Fungalpedia – Note 2592, Abrothallaceae
Abrothallaceae Pérez-Ort. & Suija.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank
Classification: Abrothallales, Dothideomycetes orders incertae sedis, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Abrothallaceae and Abrothallales were established by Pérez-Ortega Et al. (2014) to accommodate Abrothallus having sexual and asexual morph. The family is distinguished by apothecioid ascomata protruding through the host cortex, sessile or partly immersed, spherical to flattened, often with a greenish or yellowish pruina. Its hamathecium is composed of thick-walled, unequally dichotomously branched and anastomosed, septate interascal filaments. Asci are bitunicate, functionally fissitunicate, broadly to narrowly clavate, I–, comprising of four to eight ascospores. Ascospores are initially hyaline, later brown, often verruculose, one-, two- or three septate, breaked into part-spores from septa in some species, asymmetric in shape. Its anamorph is characterized by phynidial, black, immersed or semi-immersed conidiamata with a small ostiole, Vouauxiomyces-type. Conidiogenous cells are percurrently proliferating, ampulliform to lageniform, lining the cavity of the pycnidium, hyaline, smooth walled. Conidia are holoblastic, clavate to obpyriform, hyaline, smooth to very slightly echinulate, in muscilage (Pérez-Ortega et al. 2014). The asexual morph of Abrothallus is mainly different from Lichenoconium by the conidia color and ornamentation. Abrothallus conidia are hyaline and smooth walled, however, Lichenoconium conidia are brown and always ornamented, varying from verruculose to echinulate.
Lichenoconiaceae was introduced by Hyde et al. (2013) to accommodate Lichenoconium which only has asexual morph. It is characterized by pycnidial conidiomata, dispersed or slightly aggregated, immersed to superficial, subsphaerical to ellipsoid, black pycnidia with an irregular pore-like opening. Pycnidial wall pseudoparenchymatic, composed of 2–4 layers of rounded to polyhedral, flattened cells, becoming more olivaceous in 10% KOH. The conidiogenous cells are phialidic, often percurrently proliferating, hyaline and smooth, elongate ampulliform to subcylindrical, covering the entire wall of the inner pycnidial cavity up to the pore. Conidia are subsphaerical, ellipsoid, obpyriform or elongate-clavate, basally indistinctly or distinctly truncate, with the basal scar variable in size, arising singly, aseptate, not visibly guttulate, surface always ornamented, varying from indistinctly verruculose to distinctly verrucose or echinulate, medium to dark brown, becoming more olivaceous in 10% KOH (Hyde et al. 2013).
Liu et al. (2017) conducted a molecular clock analysis which indicated Abrothallales and Lichenoconiales form two closely related sister clades. Diederich et al. (2018a) synonymized Lichenoconiales with Abrothallales and tentatively proposed Lichenoconiaceae to be synonymous with Abrothallaceae.
Type genus : Lichenoconium Petr. & Syd.
= Lichenoconiaceae Diederich & Lawrey
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Abrothallaceae
References
Entry by
Meng QF, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand and School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Guizhou 563000, China
Published online 11 June 2026