Fungalpedia – Note 225, Pellucida
Pellucida Dulym., Sivan., P.F. Cannon & Peerally.
Citation when using this entry: Li et al. 2024 (in prep) – Fungalpedia, Xylariomycetidae.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1
Classification: Hyponectriaceae, Amphisphaeriales, Xylariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Ascomycota, Fungi.
Pellucida was established by Dulymamode et al. (2001) with P. pendulina as the type species based on morphology. The type species was reported as saprobes on the dead fallen decomposing leaves of Pandanus eydouxia in Mauritius (Dulymamode et al. 2001). Pellucida is characterized by immersed, white to buff, soft, pellucid, globose ascomata, without a conspicuous neck. Externally, it is only visible as minute depressed areas in the ostioles. Asci are cylindrical, unitunicate, the apex rounded with a thin J+, apical ring and ascospores are hyaline, filiform, multiseptate, parallel, or helically arranged in the ascus (Dulymamode et al. 2001). Pellucida is a monotypic genus (Species Fungorum 2024).
Hawksworth et al. (1995) and Dulymamode et al. (2001) provisionally assigned Pellucida to the family Hyponectriaceae based on the taxonomic classification of species within this family, which is characterized by filiform ascospores. However, Pellucida differs from Hyponectria, the type genus of Hyponectriaceae by its filiform instead of ellipsoidal ascospores and the absence of black clypeal tissue in its ascomatal structure. Taxonomic placement cannot be confirmed due to the lack of DNA sequence data from the type and living specimens. It is necessary to obtain fresh collections and sequence data.
Type species: Pellucida pendulina Dulym., Sivan., P.F. Cannon & Peerally.
Figure 1 – Pellucida pendulina (holotype MHUM, Dulymamode P6). a Asci and paraphyses. b Ascospores. Scale bars: a, b = 100 µm. Redrawn from Dulymamode et al. (2001).
Reference
Dulymamode R, Cannon P, Sivanesan A, Peerally A. 2001 – Fungi from Mauritius:
Four new ascomycetes on native plants. Mycological Research 105, 247–254.
Entry by
Yanxia Li and Mingkwan Doilom, Innovative Institute for Plant Health/Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control on Fruits and Vegetables in South China, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guangzhou 510225, China.
(Edited by Mingkwan Doilom, Kevin D Hyde, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)