Fungalpedia – Note 3189, Pyxidiophoraceae
Pyxidiophoraceae. G.R.W. Arnold, Z. Pilzk
Citation when using this data: Wenping Wu & Yongzhao Diao. 2023– Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank
Classification: Pyxidiophorales, Laboulbeniomycetidae, Laboulbeniomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Ecology/Substrate/host: Coprophilous or saprophytic on other substrates, rarely mycoparasitic (Marchael 1885; Lundqvist 1980; Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b).
Geographical distribution: Cosmopolitan.
Description and illustration: Arnold (1971); Haelewaters et al. (2021a, b).
Notes: Gliocephalis, Pyxidiophora and Mycorhynchidium are the three representatives of the Pyxidiophoraceae in Pyxidiophorales, an order related to Laboulbeniales (Lundqvist 1980; Blackwell et al. 1989, 2020; Blackwell & Malloch 1989a, b, 1990; Weir and Beakes 1995; Gams and Arnold 2007). Morphologically fungi in the order Pyxidiophorales produce perithecial ascomata and chalara-like or Thaxteriola anamorphs. The closely phylogenetic relationship of Pyxidiophora and Gliocephalis with Laboulbeniales was recently established by molecular phylogenetic analyses (Jacobs et al. 2005; Tedersool et al. 2017; Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b, 2022).
The member of this family is less than 30 species, mostly saprotrophic, growing on dung or decaying vegetable material, but a few (Gliocephalis hyalina, P. asterophora, P. lundqvistii and P. spinulorostrata) are mycoparasites (Richardson 1972; Barrasa and Moreno 1982; Corlett 1986; Doveri and Coué 2016; Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b). They probably are more common and diverse in nature, but their rapid development in hidden habitats and difficulty in cultivation make them easily overlooked (Blackwell and Malloch 1989a, b; Malloch and Blackwell 1990; Jacobs et al. 2005; Gams and Arnold 2007; Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b). The group is crucial, however, because of its taxonomic position within the Laboulbeniomycetes to provide a morphological link between the thallus-forming Herpomycetales and Laboulbeniales and perithecial ascomycetes (Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b).
A number of different conidial states such as chalara-like or Gabarnaudia-like were described in connection with Pyxidiophora (Spegazzini 1909; Lundqvist, 1980; Gams and Arnold, 2007). The holoblastic conidia of Pyxidiophora were blunt-ended or bullet-shaped conidia, often in chains produced in phialides on the mycelium. Most were described as chalara-like (e.g., in P. arvernensis, P. asterophora, P. grovei, P. nyctalidis, P. spinuliformis, P. trisporus) or Gabarnaudia-like (e.g., in P. corallisetosa, P. cuniculicola). Pleurocatena produced Gabardnaudia-like anamorph in pure culture (Arnaud 1952, 1953; Arambarri et al. 1981; Gams and Arnold 2007). Other hyphal forms, probably also with phialidic conidia were described, including Gliocephalis hyalina for which no perithecial state was known (Jacobs et al. 2005). In this study, we confirmed that the two hyaline Chalara-like species, Chalara hyalina and Chalara schoenoplecti belonged to Pyxidiophoraceae (Haelewaters et al. 2021a, b), thus, they were excluded from chalara-like fungi of Leotiomycetes and reclassified as two new combinations of Pyxidiophora.
Type genus: Pyxidiophora Bref. & Tavel, in Brefeld, Unters. Gesammtgeb. Mykol. (Leipzig) 10: 189 (1891)
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Pyxidiophoraceae.
References
Arnaud G 1952 – Mycologie concrete: genera. Bull Trim Soc Mycol Fr 68:181–223.
Arnaud G 1953 – Mycologie concrete: genera II. Bull Trim Soc Mycol Fr 69:265–306.
Arnold GRW 1971 – Uber einige neue Taxa und Kombinationen der Sphaeriales. Zeitschrift Fur Pilzkunde 37:187–198.
Blackwell M, Malloch D 1989a – Pyxidiophora: a link between the Laboulbeniales and hyphal ascomycetes. Mem N Y Bot Gard 49:23–32.
Blackwell M, Malloch D 1990 – Discovery of a Pyxidiophora with Acariniola-type ascospores. Mycol Res 94:415–417.
Blackwell M, Moser JC, Wiśniewski J 1989 – Ascospores of Pyxidiophora on mites associated with beetles in trees and wood. Mycol Res 92:397–403.
Corlett M 1986 – Pyxidiophora lundqvistii n. sp. (Hypomycetales, Ascomycetes). Can J Bot 64:805–807.
Lundqvist N 1980 – On the genus Pyxidiophora sensu lato (Pyrenomycetes). Bot Not 133:121–144.
Marchal E 1885 – Champignons coprophiles de Belgique IV. Bull Soc Roy Bot Belg 24:57–77.
Richardson MJ 1972 – Coprophilous ascomycetes on different dung types. Trans Br Mycol Soc 58:37–48.
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 11 September 2026