Fungalpedia – Note 2335, Mycoporum
Mycoporum Flot. ex Nyl.
Citation when using this data: Hongsanan S et al. 2020 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1
Classification: Mycoporaceae, Pleosporales, Pleosporomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
The taxonomic placement of Mycoporum is unclear (Eriksson 1981, Hyde et al. 2013). Harris (1973) and Poelt (1969) observed M. elabens (type species) and considered it as nonlichenized. Eriksson (1981) had examined old material and was unable to find any algal cells on the specimen, and noted that Mycoporum is probably related to Arthopyreniaceae. Harris (1995) suggested that Mycoporum does not produce a lichen thallus, and that when algae are present, they are not Trentepohlia algae. Lumbsch (1999) treated this genus as non-lichenized based on algae cells that did not have close contact with Mycoporum hyphae. Aptroot et al. (2008) added several species in this genus, however, none of them have molecular data. Hametner et al. (2014) provided sequence data for Mycoporum sparsellum and indicated that it clustered with Acrocordia gemmate as a sister clade to Trentepohlia abietina strains and are as yet unnamed trentepohlialean lineages. However, as this analysis was generated from 18S rRNA and rbcL, more sequence data of Mycoporum with multi-genes are needed to clarify the placement of Mycoporaceae.
Type species: Mycoporum elabens (A. Massal.) Flot. ex Nyl.
≡ Rhizocarpon elabens A. Massal., Ric. auton. lich. crost. (Verona): 103 (1852).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Mycoporum.
Figure 1 – Morphology of Mycoporum spp. (a–c = redrawn of Mycoporum pycnocarpum from text book of Schneider 1897; d–g = redrawn of Mycoporum elabens from Lumbsch 1999). a Ascostromata. b Bitunicate asci. c Algae associated with M. elabens. d Ascostromata on host surface. e Ascospores. f Asci. g Asci within ascostromata surrounded by Algae.
References
Eriksson OE. 1981 – The families of bitunicate ascomycetes. Nordic Journal of Botany 1, 800.
Harris RC. 1973 – The corticoloios pyrenolichens of the Great Lakes region. Mich Bot 12, 3–68.
Harris RC. 1995 – More Florida lichens. Including the 10c tour of the pyrenolichens. The New York Botanical Garden.
Poelt J. 1969 – Bastimmungsschlüssel europäischer Flechten. Cramer, Lehre.
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 17 April 2026