Fungalpedia – Note 2837, Phialoturbella
Phialoturbella. Réblová & Hern.-Restr.
Citation when using this data: Wenping W et al. 2022 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Chaetosphaeriaceae, Chaetosphaeriales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Colonies on the natural substrate effuse, hairy, composed of conidiophores, occasionally ascomata. Teleomorph: Ascomata perithecial, non-stromatic, superficial, sub-globose to conical, papillate or with a beaklike neck, dark brown, glabrous. Ostiole periphysate. Ascomatal wall two-layered, carbonaceous. Paraphyses persistent, septate, hyaline. Asci unitunicate, cylindrical-clavate, sessile or with a short stipe, ascal apex with a non-amyloid apical annulus, 8-spored. Ascospores ellipsoidal, hyaline, aseptate, smooth. Anamorph: Setae absent. Conidiophores macronematous, mononematous, single or arise in groups from dark stromatic cells, unbranched,
erect, straight or flexuous, septate, smooth, brown. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal, mono- or polyphialidic, extending percurrently and sympodially, cylindrical, pale brown, subhyaline towards the apex; collarettes funnel-shaped. Macroconidia falcate, lunate or oblong and curved, slightly truncate at the basal hilum, hyaline, aseptate, without setulae, accumulated in slimy fascicles. Microconidia (observed only in culture) falcate, lunate or oblong-clavate, curved, truncate at the basal hilum, hyaline, aseptate, without setulae, formed from the same conidiogenous loci (Adapted from Réblová et al. 2021).
Note: Phialoturbella was established to accommodate two known Tainosphaeria species (Tainosphaeria aseptata and T. lunata) and one undescribed fungus (Phialoturbella calva) which are clustered together as a separate lineage, and characterized by macronematous, solitary or crowded, simple conidiophores with mono- or occasionally poly-phialidic conidiogenous cells and aseptate, falcate to lunate conidia without setulae. Species of this genus are known as saprobes on decaying bark and wood in China, Japan and New Zealand. Réblová et al. (2021) also mentioned that several morphologically similar species of Dictyochaeta can be considered relatives or possible candidates for inclusion in Phialoturbella, namely D. apiculata, D. botulispora, D. heteroderae, D. illinoensis and D. occidentalis. Unfortunately, none of these species has available DNA sequence or culture for phylogenetic analysis.
Key to known species of Phialoturbella (P.) and Flectospora (F.)
1. Conidia ellipsoidal to obovoid, slightly curved, aseptate, 5–6 × 2.5–3 μm……………………………F. laminata
1. Conidia fusiform, falcate or oblong-clavate…………………………………………………………………….…2
2. Conidia two types; macroconidia falcate to lunate or oblong and slightly curved, tapering towards both ends, with a basal hilum, hyaline, 12.5–17 × 2–3 μm; microconidia falcate or oblong-clavate, 4–6.5 × 1–1.5
μm………………………………………………………………………………………………………………P. calva
2. Only macroconidia produced……………………………………………………………………………………….3
3. Conidia fusiform, allantoid, curved, 14.5–17 × 2.8–3.2 μm, rounded at both ends…………………..…P. apiculata
3. Conidia 3.5–5.5 μm wide……………………………………………………………………………………………4
4. Conidia long fusiform, curved, 14.5–20 × 3–4.5 μm………………………………………………..……P. aseptata
4. Conidia fusiform, curved, 16–24 × 3.5–5.5 μm, with short setulae up to 3 μm long…………………….…P. lunata
Type species: Phialoturbella lunata (Z.L. Luo, K.D. Hyde & Hong Y. Su) Réblová & Hern.-Restr., in Réblová, Nekvindová & Hernández-Restrepo, J. Fungi 7(6, no. 438): 29 (2021)
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Phialoturbella.
Figure 1 – Phialoturbella lunata. a–e Conidiophores and conidiogenous cells bearing funnel-shaped collarettes. f–m Conidia. Scale bar: 5 μm.
References
Entry by
Wenping Wu, R&D Center, Novozymes China, No. 14 Xin Xi Lu, Shangdi Zone, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, People’s Republic of China
Published online 20 July 2026