Fungalpedia – Note 2083, Melanommataceae

 

Melanommataceae G. Winter

Citation when using this data: Hongsanan S et al. 2020 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.

Classification: Pleosporales, Pleosporomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Saprobic or parasitic on woody plants in terrestrial, marine or freshwater habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered or gregarious, immersed or semi-immersed to erumpent, superficial, globose to subglobose, carbonaceous or coriaceous, papillate or epapillate, black, with or without a subiculum. Peridium multi-layered, outer layer composed of irregular, thick-walled, brown to black pseudoparenchymatous cells, and inner layer composed of thin-walled, hyaline pseudoparenchymatous cells. Hamathecium comprising long, branched or simple, septate, cellular or trabeculate pseudoparaphyses encircling and anastomosing between the asci and embedded in a gelatinous matrix or hamathecium lacking. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, clavate to nearly cylindrical, pedicellate, apically rounded with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 1-seriate or 2-seriate, fusoid to ellipsoidal, or muriform, hyaline or brown, 1- to multi-septate, with or without a mucilaginous sheath, smooth-walled or verrucose. Asexual morph: Mostly coelomycetous and rarely hyphomycetous with various conidium ontogenic structures. Conidiomata pycnidial, superficial, globose to subglobose, black, ostiolate. Peridium comprising irregular, thick-walled, hyaline to brown cells. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, monoblastic or enteroblastic phialidic, ampliform to cylindrical, geniculate, hyaline to pale brown. Conidia oblong, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, pyriform to obovoid, hyaline, aseptate to multi-septate, smooth-walled.

Notes: Winter (1885) introduced Melanommataceae and Melanomma was regarded as the type genus based on its diagnostic character of trabeculate pseudoparaphyses. Taxonomic studies of members of Melanommataceae have been carried out recently (Mugambi & Huhndorf 2009a, Hyde et al. 2013, Liu et al. 2015, Tian et al. 2015, Li et al. 2016c, Almeida et al. 2017, Gross et al. 2017, Hashimoto et al. 2017a, Jaklitsch & Voglmayr 2017, Wanasinghe et al. 2018c). Tian et al. (2015) accepted 20 genera with detailed morphological characters of each type species and provided multiple gene (LSU, SSU, rpb-2 and tef1) phylogenetic analyses. However, there are many genera established without sequence data, such as Anomalemma/Exosporiella, Asymmetricospora, Bicrouania, Calyptronectria, Mamillisphaeria, Navicella and Nigrolentilocus. Jaklitsch & Voglmayr (2016) excluded Ohleria from Melanommataceae and established a new family Ohleriaceae based on morphological differences and phylogeny distinction. Jaklitsch & Voglmayr (2017) revisited three former taxa of Cucurbitaria and placed Petrakia in Melanommataceae and introduced two new genera, Alpinaria and Praetumpfia. Hashimoto et al. (2017a) introduced a new family Pseudodidymellaceae to accommodate four similar genera, Mycodidymella, Petrakia, Pseudodidymella, and Xenostigmina and restricted Melanommaceae sensu stricto based on morphological characters of both sexual and asexual morphs and phylogenetic circumscription. Five additional genera, Marjia, Melanocucurbitaria, Melanodiplodia, Monoseptella and Uzbekistanica, were were introduced by Wanasinghe et al. (2018c) and they elucidated Pseudodidymellaceae as untenable based on a more reliable backbone bootstrap support. An evolutionary analysis is indispensable to be carried out, more sampling of DNA from missing genera should be obtained and the considerable confusion of sexual and asexual morphs should be removed. In this study, 35 genera are accepted in Melanommataceae.

Type genus: Melanomma Nitschke ex Fuckel.

 

References

Almeida DAC, Gusmão LFP, Miller AN. 2017 – A new species of Bertiella (Melanommataceae) from Brazil and a key to accepted species. Mycosphere 8, 392–396.

Gross A, Beenken L, Dubach V, Queloz V et al. 2017 – Pseudodidymella fagi and Petrakia deviata: two closely related tree pathogens new to central Europe. Forest Pathology, e12351.

Jaklitsch WM, Voglmayr H. 2016 – Hidden diversity in Thyridaria and a new circumscription of the Thyridariaceae. Studies in Mycology 85, 35–64.

Jaklitsch WM, Voglmayr H. 2017 – Three former taxa of Cucurbitaria and considerations on Petrakia in the Melanommataceae. Sydowia 69, 81–95.

Hashimoto A, Matsumura M, Hirayama K, Fujimoto R, Tanaka K. 2017a – Pseudodidymellaceae fam. nov.: phylogenetic affiliations of mycopappus-like genera in Dothideomycetes. Studies in Mycology 87, 187–206.

Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Liu J-K, Ariyawansa H et al. 2013 – Families of Dothideomycetes. Fungal Diversity 63, 1–313.

Li JF, Phookamsak R, Mapook A, Boonmee S et al. 2016c – Seifertia shangrilaensis sp. nov. (Melanommataceae), a new species from Southwest China. Phytotaxa 273, 34–42.

Liu JK, Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Ariyawansa HA et al. 2015 – Fungal diversity notes 1–110: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal species. Fungal Diversity 72, 1–197.

Mugambi GK, Huhndorf SM. 2009a – Molecular phylogenetics of Pleosporales: Melanommataceae and Lophiostomataceae recircumscribed (Plesporomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota). Studies in Mycology 64, 103–121.

Tian Q, Liu JK, Hyde KD, Wanasinghe DN, Boonmee S et al. 2015 – Phylogenetic relationships and morphological reappraisal of Melanommataceae (Pleosporales). Fungal Diversity 74, 267–324.

Wanasinghe DN, Phukhamsakda C, Hyde KD, Jeewon R et al. 2018c – Fungal diversity notes 709–839: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions to fungal taxa with an emphasis on fungi on Rosaceae. Fungal Diversity 89, 1–236.

Winter G. 1885 – Pilze-Ascomyceten. In GL Rabenhorst’s Kryptogamen-Flora von Deutschland, Oesterreich und der Schweiz 1, 65–528.

 

Entry by

Sinang Hongsanan, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50002, Thailand 

 

Published online 25 March 2026

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