Fungalpedia – Note 67 Anthonectria
Anthonectria Döbbeler
Citation if using this entry: Fallahi et al. (2023) New genera in 2010-2011. Mycosphere (in prep).
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
The hyperepiphyllous genus Anthonectria with the sole species Anthonectria mammispora was established by Döbbeler (2010) in Bionectriaceae, Hypocreales. Anthonectria is a unispecific genus that was sex- and organ-specific and seemed to be limited to particular hosts. This perithecial ascomycete inevitably infects the growing sporophytes of epiphyllous hepatics like Marchantiophyta, Porellales, Lejeuneaceae, and Radulales. Anthonectria was described based on morphological characters, and molecular information was not available for this genus. Anthonectria mammispora is distinguished from other nectrioid fungi by a set of unique features. It has pale, perianth-perforating perithecia without any stromatic structures. There are irregular, thick-walled hyphae of the excipulum. The fungus has unitunicate asci. Ascospores are colorless, composed of two parts; fertile cell, ellipsoidal to sub-globose, with dense cytoplasm content.
Fig 1– Anthonectria mammispora (redrawn from Dobbeler 2010)). a Perithecia. b Asci, on the left side immature. c Empty asci. d Apical paraphysis. e Ascospores, fertile cell stippled. f Cross section below gametophyte-sporophyte junction with intercellular hyphae forming a plectenchyma. g Longitudinal section through conidioma within leaf axil. h Cross section of stem with intercellular hyphae. Scale bars: a = 250 µm; b = 20 µm; c, d = 10 µm; e = 5 µm. f-h = 20 µm.
It produces pulvinate conidiomata with small globose conidia. intercellular hyphae develop in haploid and diploid host tissue and destroy the developing sporophytes, and it has a hyper epiphyllous habitat. The KOH reaction is absent in this genus (Döbbeler). Sequence data is lacking.
Type species: Anthonectria mammispora Döbbeler
Reference
Döbbeler P. 2010- Hyperepiphyllous, perianthicolous Hypocreales—highly specialized ascomycetes of the phyllosphere. Mycologia 102, 404-417. https://doi.org/10.3852/09-118
Entry by
Maryam Fallahi, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand.
(Edited by Kevin D Hyde and Ruvishika S. Jayawardena)