Fungalpedia – Note 2794, Strattonia
Strattonia. Cif.
Citation when using this data: Huang SK et al. 2021 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Strattoniaceae, Sordariales, Sordariomycetidae, Sordariomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Coprophilous. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecial, solitary, scattered or gregarious, superficial to immersed, coriaceous to membranaceous, pyriform to subglobose, brown to black, hairy, ostiolate, with a black papilla, periphysate. Paraphyses filiform-ventricose, septate. Asci 4–8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical, apex truncate or rounded, with J- apical ring. Ascospores uni-seriate, fusiform to obovoid, hyaline to subhyaline, 1-septate near the base, sometimes finely guttulae; upper cell becoming brown to black, swollen, ellipsoidal, with an apical germ pore; pedicel short, conical or cylindrical, hyaline, collapsing when dry, surrounded by gelatinous sheath. Gelatinous sheath rounded or irregular, swelling in water, invaginated at the pedicel, with indentations. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous, phialophora-like. Conidiophores arising from aerial hyphae, erect, inflated at the base. Phialides monophialidic, smooth-walled, hyaline, cylindrical, unbranched or branched. Conidia hyaline to pale yellow, ellipsoidal to oval, aseptate, smooth-walled (adapted from Lundqvist 1972; Bell 2000, 2005).
Notes: Strattonia is typified by S. tetraspora, which has hairy ascomata, cylindrical asci and ascospores comprise a brown upper cell and a hyaline pedicel and surrounded by a gelatinous sheath except pedicel (Ciferri 1954; Lundqvist 1972). Lundqvist (1972) proposed that Strattonia is connected with Podospora, Sordaria and Triangularia and tried to sort out the affinities of Strattonia species by morphology. Subsequently, the no gelatinous sheath Strattonia carbonaria, S. karachiensis and S. minor were placed in Jugulospora and Lundqvistomyces respectively, based on phylogenetic analysis (Miller and Huhndorf 2005; Vu et al. 2019, Marin-Felix et al. 2020; this study, see notes for Jugulospora minor). We divide the remaining Strattonia species that do not have receivable molecular data into three groups according to the characteristics of their gelatinous sheath: i) Strattonia grandis, S. tetraspora and S. zopfii are similar to S. petrogale and S. oblecythiformis have a gelatinous sheath surrounds ascospores except pedicel (Lundqvist 1972; Bell 2005); ii) Strattonia borealis and S. mesopotamica have terminal gelatinous appendages surrounding apical germ pore and pedicel (Lundqvist 1972; Abdullah 1983), which are similar to Podospora fibrinocaudata in Bombardiaceae; iii) Strattonia dissimilis and S. insignis have ascospores surrounded by a gelatinous sheath except apical germ pore and pedicel (Lundqvist 1972; Barrasa et al. 1985), which are similar to Apodospora gotlandica in Bombardiaceae. However, more fresh collections and molecular information of Strattonia are expected to define its taxonomic placement more accurately.
Type species: Strattonia tetraspora (R. Stratton) Cif., Sydowia 8(1-6): 245 (1954).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Strattonia.
Figure 1 – Strattonia zopfii: a (redrawn from Lundqvist 1972). a Immature to mature ascospores surrounded by a gelatinous sheath but invaginated at the pedicel; Jugulospora minor: b–j (UPS-UPS:BOT:F-117927, holotype). b Herbarium material. c Ascomata on host. d Ascomata e Ascoma in cross section. f Asci. g–j Ascospore. Scale bars: a = 50 µm, d = 200 µm, e. f = 100 µm, g–j = 10 µm.
References
Abdullah SK 1983 – New and noteworthy Ascomycetes from Iraq. Trans Br Mycol Soc 81(2):392–396.
Barrasa JM, Solans MJ, Moreno G 1985 – Strattonia dissimilis (Sordariales), una nueva especie coprófila. Int J Mycol Lichenol 2(1):75–84.
Bell A 2000 – Podospora petrogale Fungi: Sordariales: Lasiosphaeriaceae, a new species from Australia. Mueller 12(2):235–240.
Ciferri R 1954 – Schedae Mycologicae XII-XXXIV. Sydowia 8(1–6):245–270.
Lundqvist N 1972 – Nordic Sordariaceae s. lat. Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses 20:1–374.
Lundqvist N 1972 – Nordic Sordariaceae s. lat. Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses 20:1–374.
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 18 June 2026