Babjevia gen. nov. — a new genus of the Lipomycetaceae

The species described asLipomyces anomalus Babjeva & Gorin shows significant genetic and phenotypic divergence from the type speciesLipomyces starkeyi Lodder & Kreger-van Rij in terms of rRNA base sequence substitution and ascosporal and septal ultrastructure. The species is consequently reclassified in the new, unispecific genusBabjevia, asBabjevia anomala.     

Muribasidiospora — A new genus of the exobasidiaceae

Summary A new genus under the Exobasidiaceae namelyMuribasidiospora gen. nov.Kamat, M. N. &Rajendren, R. B. has been established to accommodate such species ofExobasidium producing muriform basidiospores in their life cycle. Accordingly the two species viz.Exobasidium hesperidium Maire andE. celtidis Ramakrishnan, T. S. & K. are proposed to be transferred to the new genus under new combinations.     

A new xandarellid arthropod from the Chengjiang Lagerstätte,Lower Cambrian of Southwest China

A new arthropod, Luohuilinella rarus nov. gen., nov. sp., is described from the Lower Cambrian Chengjiang Lagerstätte (Series 2, Stage 3), Yunnan, Southwest China. Luohuilinella nov. gen. is extremely rare in this Lagerstätte, represented by a single specimen. It has a large cephalic shield and a tapering trunk with well-developed pleural field. The cephalic shield is crescentic in outline and its anterolateral margin has two notches. The trunk is weakly trilobate, composed of 27 distinct tergites with well-developed pleural spines and a terminal piece. Luohuilinella nov. gen. resembles xandarellids in overall body architecture and especially in the reduced first trunk tergite. Its ventral morphology is, however, presently unknown. Therefore, it is provisionally assigned to Xandarellida.     

Chlorolepiota indica sp. nov.—A new species from India

A new species Chlorolepiota indica is reported from Patiala in Punjab, India. The fungus is characterized by convex brown pileus covered by concentrically arranged brown scales with yellow tinge around the umbo. The stipe of the fruiting body is cream to pale yellow, pinkish to reddish brown near the pileus, and yellowish to dark grey brown towards the base.     

Arnoldiellina fluorescens gen. et sp. nov. – A new green autofluorescent foraminifer from the Gulf of Eilat (Israel)

A new monothalamous (single-chambered) soft-walled foraminiferal species, Arnoldiellina fluorescens gen. et sp. nov., was isolated from samples collected in the Gulf of Eilat, Israel. The species is characterized by a small elongate organic theca with a single aperture of allogromiids. It is characterized by the emission of green autofluorescence (GAF) that has so far not been reported from foraminifera. Phylogenetic analysis of a fragment of the 18S rDNA indicates that the species is related to a group of monothalamous foraminiferans classified as clade I. Although the morphology of the new species is very different compared to the other members of this clade, a specific helix in 18S rRNA secondary structure strongly supports this position.     

Wulfeniopsis Hong—A new genus of Scrophulariaceae from Himalaya

While we were investigating the world Veroniceae we found the genus Wulfenia Jacq. discontinuously distributing. W. carinthiaca and W. baldaccii are found in south-eastern Europe and W. orientalis in Turkey and Lebanon, whereas W. amherstiana is a native of W. Himalaya. Such a pattern of distribution, discontinuous between the Mediterranean and W. Himalaya, as far as we know, is hardly frequent. After comparing carefully the specimens from these two places and examining their pollen grains we got the impression that the difference between the plants occuring near the Mediterranean and those in Himalaya is so big that they should no longer be placed in the same genus. It would be necessary, therefore, to describe W. amherstiana as a new and separate genus (we name it Wulfeniopsis Hong). Its corolla is not 2-lipped, but with four lobes (not five) lanceolate, acuminate and erect (not spreading). The stigma is very small, not 2-lobed. Pollen grains are much smaller, with colpi more narrow and lacking of membranes, and their exines are smooth (not reticulate). It’s chromosome numberis 2n = 16 (not 18).     

Captopodus poschmanni gen. et sp. nov. a new stem-group arthropod from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate (Germany)

A new arthropod from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate is described on the basis of four specimens. The body of Captopodus poschmanni comprises a head, a trunk with an anal portion. The high number of trunk appendages (≥66 segments) is unusual. The function of one pair of cupola-like structures of the head shield is unclear. The presence of large grasping appendages in the head superficially resembles the ‘short great appendages’ of other euarthropods and grasping appendages of thylacocephalans. The phylogenetic position of the arthropod cannot be determined in detail, though several morphological aspects indicate a phylogenetic position as a stem lineage representative of the Euarthropoda, the morphology of the trunk appendages seem to indicate a more advanced phylogenetic position. This new taxon underlines the exceptional diversity of arthropods within the Hunsrück Slate in comparison to other Devonian fossil sites and highlights the significance of the Hunsrück Slate for the evolution of early arthropods.     

Exosporodiella gen. nov. – a new coelomycetous fungus on leaves of Phoenix from India

A new coelomycetous fungus Exosporodiella phoenixesa gen. et spec, nov., has been described and illustrated from the leaves of Phoenix from India.     

Franciscideres gen. nov. – a new,highly aberrant kinorhynch genus from Brazil,with an analysis of its phylogenetic position

A new genus and species of Kinorhyncha, Franciscideres kalenesos gen. et sp. nov., is described from tidal and subtidal sandy habitats in Brazil. The new genus and species is characterized by an extremely flexible trunk without pachycycli that appears perfectly circular in cross-section, segments 1, 2 and 11 consisting of closed rings and 3 to 10 of single, bent plates with midventral articulations, a neck without placids that resembles an additional segment, densely packed scale-like, cuticular hairs, and a terminal segment with a middorsal spine and two sets of lateral terminal spines, but no midterminal spine. Phylogenetic analyses of 18S rRNA of Franciscideres kalenesos gen. et sp. nov. and 47 other kinorhynch ingroup taxa suggest that the new genus is a basal homalorhagid, whereas comparison of morphological characters indicates affinities between the new genus and the peculiar cyclorhagid Cateria.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:64E29D97-DE1D-4511-8683-C969DD2EED43     

Pyrobaculum gen. nov., a new genus of neutrophilic,rod-shaped archaebacteria from continental solfataras growing optimally at 100°C

Seven members of a new group of rod-shaped hyperthermophilic neutrophilic archaebacteria were isolated from boiling neutral to alkaline solfataric waters from the Azores, Iceland, and Italy. The organisms are strict anaerobes, growing optimally at 100°C. The cells are motile due to peritrichous or bipolar polytrichous flagellation. The isolates grow facultatively chemolithoautotrophically or obligately heterotrophically. Molecular hydrogen or complex organic substances are used as electron donors. During heterotrophic growth, elemental sulfur, thiosulfate, sulfite, l(-)cystine and oxidized glutathione may serve as electron acceptors depending on the individual strain. Elemental sulfur is strictly required as an electron acceptor for autotrophic growth. The G+C content of the DNA is around 46 mol%. The isolates represent a new genus which we have named Pyrobaculum (the fire stick). Two species are described: the facultatively autotrophic Pyrobaculum islandicum (DSM 4184), which is the type species, and the obligately heterotrophic Pyrobaculum organotrophum (DSM 4185).     

The first survey of Cystobasidiomycete yeasts in the lichen genus Cladonia; with the description of Lichenozyma pisutiana gen. nov., sp. nov.

The view of lichens as a symbiosis only between a mycobiont and a photobiont has been challenged by discoveries of diverse associated organisms. Specific basidiomycete yeasts in the cortex of a range of macrolichens were hypothesized to influence the lichens' phenotype. The present study explores the occurrence and diversity of cystobasidiomycete yeasts in the lichen genus Cladonia. We obtained seven cultures and 56 additional sequences using specific primers from 27 Cladonia species from all over Europe and performed phylogenetic analyses based on ITS, LSU and SSU rDNA loci. We revealed yeast diversity distinct from any previously reported. Representatives of Cyphobasidiales, Microsporomycetaceae and of an unknown group related to Symmetrospora have been found. We present evidence that the Microsporomycetaceae contains mainly lichen-associated yeasts. Lichenozyma pisutiana is circumscribed here as a new genus and species. We report the first known associations between cystobasidiomycete yeasts and Cladonia (both corticate and ecorticate), and find that the association is geographically widespread in various habitats. Our results also suggest that a great diversity of lichen associated yeasts remains to be discovered.     

A contribution to the knowledge of the pteridosperm genera Pseudomariopteris Danzé-Corsin nov. emend. and Helenopteris nov. gen

The macromorphology and epidermal anatomy of three Late Carboniferous-Early Permian pteridosperm species, conventionally assigned to the form-genus Pseudomariopteris Danzé-Corsin, are described from the Stephanian of the Blanzy-Montceau Basin (Central France). The generic diagnosis of Pseudomariopteris is emended, and P. busquetii is designated as the type species of the genus. The combination P. cordato-ovata (Weiss) Gillespie et al. is validated to replace the illegitimate name P. ribeyronii (Zeiller) Danzé-Corsin. The species diagnoses of P. busquetii and P. cordato-ovata are emended. On the basis of its epidermal anatomy, P. paleaui, another species orininally described from Central France, is transferred to the newly established genus Helenopteris Krings et Kerp, and the new combination Helenopteris paleaui is introduced. Lectotypes of P. busquetii and H. paleaui are selected. In addition, specimens from other basins are (re-)examined and illustrated. Seeds attached to a P. busquetii specimen suggest a callistophytalean relationship for Pseudomariopteris. Compression fossils and cuticles of Pseudomariopteris and Helenopteris are interpreted in terms of palaeoecology: Pseudomariopteris busquetii and P. cordato-ovata had climbing/scrambling growth habits; specialized climber hooks can be demonstrated for both species, either in compression or in cuticular preservation. Although the growth habit of H. paleaui is not yet entirely clear, the size of its fronds suggests that this taxon most probably was also a scrambler/climber. Finally, based on epidermal features, a tentative reconstruction of stages of the pinnule ontogeny of H. paleaui is provided.     

Roseinatronobacter thiooxidans gen. nov., sp. nov., a new alkaliphilic aerobic bacteriochlorophylla—containing bacterium isolated from a soda lake

Several samples of microbial mat obtained from soda lakes of the Kunkurskaya steppe (Chita region) abundantly populated by purple bacteria were screened for the presence of heterotrophic alkaliphiles capable of oxidizing sulfur compounds to sulfate. This capacity was found in only one pigmented strain, ALG 1, isolated on medium with acetate and thiosulfate at pH 10. The strain was found to be a strictly aerobic and obligately heterotrophic alkaliphile. Growth on medium with acetate was possible within a narrow pH range from 8.5 to 10.4. The strain formed a reddish orange carotenoid and bacteriochlorophylla. Pigments were synthesized only at high concentrations of nitrogen-containing organic compounds (peptone or yeast extract). The production of bacteriochlorophylla was maximal under microaerobic conditions in darkness. Strain ALG 1 could oxidize sulfide, thiosulfate, sulfite, and elemental sulfur to sulfate. In heterotrophically growing culture (pH 10), thiosulfate was not oxidized until the late logarithmic phase. The sulfur-oxidizing activity was maximal at the most alkaline pH values. The notable increase in the efficiency of organic carbon utilization observed in the presence of thiosulfate suggested that the bacterium was a sulfur-oxidizing lithoheterotroph. The phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene showed strain ALG 1 to be a member of the α-3 subgroup of Proteobacteria and to constitute a distinct branch located between nonsulfur purple bacteriaRhodobacter andRhodovulum. Based on the unique phenotypic properties and the results of phylogenetic analysis, the alkaliphilic isolate ALG 1 was assigned to a new genus and speciesRoseinatronobacter thiooxidans with the type strain DSM-13087     

Kluyveromyces—A new yeast genus of theEndomycetales

Summary A new budding yeast has been isolated from soil. Its most striking feature is the formation, generally preceded by isogamous or heterogamous conjugation, of unusually large multispored asci. The organism possesses a strong fermentative ability, fermenting glucose, galactose, saccharose and raffinose for one-third. Nitrate is not assimilated. It forms a pellicle in malt extract. A pseudomycelium is also formed. Cytological examination showed the vegetative cells to be uninucleate. The relationship which this yeast shows with theDipodascaceae and, in particular, withDipodascus uninucleatus Biggs, is discussed. For the classification of the yeast the new genusKluyveromyces was created. For the species the nameKluyveromyces polysporus is proposed. The Latin diagnosis of both the genus and the species is given.     

Two new petrified cycad stems,Brunoa gen. nov. andWorsdellia gen. nov., from the Cretaceous of Patagonia (Bajo de Santa Rosa, Río Negro Province), Argentina

Polyxylic columnar stems covered by persistent leaf bases and found in sediments assignable to the Upper Cretaceous of Bajo de Santa Rosa, Río Negro Province, Argentina, are described as two new generic entities in the Cycadales. Anatomical characters are the basis for their being assigned to the Encephalartoideae of the Zamiaceae.Brunoa santarrosensis gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by the presence of polyxyly, cone domes, mucilage cavities, and uniseriate to triseriate araucaroid, scalariform, or bordered intervascular pitting.Worsdellia bonettiae gen. et sp. nov. has polyxyly, anastomosing medullary vascular bundles, centripetal xylem, mucilage canals, and concentric extraxylary bundles. Some characters (polyxyly, medullary vascular bundles, and cone domes) were used to determine the systematic position, while other characters (mucilage reservoirs and centripetal xylem) were used to establish the relationship between polyxylic and monoxylic forms.