Fungalpedia – Note 2915, Zyzygomyces
Zyzygomyces Diederich, Millanes & Wedin.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Filobasidiaceae, Filobasidiales, Tremellomycetes, Agaricomycotina, Basidiomycota, Fungi.
Zyzygomyces was introduced by Diederich et al. (2022b) to accommodate eight lichenicolous species, with Z. bachmannii (transferred from Syzygospora bachmannii Diederich & M.S. Christ.) as the type. The genus is characterized by waxy to gelatinous, often gall-inducing basidiomata that are whitish to brown or blackish, ranging from applanate pulvinate to subspherical or tuberculate. Other key features include tremelloid haustoria, ellipsoid clamped probasidia (in some species), the absence of hyphidia and cystidia, aseptate cylindrical basidia with 2–4 subulate sterigmata that have a refractive apex, and ellipsoid, ovoid, or almost limoniform basidiospores obliquely attached to sterigmata. Phylogenetic analysis based on ITS and LSU sequences places the genus within Filobasidiaceae (Diederich et al. 2022b).
Type species: Zyzygomyces bachmannii (Diederich & M.S. Christ.) Diederich & Millanes
= Syzygospora bachmannii Diederich & M.S. Christ.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Zyzygomyces.
Figure 1 – Zyzygomyces bachmannii redrawn from Diederich et al. (2022). a Basidiomata on the thallus of Cladonia rangiformis. b Basidium and basidiospores. c Hyphae with clamp connections. d Catenulate conidia. e Lunate conidia. f Subspherical conidia. Scale bars: a = 2 mm, b–c = 10 μm, d–f = 5 μm.
References
Entry by
Meng QF, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand and School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Guizhou 563000, China.
Published online 7 August 2026