The Center of Excellence in Fungal Research (CEFR) organized a seminar on the topics titled, “Morphological and phylogenetic evidence reveal Poaceascoma taiwanense sp. nov. (Lentitheciaceae, Pleosporales) and “The genus Valsaria (Valsariaceae)” presented by Mr. Danushka Tennakoon and Ms. Dhandevi Pem, respectively, on 18 April 2019 at the Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
The genus Poaceascoma has filiform, multi-septate ascospores with four species listed in Index Fungorum namely P. aquaticum, P. halophilum, P. helicoides and P. taiwanense. Poaceascoma taiwanense differs from other Poaceascoma species in having unique morphological characters, such as 4-spored asci and 15–17-septate ascospores. If you wanted to know more about P. taiwanense, kindly follow this link: https://www.mycosphere.org/pdf/MYCOSPHERE_9_2_8.pdf
It is interesting to know also about the taxonomy of the genus Valsaria- from morphology to multigene phylogenetic analysis. It is worthy to note that some morphological characters such as spore’s surface ornamentation and guttules could distinguish one species to another.
Kindly check these links to know more about contributions of Mr. Tennakoon and Ms. Pem in mycological research:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Danushka_Tennakoon
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dhandevi_Pem