Phomatosporales » Phomatosporaceae

Phomatospora

Phomatospora Hesselt

Index Fungorum number: IF4015

72 morphological species. Sexual morph: Ascomata solitary to rarely gregarious, immersed or becoming erumpent with age, globose or subglobose, light brown, dark brown to black, coriaceous, sometimes developing under a small blackened clypeus, ostiolate, papillate. Papilla short or rarely somewhat long, central or eccentric, cylindrical, sometimes covered with black, amorphous material around the upper region, periphyses hyaline, short, filiform. Peridium comprising small, brown pseudoparenchymatous cells forming a textura angularis to textura prismatica or inner, hyaline, thick-walled cells of textura angularis and outer, brown, cells of textura angularis. Paraphyses comprising hyphalike, filamentous, septate or aseptate, slightly constricted at the septa, distally tapering, hyaline. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical or oblong-fusiform, thin-walled, short stalked or sessile, apex oblong with J-, apical apparatus. Ascospores uniseriate, rarely biseriate, overlapping uniseriate to biseriate, ellipsoidal to fusiform, 0–3-septate, not constricted at the septum, sometimes bi-guttulate, guttules located at the ends of the cell, or longitudinally striate, sometimes with filamentous appendages at both ends, hyaline. Asexual morph: Sporothrix-like, reported from culture (Rappaz 1992).

Notes: Phomatospora, typified by P. berkeleyi, originates from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats (Hyde 1993a, Raja & Shearer 2008). Ascospores of aquatic species have adaptive features such as appendages or slimy sheaths in order to facilitate entrapment of and/or adhesion to substrates (Hyde 1993, Raja & Shearer 2008). Phomatospora berkeleyi and P. arenaria were initially observed to produce a Sporothrix asexual morph in culture, similar to some taxa in the Xylariales, which led to Phomatospora being placed in Xylariales (Rappaz 1992). Molecular analyses conducted by Lumbsch & Huhndorf (2007), however, did not support this placement and subsequently, the genus was placed in Sordariomycetes genera incertae sedis. Réblová et al. (2016) as well as Senanayake et al. (2016) revealed through phylogenetic analyses that Phomatospora groups together with Lanspora, for which Phomatosporaceae was introduced. Phomatospora biseriata is excluded from the phylogenetic analysis conducted in the present study since it does not cluster with other species of Phomatospora. Further studies should confirm the definite identity of the species introduced as ‘Phomatospora biseriata’. Phomatospora berkeleyi is illustrated herein.

Type species: Phomatospora berkeleyi Sacc., Nuovo G. bot. ital. 7(4): 306 (1875)

Other species:

Phomatospora aquatica Minoura & T. Muroi

Phomatospora berkeleyi Sacc

Phomatospora helvetica H. Wegelin

Phomatospora luteotingens J. Fourn. & Lechat

Phomatospora muskellungensis Fallah & Shearer

Phomatospora striatigera Scheuer

Phomatospora triseptata Raja & Shearer

 

References:

Hyde KD. (1993) Fungi from palms. V. Phomatospora nypae sp. nov. and notes on marine fungi from Nypa fruticans in Malaysia. Sydowia 45, 199–203.

Hyde KD, Norphanphoun C, Maharachchikumbura SSN, Bhat DJ et al. (2020) Refined families of Sordariomycetes. Mycosphere 11, 305–1059

Lumbsch HT, Huhndorf SM. (2007) Outline of Ascomycota. Myconet 13, 1–58

Luo ZL, Hyde KD, Liu JK, Maharachchikumbura SSN et al. (2019) Freshwater Sordariomycetes. Fungal Diversity 99, 451–660

Raja HA, Shearer CA. (2008) Freshwater ascomycetes: new and noteworthy species from aquatic habitats in Florida. Mycologia 100, 467–489

Rappaz F. (1992) Phomatospora berkeleyi, P. arenaria and their Sporothrix anamorphs. Mycotaxon 45, 323–330

Réblová M, Fournier J, Štěpánek V. (2016) Two new lineages of aquatic ascomycetes: Atractospora gen. nov. and Rubellisphaeria gen. et sp. nov., and a sexual morph of Myrmecridium montsegurinum sp. nov. Mycological Progress 15, 1–39.

Senanayake IC, Al-Sadi AM, Bhat JD, Camporesi E et al. (2016) Phomatosporales ord. nov and Phomatosporaceae fam. nov., to accommodate Lanspora, Phomatospora and Tenuimurus, gen. nov. Mycosphere 7, 628–641.

 

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