Fungalpedia – Note 1013, Epibryon

 

Epibryon. Döbbeler.

Citation when using this data: Tian Q et al. 2021 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank

Classification: Epibryaceae, Chaetothyriales, Chaetothyriomycetidae, Eurotiomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Saprobic on or between hairy leaves or leaf lamellae of hosts. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecioid, superficial, solitary, subglobose to globose, ovoid or pyriform, light to dark brown to black, ostioles without periphyses, apapillate, setose. Setae simple, arising at the upper part, usually, apex rounded, occasionally tapering towards the apex, dark brown, straight or curved, septate, slightly constricted at the septa. Wall of ascoma multi-layered, comprising brown to dark brown cells of textura angularis, apical cells darker and thicker walls, lacking interascal tissue cells. Hamathecium lacking paraphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, oblong to ovoid, ellipsoid, to nearly subcylindrical, without a pedicel, apex rounded, with or without apical structures, sometimes hymenial jelly reddish in Lugol’s solution, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Ascospores overlapping 2–3-seriate, ellipsoid to fusiform, tapering towards both ends, hyaline or pale grey to lightly brown, 0-multi-trans-septate, not constricted or slightly constricted at the septa, thin-walled, with or without gelatinous sheath, guttulate. Asexual morph: Undetermined.

Notes – The monotypic Epibryon Döbbeler was introduced by Döbbeler (1978) to accommodate E. plagiochilae (Gonz. Frag.) Döbbeler, which has globose or subglobose, setose ascomata and hyaline to brown ascospores; the hymenium gel stains red in Lugol’s solution (Döbbeler 1978). Döbbeler (1978) proposed that Epibryon is a polyphyletic assemblage of morphologically diverse species. Epibryon has been placed in Pseudoperisporiaceae (Dothideomycetes) by morphological characters (Lumbsch & Huhndorf 2007, Hyde et al. 2013, Wijayawardene et al. 2014). Subsequently, Stenroos et al. (2010) and Gueidan et al. (2014) regarded Epibryon as a polyphyletic genus based on molecular data. Phylogenetically, most species of Epibryon, together with the type species E. plagiochilae formed a highly supported distinct clade in Chaetothyriales (Gueidan et al. 2014). Members of Epibryon are mostly biotrophic parasites of bryophytes such as Sphagnum and non-symptomatic lichens, and sometimes are saprobes (Döbbeler 1978, U’Ren et al. 2010, Gueidan et al. 2014, Döbbeler 2016, Muggia et al. 2016, Darmostuk & Khodosovtsev 2019). Epibryon comprises 46 species (Species Fungorum 2021) with sexual morphs, and some melanized asexual morphs isolated from rocks or plants.

Type species: Epibryon plagiochilae (Gonz. Frag.) Döbbeler.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Epibryon.

 

References

Darmostuk VV, Khodosovtsev AY. 2019 – Epibryon kondratyukii sp. nov., a new algicolous fungus, and notes on rare lichenicolous fungi collected in Southern Ukraine. Folia Cryptogamica Estonica 56, 109–116.

Döbbeler P. 1978 – Moosbewohnende Ascomyceten I. Die pyrenocarpen, den Gametophyten besiedelnden Arten. Mitt Bot München 14, 1– 360.

Döbbeler P. 2016 – Three new ascomycetes on epiphyllous liverworts. Karstenia. 56(1/2), 47–54.

Gueidan C, Aptroot A, da Silva Cáceres ME, Badali H et al. 2014 – A reappraisal of orders and families within the subclass Chaetothyriomycetidae (Eurotiomycetes, Ascomycota). Mycological Progress 13, 1027–1039.

Lumbsch HT, Huhndorf SM. 2007 – Outline of ascomycota–2007. Myconet 13, 1–58.

Muggia L, Fleischhacker A, Kopun T, Grube M. 2016 – Extremotolerant fungi from alpine rock lichens and their phylogenetic relationships. Fungal Diversity 76, 119–142.

Stenroos S, Laukka T, Huhtinen S, Döbbeler P et al. 2010 – Multiple origins of symbioses between ascomycetes and bryophytes suggested by a five-gene phylogeny. Cladistics 26, 281–300.

U’Ren JM, Lutzoni F, Miadlkowska J, Arnold AE. 2010 – Community analysis reveals close affinities between endophytic and endolichenic fungi in mosses and lichens. Microbial Ecology 60, 340–353.

Wijayawardene NN, Crous PW, Kirk PM, Hawksworth DL et al. 2014 – Naming and outline of Dothideomycetes-2014. Fungal Diversity 69, 1–55.

 

Entry by

Qing Tian, 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 16 December 2021

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