Fungalpedia – Note 2150, Schizothyrium
Schizothyrium. Desm.
Citation when using this data: Hongsanan S et al. 2020 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Schizothyriaceae, Mycosphaerellales, Dothideomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Notes – Eriksson (1981) re-circumscribed the genus based on Schizothyrium pomi and treated S. pomi as a synonym of S. acerinum. Eriksson (1981) described the genus as forming inconspicuous vegetative mycelium, with ascomata opening by several cracks. Hyde et al. (2013) examined a representative specimen collected by Desmazières (PC0084488 and BR5020103861716) and found that Schizothyrium did not form superficial or subcuticular vegetative mycelium. Phookamsak et al. (2016) re-examined the same specimen described in Hyde et al. (2013) [FRANCE, Paris, on dry twigs of Acer negundo L, Desmazières, BR5020103861716] and designated this specimen as the lectotype. Detailed description, illustration and generic discussion were also provided in Phookamsak et al. (2016). Boonmee et al. (2017) re-examined the type specimen of S. pomi (MNHN-PC- PC0723481, holotype of Labrella pomi) and mentioned that S. acerinum is not conspecific with S. pomi based on the difference of hamathecium type. However, they did not observe the asci and ascospores of S. pomi as the ascomata were immature.
Schizothyrium species can be epiphytes or pathogens occurring on leaves, stems, or other parts of various vascular plants in both temperate and tropical regions (Eriksson 1981, Phookamsak et al. 2016, Boonmee et al. 2017, Farr &Rossman 2020). The asexual morph of Schizothyrium has been reported as the hyphomycetous genus Zygophiala. The link between Schizothyrium and Zygophiala was proven by Batzer et al. (2008), Ma et al. (2010) and Gao et al. (2014). Rossman et al. (2015) recommended the use of the older name Schizothyrium over Zygophiala.
Type species: Schizothyrium acerinum Desm.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Schizothyrium.
Figure 1 – a–h Schizothyrium acerinum (BR5020103861716, lectotype).a Appearance of ascomata/ascostromata on the host surface.b Squash of ascoma/ascostroma visualized under the compound microscope.c Section through ascoma/ascostroma.d Network-like structure in horizontal section.e, f Asci. g, h Ascospores.Scale bars: b = 100 μm, c = 50 μm, d = 20 μm,
e, f = 10 μm, g, h = 5 μm.
References
Eriksson OE. 1981 – The families of bitunicate ascomycetes. Nordic Journal of Botany 1, 800.
Farr DF, Rossman AY. 2020 – Fungal Databases, Systematic Mycology and Microbiology Laboratory, ARS, USDA. from http://nt.ars-grin.gov/fungaldatabases/
Entry by
Sinang Hongsanan, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50002, Thailand
Published online 23 March 2026