Fungalpedia – Note 1152, Ceratocystis

 

Ceratocystis Ellis & Halst.

Citation when using this data: Hyde KD et al. 2020 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.

Classification: Ceratocystidaceae, Microascales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Ceratocystis is characterized by black, globose ascomatal bases with filiform, elongated necks terminating in an ostiole and sticky, hat-shaped ascospores (Upadhyay 1981, Seifert et al. 1993, de Beer et al. 2014). The asexual morph of most Ceratocystis species is chalaraor thielaviopsis-like and characterized by phialidic conidiogenous cells producing chains of hyaline, single-celled, cylindrical conidia called endoconidia, and in some cases secondary dark, barrel-shaped, thick-walled aleurioconidia which are commonly produced that facilitate survival in wood or soil during dry seasons (Hedgcock 1906, Harrington 2013, de Beer et al. 2014, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b). 

The history of Ceratocystis was discussed in Réblová et al. (2011), de Beer et al. (2014), Maharachchikumbura et al. (2016b) and Holland et al. (2019). Ceratocystis species are important plant pathogens and act as causal agents of sap stain in timber and symbiotic associates of insects. For example, C. platani is an invasive alien pathogen of Platanus trees in Europe (Ocasio-Morales et al. 2007), whereas C. albifundus is a virulent pathogen of Acacia mearnsii in Africa (Roux & Wingfield 2013). The ITS, tub1, tef1, rpb2, ms204 gene regions are used to identify species boundaries in Ceratocystis (Marin-Felix et al. 2017, Barnes et al. 2018). The loci rpb2 and ms204 provide stronger resolution among species than tef1 and tub1, but also need to be used in combination with ITS (Fourie et al. 2015).

Type species: Ceratocystis fimbriata Ellis & Halst., Bull. New York Agricultural Experimental Station 76: 14 (1890).

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Ceratocystis.

 

References

Barnes I, Fourie A, Wingfield MJ, Harrington TC et al. 2018 – New Ceratocystis species associated with rapid death of Metrosideros polymorpha in Hawaii. Persoonia 40, 154–181.

de Beer ZW, Duong TA, Barnes I, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. 2014 – Redefining Ceratocystis and allied genera. Study in Mycology 79, 187–219.

Fourie A, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD, Barnes I. 2015 – Molecular markers delimit cryptic species in Ceratocystis sensu stricto. Mycological Progress 14, 1–18.

Harrington TC. 2013 – Ceratocystis diseases. Gonthier P, Nicolotti G (eds). Infectious Forest Diseases 230–255.

Hedgcock GG. 1906 – Studies upon some chromogenic fungi which discolor wood. Missouri Botanical Garden Annual Report 17, 59–124.

Holland LA, Lawrence DP, Nouri MT, Travadon R et al. 2019 – Taxonomic Revision and Multilocus Phylogeny of the North American Clade Of Ceratocystis. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 3, 135–156.

Maharachchikumbura SSN, Hyde KD, Jones EBG, McKenzie EHC et al. 2016b – Families of Sordariomycetes. Fungal Diversity 79, 1–317.

Marin-Felix Y, Groenewald JZ, Cai L, Chen Q et al. 2017 – Genera of phytopathogenic fungi: GOPHY 1. Study in Mycology 86, 99–216.

Ocasio-Morales RG, Tsopelas P, Harrington TC. 2007 – Origin of Ceratocystis platani on native Platanus orientalis in Greece and its impact on natural forests. Plant Disease 91, 901–904.

Réblová M, Gams W, Seifert KA. 2011 – Monilochaetes and allied genera of the Glomerellales, and a reconsideration of families in the Microascales. Studies in Mycology 68, 163–191.

Roux J, Wingfield MJ. 2013 – Ceratocystis species on the African continent, with particular reference to C. albifundus, an African species in the C. fimbriata sensu lato species complex. The Ophiostomatoid Fungi: Expanding Frontiers. Biodiversity Series 12, 131–138.

Seifert KA, Wingfield MJ, Kendrick WB. 1993 – A nomenclator for described species of Ceratocystis, Ophiostoma, Ceratocystiopsis, Ceratostomella and Sphaeronaemella. In: Wingfield MJ, Seifert KA, Webber JF (Eds). Ceratocystis and Ophiostoma: Taxonomy, Ecology and Pathogenicity. The American Phytopathological Society Press, St. Paul, Minnesota 269–287.

Upadhyay HP. 1981 – A monograph of Ceratocystis and Ceratocystiopsis. The University of Georgia Press, Athens, Georgia.

 

Entry by

Kevin David Hyde, Institute of Plant Health, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Haizhu District, Guangzhou 510225, P.R. China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, 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, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Science, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, P.R. China, School of Science, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, World Agroforestry Centre, East and Central Asia, Kunming 650201, Yunnan, P.R. China

 

Published online 28 February 2020

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