Fungalpedia – Note 3238, Thecatisporium

 

Thecatisporium S.N. Zhang, K.D. Hyde & Jian K. Liu, gen. nov.

Citation when using this data: Zhang SN et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.

Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.

Classification: Amorosiaceae, Pleosporales, Pleosporomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Etymology: The name refers to the ascospores having a clear sheath, and the Latin word “thecae” means “sheath”.

Saprobic, terrestrial. Sexual morph Ascomata erumpent to superficial, solitary to gregarious, black, conical to mammiform, with a small central papilla, sometimes with the ruptured host tissue around the surface of the ascomata. Peridium carbonaceous. Hamathecium trabeculate pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, cylindric-clavate, apex rounded with an ocular chamber, short pedicellate. Ascospores overlapping to bi-seriate, fusiform, hyaline to pale brown, 1-septate, guttulate when young, verrucose when old, surrounded by a distinct, thick gelatinous sheath, and the sheath becoming acute at both ends. Asexual morph Undetermined.

Notes: We introduce the genus Thecatisporium as a result of its characteristic morphology and weak affiliation with other genera in the family. Thecatisporium resembles Pteridiospora in having mammiform ascomata and ascospores surrounded by a wide distinctive sheath. However, they are phylogenetically distinct and differ in ascospore shape and ornamentation. Thecatisporium is characterized by the compressed conical, carbonaceous ascomata, and fusiform, hyaline to pale brown ascospores with acute ends and a distinctive thick gelatinous sheath. Pteridiospora includes saprobic species on bamboo and palms in tropical regions and has four sequenced species which are polyphyletic (Phookamsak et al. 2015; Hongsanan et al. 2020a; Konta et al. 2023). Phookamsak et al. (2014a) designated an epitype for the generic type Pteridiospora javanica, which is distinct from Thecatisporium in our multi-gene phylogeny (Zhang SN et al. 2024). 

Type species: Thecatisporium palmae S.N. Zhang, K.D. Hyde & Jian K. Liu.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Thecatisporium.

Figure 1 – Thecatisporium palmae (SNT257, holotype) a–c Ascomata on substrate. d Vertical section of an ascoma. e, f Asci. g Ocular chamber. h–n Ascospores, o Germinating ascospore. p Hamathecium, trabeculate pseudoparaphyses. q Colony on PDA. Scale bars: a = 2 mm; b = 1 mm; c = 500 μm; d = 200 μm; e, h–p = 20 μm; f = 50 μm; g = 10 μm.

 

References

Hongsanan S, Hyde KD, Phookamsak R, Wanasinghe DN et al.   2020a – Refined families of Dothideomycetes: Dothideomycetidae and Pleosporomycetidae. Mycosphere 11(1): 1553–2107.

Konta S, Tibpromma S, Karunarathna SC, Samarakoon MC et al. 2023 – Morphology and multigene phylogeny reveal ten novel taxa in Ascomycota from terrestrial palm substrates (Arecaceae) in Thailand. Mycosphere 14:107–152.

Phookamsak R, Liu JK, Manamgoda DS, Wanasinghe DN et al. 2014a – Epitypification of two bambusicolous fungi from Thailand. Cryptogamie Mycol 35:239–256.

Phookamsak R, Norphanphoun C, Tanaka K, Dai DQ et al. 2015 – Towards a natural classification of Astrosphaeriella-like species; introducing Astrosphaeriellaceae and Pseudoastrosphaeriellaceae fam. nov. and Astrosphaeriellopsis, gen. nov. Fungal Divers 74:143–197.

Zhang SN, Hyde KD, Jones EBG et al. 2024 – Current insights into palm fungi with emphasis on taxonomy and phylogeny. Fungal Diversity 127, 55–301.

 

Entry by

Sheng-Nan Zhang, School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Informational Biology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, P.R. China., Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand., Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand.

 

Published online 18 September 2026

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