Nigrospora

Fungalpedia – Note 784, Nigrospora

 

Nigrospora. Zimm.

Citation when using this data: Karimi O et al. 2025 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.

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

Classification: Apiosporaceae, Amphisphaeriales, Xylariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Nigrospora (Ni.), was introduced by Zimmerman (1902) to accommodate its type species, Ni. panici, which was reported from dead leaves of Panicum amphibium. Nigrospora comprises 46 species (Species Fungorum, accessed December 2024) and has been reported as saprobes, endophytes, and pathogens in plants and humans (Liu et al. 2021, Takayama et al. 2024, Zou et al. 2024). The genus is characterized by spherical to subspherical conidiogenous cells and globose to subglobose black conidia (Wang et al. 2017). Wang et al. (2017) introduced 12 new species based on morphology and phylogeny and placed the genus in Apiosporaceae (Xylariales). Recently, new Nigrospora species have been introduced from various substrates, including soil (Zhang et al. 2024c), Spinifex sericeus and Chromolaena odorata (Tan & Shivas 2024), Citrus grandis (Manawasinghe et al. 2024), Juglans regia (Zou et al. 2024) and oak species (Bashiri & Abdollahzadeh 2024). To date, no species of this genus have been reported from peat swamp forests. In this study, we found Ni. chinensis on Eleiodoxa conferta from the peat swamp forest in Narathiwat, Thailand. 

Type species: Nigrospora panici Zimm., Centbl. Bakt. ParasitKde, Abt. II 8: 220 (1902)

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Nigrospora.

 

 

Figure 1 – Nigrospora chinensis (MFLUCC 24-0601, a new host and habitat record). a, b Surface and reverse view of the culture on the PDA. c Colony in culture. d–i Conidiophores, conidiogenous cells and conidia. Scale bars: c = 50 μm, d, g = 15 μm, e, f, i, h = 10 μm.

 

References

Bashiri S, Abdollahzadeh J. 2024 – Identification and pathogenicity of Nigrospora shadeganensis on oak trees in Zagros forests, Iran. Mycologia Iranica 11, 93–100.

Liu LM, Zhao KH, Zhao Y, Zhang YL, et al. 2021 – Nigrospora oryzae causing panicle branch rot disease on Oryza sativa (rice). Plant Disease 105(9), 2724. 

Manawasinghe IS, Hyde KD, Wanasinghe DN, Karunarathna SC, et al. 2024 – Fungal diversity notes 1818–1918: taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungi. Fungal Diversity 130, 1–260.

Takayama T, Inoda S, Watanabe A, Kawashima H. 2024 – Nigrospora oryzae causing human corneal keratitis: A case report. American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports 34, 102062. 

Tan YP, Shivas RG. 2024 – Nomenclatural novelties. Index of Australian Fungi 29, 1–10.

Wang M, Liu F, Crous PW, Cai L. 2017 – Phylogenetic reassessment of Nigrospora: ubiquitous endophytes, plant and human pathogens. Persoonia 39, 118–142.

Zhang YY, Zhang T, Li HY, Zheng R, et al. 2024c – Nigrospora humicola (Apiosporaceae, Amphisphaeriales), a new fungus from soil in China. Diversity 16, 1–8.

Zimmerman A. 1902 – Ueber einige an tropischen Kulturpflanzen beobachtete Pilze III. Zentralblatt für Bakteriologie Parasitenkunde 8, 216–221. 

Zou MT, Al-Otibi F, Hyde KD, Wang Y, et al 2024 – New Helminthosporium (Massarinaceae, Dothideomycetes) and Nigrospora (Incertae sedis, Sordariomycetes) species associated with walnut (Juglans regia L.) in China. MycoKeys 109, 265–284.

 

Entry by

Omid Karimi, State Key Laboratory of Discovery and Utilization of Functional Components in Traditional Chinese Medicine & School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guizhou Medical University, Guian New District, Guizhou 550004, 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 28 July 2025

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