Fungalpedia – Note 605, Meliolaster
Meliolaster Höhn.
Citation when using this data: D. S. Marasinghe et al. 2023 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.
Classification: Asterinaceae, Asterinales, Dothideomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Epiphytic on surface of leaves, forming irregular blackened colonies. Superficial hyphae abundant on the host surface, superficial, branching, easily removed from the host, with numerous appressoria. Appressoria nearly circular to ovoid, lateral and alternative, sparsely septate. Sexual morph: Thyriothecia superficial, membraneous, flattened, black, with basal peridium poorly developed, opening by stellate-like fissures. Upper wall circular, with irregularly arranged cells. Hamathecium lacking pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, globose to subglobose, bitunicate, apedicellate, apical region with a thick opaque region, ocular chamber not observed, not staining blue in IKI. Ascospores fasciculate, oval to oblong, usually 2–4-septate, basal cell tapering, reddish-brown (Doidge 1920; Hongsanan et al. 2014a). Asexual morph: Undetermined.
Notes: Höhnel (1918a, b, c) established Meliolaster with the type species of M. clavisporus which was earlier designated as Patouillardina clavispora to accommodate species with 3-celled ascospores. Meliolaster has thyriothecia with radially arranged cells, opening by a star-like fissure and superficial hyphae with appressoria which resembles the morphology of Asterinaceae. Species of Meliolaster morphologically similar to Asterina in having orbicular thyriothecia with appressorial superficial hyphae and globose to sub globose asci with brown ascospores. However, Meliolaster can be distinguished from its oval to oblong ascospores with 2–4 septa while Asterina has 1-septum, conglobate to ellipsoidal ascospores (Hongsanan et al. 2014a, 2020a).
Synonyms: Meliolinopsis Beeli, Bull. Jard. Bot. État 7: 101 (1920).
Patouillardina G. Arnaud, C. r. hebd. Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 164: 890 (1917).
Type species: Meliolaster clavisporus (Pat.) Höhn., Ber. dt. bot. Ges. 35(10): 701 (1918).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Meliolaster.
References
Doidge EM 1920 – South African Microthyriaceae. Trans R Soc S Afr 8:235–282.
Hongsanan S, Li YM, Liu JK et al 2014a – Revision of genera in Asterinales. Fungal Divers 68:1–68.
von Höhnel F 1918a – Dritte vorlaufige Mitteilung mycologischer Ergebnisse (Nr. 201–304). Berichte Der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft 36:309–317.
von Höhnel FXR 1918b – Mycologische Fragmente, 272 Über die Hysteriaceen. Ann Mycologici 16:145–154.
Entry by
Diana Sandamali Marasinghe, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand, Mushroom Research Foundation, 128 M.3 Ban Pa Deng T. Pa Pae, A. Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai, 50150, Thailand
Published online 29 August 2023