Fungalpedia – Note 3118, Tyrannosorus

 

Tyrannosorus Unter. & Malloch, Mycological Research 99: 910 (1995).

Citation when using this data: Jian Ma et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.

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

Classification: Incertae sedis, Incertae sedis, Incertae sedis, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Notes: Tyrannosorus was introduced by Untereiner et al. (1995), with T. pinicola (≡ Capronia pinicola) designated as the type species. Currently, based on the morphology and phylogenetic analyses of the combined ITS, LSU, rpb2, tef1, and tub2 sequence data, Tyrannosorus comprises five species: T. hanlinianus, T. hystrioides, T. lichenicola, T. pinicola and T. pini-sylvestris, (De Hoog 1985; Braun and Feiler 1995; Untereiner et al. 1995; Voglmayr and Fisher 1997; Crous et al. 2007; Shen et al. 2020). The asexual morph of Tyrannosorus is characterized by having micro- to semi-macronematous conidiophores, and doliiform conidia that are usually coiled or easily disarticulating when old, becoming one-celled arthrospores upon maturation (Voglmayr and Fisher 1997). The sexual morph features solitary, dark brown to black, ovate to pyriform, ostiolate, brown setae with acute tips ascomata, pseudoparenchymatous peridium, bitunicate, saccate to clavate asci with a thickened endotunica, brown, fusoid, indistinctly striate ascospores, and trabeculate pseudoparaphyses (Untereiner et al. 1995). T. pinicola exhibits two different types of asexual morphs. Its coiled conidia can be easily distinguished from the other four Tyrannosorus species (Venturiaceae, Venturiales) (Voglmayr and Fisher 1997; Shen et al. 2020). Additionally, Tyrannosorus resembles Helicodendron in producing helicoid, doliiform conidia. However, the conidia of Tyrannosorus differ from those of Helicodendron as they readily disarticulate and become arthrospores when aged (Linder 1929; Voglmayr and Fisher 1997).

Type species: Tyrannosorus pinicola (Petrini & P.J. Fisher) Unter. & Malloch, Mycological Research 99: 910 (1995).

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Tyrannosorus.

Figure 1 – (a) Magnohelicospora iberica (redrawn from Hernandez-Restrepo et al. (2017)), a Conidiophore and conidia. b Conidia. Scale bars: a, b = 10 µm; (b) Tyrannosorus pinicola (redrawn from Voglmayr and Fisher (1997)), a Coiled conidia and straight hyphae forming arthrospores (arrowheads). b Straight and curved, mostly one-celled propagules after disarticulation of coiled conidia and straight hyphae. a, b = 10 µm; (c) Hiospira hendrickxii (redrawn from Seifert et al. (2011)); (d) Hymenoscyphus paradoxus (redrawn from Linder (1929)).

 

References

Braun U, Feiler U. 1995 – Cladophialophora and its teleomorph. Microbiological Research 150(1):81–91.

Crous PW, Schubert K, Braun U, De Hoog G et al. 2007 – Opportunistic, human-pathogenic species in the Herpotrichiellaceae are phenotypically similar to saprobic or phytopathogenic species in the Venturiaceae. Studies in Mycology 58(1):185–217.

De Hoog G. 1985 – Taxonomy of the Dactylaria-complex, IV. Dactylaria, Neta, Subulispora and Scolecobasidium. Studies in Mycology 26:1–60.

Linder DH. 1929 – A monograph of the helicosporous fungi imperfecti. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 16(3):227–388.

Shen M, Zhang J, Zhao L, Groenewald J et al. 2020 – Venturiales. Studies in Mycology 96:185–308.

Untereiner WA, Straus NA, Malloch D. 1995 – A molecular-morphotaxonomic approach to the systematics of the Herpotrichiellaceae and allied black yeasts. Mycological Research 99(8):897–913.

Voglmayr H, Fisher PJ. 1997 – Helicodendron fuscum and its allies. Mycological Research 101(9):1122–1126.

 

Entry by

Jian Ma, School of Food and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Guizhou Institute of Technology, Guiyang 550003, P.R. 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.

 

Published online 10 September 2026

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