga domain. The licuri is the main food for the maintenance and growth of the native population of the bird Anodorhynchus leari Bonaparte 1858, the blue-eared macaw. Endemic bird of the Caatinga that is extremely endangered (Rocha 2005). S y s t e m a t i c s u r v e y s o f t h e m y c o t a colonizing S. coronata (licuri) are still scarce. In the Brazilian northeast, stand out the works of Santos et al. (2016) that registered some species of Ascomycota on licuri in areas of Caatinga in the semi-arid region of Bahia and Cruz and Gusmão (2009) where three conidial fungi are documented on the same host.
Halotthiaceae was described to accommodate four aquatic genera: Phaeoseptum, Halotthia Kohlm., Mauritiana Poonyth, K.D. Hyde, Aptroot & Peerally, and Pontoporeia Kohlm. Phaeoseptum aquaticum was described for France in this work it was found on dried petioles in decomposition of S. coronata still attached to the plant, during a recent mycological search of Pezizomycotina (Ascomycota) on palms tree in Caatinga biome, Brazil.
Dried petioles in decomposition of S. coronata attached to the plant were collected in March 2016 in the Juá village, municipality of Paulo Afonso, Bahia (BA) states. Identification work was carried out in the Science Laboratory of the State University of Bahia (UNEB), Campus VIII. The signs of the fungi on surface of the host were examined under a stereoscopic microscope (Carl Zeiss). Posteriorly the fungal structures were mounted with lacto-glycerol cotton blue, Melzer reagent and water. Furthermore, permanent slides with PVL resin (polyvinyl alcohol + lactophenol) were made. Slides and the specimens were deposited in the URM Herbarium of the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil. Examination of the microscopic preparations allowed the morphological characterization of the fungal structures which were measured with the aid of an ocular micrometer. Photomicrographs were taken using a digital camera (Sony W830), adjusted to the eyepieces of the microscope and the stereoscope. Hamathecium of cellular pseudoparaphyses, 2.5-3 μm broad, septate, anastomosing. Asci 112.5-137.5 × 20-22.5 μm, 8-spored, bitunicate, cylindrical-clavate, pedicel well defined; ocular chamber small and truncate, ascus apex thickened. Ascospores 25-32.5 × 10-12.5 μm, dictyosporous, initially pale-brown, becoming heavily pigmented at maturity, smooth walled, uniseriate at base and overlapping triseriate at apex, broadly fusoid with broadly rounded ends, slightly curved, 9-12-transversally septate, end cells usually larger than others, with a vertical septum in nearly all cells.
The species distribution are France (Zhang et al. 2013), and Brazil (this paper).
The known hosts are Robinia pseudoacacia L. (Fabaceae), Salix sp. (Flacourtiaceae) and Syagrus coronata (Arecaceae, this paper). The specimen found is similar in ascomata, ascus and ascospores morphology to P. aquaticum (Zhang et al. 2013) (Zhang et al. 2013) with material this study.   Table  1. Phaeoseptum aquaticum was collected once during this study. It was not possible to perform the isolation of the fungus due to the scarcity of the material. Additional collections are necessary to isolate this species in pure culture and make the molecular characterization of it. In this work, P. aquaticum on a new host for science is described and illustrated.