Fungalpedia – Note 3180, Drepanoconis 

 

Drepanoconis J. Schröt. & Henn., Hedwigia 35: 211 (1896).

Citation when using this data: Jian Ma et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.

Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.

Classification: Cryptobasidiaceae, Exobasidiales, Exobasidiomycetidae, Exobasidiomycetes, Ustilaginomycotina, Basidiomycota, Fungi.

Notes: Drepanoconis was introduced and described by Hennings (1896), with D. larviformis (formerly known as D. brasiliensis) as the type species. Drepanoconis larviformis is characterized by elongated, curved, septate, sickle-shaped to horse-shoe shaped basidiospores (Singh et al. 2020). This species is commonly found on fruit and leaves of Oreodophnes and Lauraceae (Aiouea costaricensis, Cryptocarya mandioccana, Nectandra antillana, N. cuspidate, N. lineata, N. nitidula, N. oppositifolia, N. puberula, N. tweediei, Nectandra rigida, Ocotea divaricate, O. organensis, and O. puberula) in America, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Jamaica, Panama, and Uruguay (Linder 1929; Hendrichs et al. 2003; Piepenbring et al. 2010; Singh et al. 2020). Index Fungorum (2024) lists seven Drepanoconis epithets. Among these, D. anguisporus, D. brasiliensis, and D. brasiliensis fructigena, are synonyms of D. larviformis based on their similar morphological characteristics and phylogenetic analyses of the LSU sequence data (Linder 1929; Hendrichs et al. 2003). On the other hand, D. divertigastra and D. tumefaciens were transferred to other genera based on conidial characteristics (Ciccarone 1989; Hendrichs et al. 2003; Singh et al. 2020). It should be noted that D. nesodaphnes has a similar morphology to that of Botryoconis tumefaciens, comprising oblong or pear-shaped basidiospores (Berkeley and Broome 1883; Horak 1983; Hendrichs et al. 2003; Singh et al. 2020). Therefore, additional molecular data and morphological characteristics for B. tumefaciens are needed to verify its taxonomic position.

Type species: Drepanoconis larviformis (Speg.) Speg., Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Buenos Aires 9 (2): 9 (1903).

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Drepanoconis.

Figure 1 – (a) Drepanoconis larviformis (redrawn from Piepenbring et al. (2010)), a Host cells with basidia and other fungal cells. b Mature basidiospores; (b) Helicocephalum sarcophilum (redrawn from Thaxter (1891)); (c) Helicomyxa everhartioides (redrawn from Seifert et al. (2011)).

 

References

Berkeley MJ, Broome CE. 1883 – IV. List of Fungi from Brisbane, Queensland; with Descriptions of New Species.–Part II. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 2nd Series Botany 2(3):53–73.

Ciccarone C. 1989 – Acaulopage tigrina sp. nov. e Drepanoconis divertigastra sp. nov.: due componenti nouvi di generi microfungi poco noti. Micologia Italiana 18(2):29–32.

Hendrichs M, Bauer R, Oberwinkler F. 2003– The Cryptobasidiaceae of tropical Central and South America. Sydowia 55(1):33–64.

Hennings PC. 1896 – Beiträge zur Pilzflora Südamerikas. Heinrich.

Horak E. 1983 – Mycogeography in the south Pacific region: Agaricales, Boletales. Australian journal of botany supplementary series 13(10):1–42.

Linder DH. 1929 – A monograph of the helicosporous fungi imperfecti. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 16(3):227–388.

Singh A, Nautiyal MC, Gautam AK, Singh PN, Singh SK. 2020 – Taxonomic and phylogenetic analysis of Clinoconidium lauracearum (Cryptobasidiaceae) producing galls on fruits of Cinnamomum tamala (Lauraceae) in India. Phytotaxa 450(1):73–84.

 

Entry by

Jian Ma, School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, P.R. 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.

 

Published online 18 September 2026

Back to Glossary Index Page