Fungalpedia – Note 2755, Apodus
Apodus. Malloch & Cain.
Citation when using this data: Huang SK et al. 2021 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Neoschizotheciaceae, Sordariales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Saprobic on Oryza sp. or coprophilous. Sexual morph: Mycelium hyaline to brown, septate, branched hyphae. Ascomata cleistothecial, solitary, superficial, globose to subglobose, brown to black, surrounded by hairs. Peridium composed of brown to hyaline cells of textura angularis. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, clavate to cylindrical, blunt at the apex, evanescent. Ascospores bi-seriate or irregular, subglobose to ellipsoidal, 0–1-septate, pale brown to dark brown, with a germ pore at the apex, sometimes with hyaline sheath. Asexual morph: Undetermined (adapted from Malloch and Cain 1971).
Notes: Apodus is typified by A. deciduus in having ascomata with long hairs and ellipsoidal ascospores with a germ pore at the apex (Malloch and Cain 1971). Subsequently, A. oryzae was collected from a sheath of Oryza sativa in Italy, characterized by lacking an ostiole, but with dark brown ascomata covered with light brown, flexuous, septate hairs, clavate asci and ellipsoidal to broadly fusiform, 0–1-septate ascospores with an apical germ pore and sometimes covered with a hyaline, gelatinous sheath (von Arx 1975). Apodus deciduus and A. oryzae were recognized as congeneric because of their similar morphology, but they do not cluster together in a phylogenetic analysis (Cai et al. 2006b). In this study, strains of A. deciduus and A. oryzae nested in Neoschizotheciaceae and Naviculisporaceae, respectively. Therefore, we place Apodus in Neoschizotheciaceae based on phylogenetic placement of the generic type, A. deciduus. Apodus oryzae belongs to Naviculisporaceae but requires further data.
Type species: Apodus deciduus Malloch & Cain, Can. J. Bot. 49(6): 872 (1971).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Apodus.
Figure 1 – Apodus deciduus: a–e, h–m (TRTC-045704 holotype); f, g (redrawn from Malloch and Cain 1970). a Herbarium mate rial label. b Herbarium material. c Squashed ascoma. d Ascoma on host. e, f Ascoma with long hairs. g, h Asci. i Mycelium. j–m Ascospores. Scale bars: c, i = 100 µm, d = 200 µm, e. f = 500 µm, g. h = 20 µm, j–m = 10 µm.
References
von Arx JA 1975 – On Thielavia and some similar genera of Ascomycetes. Stud Mycol 8:1–31.
Entry by
Shi-Ke Huang, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China, The Engineering Research Center of Southwest Bio-Pharmaceutical Resources, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou Province, China, 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, The Mushroom Research Centre, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Published online 18 June 2026