Fungalpedia – Note 2858, Sporendocladia

 

Sporendocladia. G. Arnaud ex Nag Raj & W.B. Kendr.

Citation when using this data: Wenping Wu et al. 2022 – Fungalpedia.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank 

Classification: Ceratocystidaceae, Melanosporales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Colonies effuse, superficial, brown. Anamorph: Conidiophores solitary to aggregated, erect or flexuous, branched at the apex, septate, brown, smooth. Conidiogenous cells integrated, determinate, ampulliform, lageniform, obclavate, pale brown to brown, with a deep, cylindrical or subcylindrical collarette. Conidia holoblastic, cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate, smooth, truncate at both ends, extruded in long chain. Teleomorph: Unknown.

Geographical distribution: Broadly distributed, including Asia, Europe and US.

Description and illustration: Nag Raj and Kendrick (1976); Sutton (1975); Wingfield et al. (1987); Mouton and Wingfield (1993); Seifert et al. (2011).

Notes: The genus Sporendocladia morphologically resembles Chalara (Corda) Rabehn., but can be distinguished by its conidiophores with branched fertile region. Morphologically several other dematiaceous genera, including Leptographium Lagerb. & Melin and Phialocephala, share the similar morphological characters such as terminally branched conidiophores, lageniform or subcylindrical and phialidic conidiogenous cells, and hyaline, aseptate and cylindrical conidia with somewhat truncated ends. These genera can be distinguished by a combination of morphology and phylogeny (Kendrick 1961; Sutton 1975; Wingfield et al. 1987; Mouton and Wingfield 1993; Crous et al. 2014; Seifert et al. 2011).

A total of 8 species names have been published for the genus Sporendocladia, including S. fumosa, S. bactrospora, S. castaneae, S. foliicola, S. ivoriensis, S. kionochaetoides. Among them, S. castaneae is a synonym of S. fumosa (Wingfield et al. 1987). The other species can de distinguished by colony on nature substrate, the branching patterns of conidiophores and conidial morphology (Arnaud 1954; Sutton 1975; Nag Raj and Kendrick 1975; Wingfield et al. 1987; Sutton 1993).

The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the genus Sporendocladia is polyphyletic. The type species, S. fumosa, belongs to Chaetosphaeriaceae, while at least three other species, S. foliicola, S. bactrospora and S. kionochaetoides are placed distantly from each other in the phylogenetic tree created by rDNA sequences. S. foliicola and S. kionochaetoides are grouped together with members of Leotiales, while S. bactrospora belongs to Microascales (Gruenig et al. 2002; Jacobs et al. 2003; Roux et al. 2013). Here we accepted the narrow concept of the genus as typified by S. fumosa in Chaetosphaeriaceae. Most other species should be excluded from the genus.

Type species: Sporendocladia fumosa (Ell. & Everh.) Wingfield (= Spicaria fumosa Ell. & Everh.; = S. castaneae Arnaud in Nag Raj & W.B. Kendr.)

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Sporendocladia.

 

References

Arnaud G 1954 – Mycologie concrste: genera II (suite et fin). Bull Trim Sco Mycol Fr 69:265–306.

Crous PW, Wingfield MJ, Schumacher RK, Summerell BA et al 2014 – Fungal Planet Description Sheets: 281–319. Persoonia 33:212–289.

Gruenig CR, Sieber TN, Rogers SO, Holdenrieder O 2002 – Genetic variability among strains of Phialocephala fortinii and phylogenetic analysis of the genus Phialocephala based on rDNA ITS sequence comparisons. Can J Bot 80:1239–1249.

Jacobs A, Coetzee MPA, Wingfield BD, Jacobs K, Wingfield MJ 2003 – Phylogenetic relationships among Phialocephala species and other ascomycetes. Mycologia 95:637–645.

Kendrick WB 1961 – The Leptographium complex Phialocephala gen. nov. Can J Bot 40:771–797.

Mouton M, Wingfield MJ 1993 – Comparison between conidial development in Sporendocladia bactrospora and Phialocephala virens. Can J Bot 71:985–991.

Nag Raj TR, Kendrick, WB 1975 – A monograph of Chalara and allied genera. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press 200 pp.

Roux J, Solheim H, Kamgan Nkuekam G, Wingfield MJ 2013 – Sporendocladia bactrospora associated with wounds on native broadleaves trees in Norway and Sweden. For Path 44:124–130.

Seifert KA, Morgan-Jones G, Gams W, Kendrick WB 2011 – The genera of Hyphomycetes. CBS biodiversity series, vol 9. CBSKNAW Fungal Biodiversity Center, Utrecht, pp 1–997.

Sutton BC 1975 – Hyphomycetes on supules of Castanea sativa. Trans Br Mycol Soc 64:405–426.

Wingfield MJ, van Wyk PS, Wingfield BD 1987 – Reclassification of Phialocephala based on conidial development. Trans Br Mycol Soc 89:509–520.

 

Entry by

Wenping Wu, R&D Center, Novozymes China, No. 14 Xin Xi Lu, Shangdi Zone, Haidian District, Beijing 100085, P.R. China 

 

Published online 14 August 2026

Back to Glossary Index Page