Fungalpedia – Note 3099, Parahelicomyces

 

Parahelicomyces Goh, Mycol. Progr. 20 (2): 182 (2021).

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

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

Classification: Tubeufiaceae, Tubeufiales, Incertae sedis, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Notes: Parahelicomyces was introduced by Hsieh et al. (2021) to accommodate P. talbotii as the type species, and establish other six species (Lu et al. 2018b). Currently, Parahelicomyces comprises 13 species including our 3 new species, and 3 known species in this study (Hsieh et al. 2021; Li et al. 2022a, 2022b; Tian et al. 2022). These species are mainly saprobic on natural woody substrates in terrestrial and freshwater habitats (Lu et al. 2018b; Hsieh et al. 2021; Li et al. 2022a, 2022b; Tian et al. 2022). Only two species, P. paludosus and P. quercus, have been reported in their sexual morph within Parahelicomyces (Rossman 1977; Boonmee et al. 2014; Jayasiri et al. 2019). Seven Parahelicomyces species are found in freshwater habitat, five species in terrestrial habitat, and one species in both freshwater and terrestrial habitats including the newly described species in this study (Lu et al. 2018b; Hsieh et al. 2021; Li et al. 2022a, 2022b; Tian et al. 2022). The helicosporous asexual morph of Parahelicomyces display diverse shapes, with certain species exhibiting loosely coiled, long conidia with a thin conidial filament, while others possessing extremely tightly coiled, short conidia with a wider conidial filament (Lu et al. 2018b; Hsieh et al. 2021; Li et al. 2022a; 2022b; Tian et al. 2022).

Type species: Parahelicomyces talbotii (Goos) S.Y. Hsieh, Goh & C.H. Kuo, Mycol. Progr. 20 (2): 182 (2021).

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Parahelicomyces.

 

 

Figure 1 – Parahelicomyces talbotii (GZAAS 23-0305). a, b Colonies on submerged decaying wood. c–e Conidiophores, conidiogenous cells and conidia. f–j Conidia. k Germinating conidium. l, m Colonies on PDA from above and below. Scale bars: c, d = 100 µm, e, g, i, k = 20 µm, f, h, j = 10 µm.

 

References

Boonmee S, Rossman AY, Liu JK, Li WJ et al. 2014 – Tubeufiales, ord. nov., integrating sexual and asexual generic names. Fungal Diversity 68:239–298.

Hsieh SY, Goh TK, Kuo CH. 2021 – New species and records of Helicosporium sensu lato from Taiwan, with a reflection on current generic circumscription. Mycological Progress 20(2):169–190.

Jayasiri S, Hyde K, Jones E, McKenzie E et al. 2019 – Diversity, morphology and molecular phylogeny of Dothideomycetes on decaying wild seed pods and fruits. Mycosphere 10(1):1–186. 

Li LL, Shen HW, Bao D, Lu YZ et al. 2022b – New species, Parahelicomyces yunnanensis sp. nov. and Tubeufia nigroseptum sp. nov. from freshwater habitats in Yunnan, China. Phytotaxa 530(1):21–37. 

Li LL, Shen HW, Bao DF, Wanasinghe DN et al. 2022a – The plethora of Tubeufiaceae in lakes of the northwestern Yunnan plateau, China. Frontiers in Microbiology 13:1056669.

Lu YZ, Liu JK, Hyde KD, Jeewon R et al. 2018b – A taxonomic reassessment of Tubeufiales based on multi-locus phylogeny and morphology. Fungal Diversity 92:131–344.

Rossman AY. 1977 – The genus Ophionectria (Euascomycetes, Hypocreales). Mycologia 69(2):355–391.

Tian XG, Karunarathna SC, Xu R, Lu YZ et al. 2022 – Three new species, two new records and four new collections of Tubeufiaceae from Thailand and China. Journal of Fungi 8(2):206.

 

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 3 September 2026

Back to Glossary Index Page