Fungalpedia – Note 2864, Arcuatospora
Arcuatospora. Réblová & Hern.-Restr.
Citation when using this data: Wenping Wu et al. 2022 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Chaetosphaeriaceae, Chaetosphaeriales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Colonies on the natural substrate effuse, hairy. Teleomorph: Unknown. Anamorph: Conidiomata synnematous. Setae erect, straight, arise singly from a discoid, pseudoparenchymatous subiculum, dark brown to black, opaque, thick-walled, paler and thinner-walled at the apex, apex sterile, broadly rounded, occasionally terminating into a phialide. Conidiophores macronematous, synnematous, closely bound, parallel, unbranched, brown, synnemata arise around the base of the seta, surrounds the seta, diverge from it towards their apices and become unilateral. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal, mono- or polyphialidic, extending percurrently and sympodially, paler than the conidiophores; collarettes subhyaline, cup-shaped or funnel-shaped. Conidia falcate, slightly truncate at the base with a basal scar, 1-septate, hyaline, with a straight or gently curved setula at each end, inserted terminally at the apex, subterminally at the base, conidia accumulate in slimy fascicles (Adapted from Réblová et al. 2021b).
Ecology/Substrate/Host: Saprobe on dead leaves of plant.
Geographical distribution: Widely distributed in subtropical and tropical areas, including Australia, Brazil, China,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Kenya and Venezuela.
Description and illustration: Réblová et al. (2021b).
Note: The genus Arcuatospora was established for Menisporopsis novae-zelandiae and three other species which are morphologically similar to Menisporopsis, but phylogenetically unrelated to the lineage containing M. theobromae and other species of Menisporopsis (Réblová et al. 2021b). The transversely 1-septate conidia with simple setulae and synnemata surrounding the seta becoming unilateral towards their apices are the main diagnostic characteristics of the genus to distinguish it from Menisporopsis. Our phylogenetic analysis based on the Chinese materials supports the above separation (Figs. 3, 178; Wenping Wu et al. 2022 ). In total seven species of Arcuatospora were discovered from China.
Members of the genus are saprobes on decaying leaves, petioles and fruits of various host plants. They have been reported worldwide from freshwater and terrestrial biotopes in subtropical and tropical geographical areas (Hughes 1952; Pirozynski and Hodges 1973; Varghese and Rao 1978; Rao and de Hoog 1986; Seifert et al. 2011). The living strains were also studied on PDA (Fig. 179; Wenping Wu et al. 2022). Some characters such as growth rate, pigments etc. can be used as additional characters to delimit the species.
Type species: Arcuatospora novae-zelandiae (S. Hughes & W.B. Kendr.) Réblová & Hern.-Restr.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Arcuatospora.
Figure 1 – Arcuatospora novae-zelandiae (Wu7249). a–e Synnamatous conidiomata with setae. f Upper part of setae. g Upper part of synnemata with phialidic conidiogenous cells. h–o Conidia. Scale bar: a–c 40 μm, d, e 20 μm, f–o 5 μm
References
Hughes SJ 1952 – Fungi from the Gold Coast I. Mycol Pap 48:1–91.
Pirozynski KA, Hodges CS 1973 – New hyphomycetes from South Carolina. Can J Bot 51:157–173.
Rao V, de Hoog GS 1986 – New or critical hyphomycetes from India. Stud Mycol 28:1–84.
Varghese KIM, Rao VG 1978 – Two new setose hyphomycetes from India. Bot Notiser 131:215–217.
Entry by
Wenping Wu, R&D Center, Novozymes China, No. 14 Xin Xi Lu, Shangdi Zone, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, P.R. China
Published online 03 September 2026