title: Vittatispora, a new melanosporaceous genus from Indian soil.
abstract: Vittatispora coorgii gen. sp. nov., isolated from soil in India, is described and illustrated. The fungus has morphological characteristics of the genera Melanospora, Sphaerodes and Syspastospora. The most striking feature is the presence of a thick hyaline ridge along the vertical axis of the lemon-shaped ascospores wall. Perithecia also have a long neck composed of adhering hyphae, similar to that of Syspatospora. Phylogenetic studies on the 28S rDNA indicate it is closely related to Melanospora and Sphaerodes and belongs in the Ceratostomataceae. The new genus is based on the distinctive morphology and phylogenetic analyses. The fungus grew in culture only conjointly with a sterile fungus which a BLAST analysis suggested was close to Tetracladium marchalianum.
authors.affiliation: Research & Development, Biocon Ltd, 20th km, Hosur Road, Electronic City P.O., Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: Preeti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaudhary
authors.forename: Jinx
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hawksworth
authors.forename: Kedarnath N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Sastry
mesh_terms: D003470:Culture Media; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D006999:Hypocreales / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007194:India; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S