Fungalpedia – Note 832, Scortechiniaceae
Scortechiniaceae. Huhndorf, A.N. Mill. & F.A. Fernández.
Citation when using this data: Huang SK et al. 2021 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank.
Classification: Coronophorales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Saprobic on wood. Sexual morph: Subiculum absent or composed of numerous or rare, brown to dark brown, branched, septate hyphae, with dichotomously branched, tapering or rounded ends. Ascomata scattered or gregarious, semi-immersed or erumpent or superficial, sitting on or in a subiculum, carbonaceous or coriaceous, brown to black, turbinate, globose, obpyriform to subglobose, the apex collapsing when dry, tuberculate, glabrous or spiny, lacking ostioles, with a conical Quellkörper. Peridium usually outer layer composed of carbonaceous, black tissue; inner layer composed of membranaceous, brown to hyaline cells of textura angularis to textura prismatica, sometimes Munk pores present. Paraphyses absent or filiform, branched or unbranched, septate, evanescent. Asci 8- or multi-spored, unitunicate, clavate to cylindrical, pedicellate or sessile, apex blunt or rounded, without apical ring, evanescent. Ascospores bi-seriate to overlapping, hyaline to brown or olivaceous brown, allantoid, ellipsoidal, ovoid to oval, straight to slightly curved, usually aseptate, smooth-walled, sometimes with mucilaginous appendages, mostly with guttules. Asexual morph: Conidiophores erect, solitary, straight to flexuous. Conidiogenous cells hyaline, smooth-walled, subcylindrical. Conidia hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled, ellipsoidal to ovoid, guttulate (adapted from Huhndorf et al. 2004b, Hyde et al. 2020e).
Notes – Scortechiniaceae was established by Huhndorf et al. (2004b) based on the well-supported clade of Euacanthe, Neofracchiaea and Scortechinia in LSU sequence analyses. The Quellkörper was accepted as a main character to define this family (Huhndorf et al. 2004b). Later, Biciliospora, Coronophorella, Cryptosphaerella, Pseudocatenomycopsis, Scortechiniella, Scortechiniellopsis and Tympanopsis, were accommodated in this family based on phylogenetic results (Mugambi & Huhndorf 2010, Crous et al. 2013, Hyde et al. 2020e). The members in this family are characterized by turbinate ascomata with Quellkörper, clavate asci and hyaline ascospores (Huhndorf et al. 2004b, Mugambi & Huhndorf 2010).
We found that Cryptosphaerella should be redefined. Initially, Cryptosphaerella was introduced as a genus with similar morphology to Cryptosphaeria (Diatrypaceae) (Saccardo 1882a). Later, it was considered a member of Coronophoraceae (von Höhnel 1907). Cryptosphaerella is typified by C. nitschkei which has perithecial, immersed ascomata with ostioles and polysporous asci (Nitschke 1870, Saccardo 1882a). Some species with similar characteristics (such as C. anonae, C. coffaeiphila and C. cordobensis) were subsequently introduced to this genus, but no molecular data is available for these species (Spegazzini 1909, 1922, 1926). Mugambi & Huhndorf (2010) sequenced six ‘Cryptosphaerella’ species lacking ostioles in the ascomata with Quellkörper. Therefore, Cryptosphaerella was assigned to Scortechiniaceae based on phylogenetic analyses of these six species. However, the type of Cryptosphaerella does not have unique Quellkörpers and Munk pores. We therefore transfer Cryptosphaerella to Sordariomycetes genera incertae sedis and redefine the six species introduced by Mugambi & Huhndorf (2010) as Pseudocryptosphaerella and Neocryptosphaerella in Scortechiniaceae based on morphology and phylogenetic results.
Type genus: Scortechinia Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 9: 604 (1891).
References
Nitschke T. 1870 – Pyrenomycetes Germanici. 2, 161–320.
Saccardo PA. 1882a – Sylloge Pyrenomycetum, Vol. I. Sylloge Fungorum 1, 1–768.
Spegazzini C. 1909 – Mycetes Argentinenses. Series IV. Anales del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural Buenos Aires 3(12), 257–458.
Spegazzini C. 1926 – Contribución al conocimiento de la flora micológica de las Sierras de Córdoba. Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba 29(2–3), 113–190.
von Höhnel F. 1907 – Fragmente zur Mykologie: IV. Mitteilung (Nr. 156 bis 168). Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften Math-naturw Klasse Abt I 116, 615–647.
Entry by
Shi-Ke Huang, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China, The Engineering Research Center of Southwest Bio-Pharmaceutical Resources, Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, Guizhou Province, 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, The Mushroom Research Centre, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
Published online 14 September 2021