Fungalpedia – Note 644, Conidiocarpus
Conidiocarpus Woron.
Citation when using this data: D. S. Marasinghe et al. 2023 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.
Classification: Capnodiaceae, Capnodiales, Dothideomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Epiphytic and saprobic on living leaves associated with sugary exudates from insects, forming with dark mycelium soot-like coating. Thallus dark brown to black, pelliculose, reticulately branched, dense, composed of cylindrical, radiating, septate hyphae. Sexual morph: Undetermined. Asexual morph: Conidiomata pycnidial, superficial, scattered or gregarious, blackish brown, ostiolate, cylindrical, swollen at the central part, black-stalked, supported on black, long, narrow, cylindrical stalks composed of tightly compacted, anastomosed, synnematous cylindrical hyphae, lageniform with a brown oval or ellipsoid part, the swollen part producing conidia inside, ostiole with hyaline, subulate, hyphal extensions. Pycnidium cell wall two or more layered, the outer one being more or less pseudoparenchymatous although the short cells tend to be arranged linearly, indicating their origin from longitudinally fused hypha. Conidia small, ellipsoid or cylindrical to oblong, hyaline, aseptate, continuous, smooth-walled (Hughes 1976; Abdollahzadeh et al. 2020; Tennakoon et al. 2021).
Notes: Conidiocarpus was introduced by Woronichin (1917) with the type species of C. caucasicus. This genus has been reported as the asexual morph of Phragmocapnias (Hughes 1976). Bose et al. (2014) transferred species of Phragmocapnias to Conidiocarpus based on the rules of nomenclatural priority. The asexual morph of Phragmocapnias was mentioned as tall conidiocarpus-like conidiomata without neck (Hughes 1976). However, Abdollahzadeh et al. (2020) and Tennakoon et al. (2021) showed that Phragmocapnias and Conidiocarpus are phylogenetically distinct as separate genera and herein, we treat them as separate genera. Conidiocarpus is morphologically similar to Phragmocapnias by long basal stalk, flask-shaped, dark brown to brown pycnidia with aseptate, hyaline, ellipsoidal conidia (Fig. 1). However, Conidiocarpus differs from Phragmocapnias by tapering apex while the latter has a cupulate, funnel-shaped apex.
= Phragmocapnias Theiss. & Syd., Annls mycol. 15(6): 480 (1918) [1917].
Type species: Conidiocarpus caucasicus Woron., Key to fungi (fungi imperfecti) 2: 743 (1917).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Conidiocarpus.
Figure 1 – Conidiocarpus fici-septicae. a Pycnidia. b Conidia. Scale bars: a = 100 μm, b = 5 μm. Redrawn from Tennakoon et al. (2021)
References
Hughes SJ 1976 – Sooty moulds. Mycologia 68:693–820.
Woronichin 1917 – Key to fungi (fungi imperfecti) 2:743.
Entry by
Diana Sandamali Marasinghe, 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, Mushroom Research Foundation, 128 M.3 Ban Pa Deng T. Pa Pae, A. Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai, 50150, Thailand
Published online 29 August 2023