Fruiting studies in species of Capronia (Herpotrichiellaceae)

Abstract

A recently described protocol for the in vitro production of ascomata was employed to determine the sexual incompatibility systems of five species of Capronia. The formation of mature ascomata in isolates derived from single ascospores demonstrated that C. epimyces, C. mansonii, and C. munkii n. sp. are homothallic. In contrast, fertile ascomata were observed only in mass-ascospore isolates and pairwise crosses between specific single-ascospore isolates in C. dactylotricha n. sp. and C. moravica. The Exophiala anamorphs of C. dactylotricha and C. munkii are described and a Phialophora-like synanamorph is reported for the former species. Germinating ascospores of C. munkii formed conidiogenous cells directly, while the ascospores of the remaining species germinated to produce germ tubes and hyphae. The application of the terms 'microcyclic conidiation' to secondary conidium production and 'sclerotial body' and 'stroma' to the multicellular structures produced by species of Capronia and Exophiala are discussed.