Phomatospora
Phomatospora Sacc., Nuovo G. bot. ital. 7(4): 306 (1875)
Diaporthomycetidae, Phomatosporales, Phomatosporaceae, Phomatospora
Index Fungorum number: IF4015; Facesoffungi number: FoF 02487; 72 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2020), 4 species with sequence data.
Saprobic on submerged wood or decaying twigs. Sexual morph: Ascomata solitary to rarely gregarious, immersed or becoming erumpent with age, globose or subglobose, light brown, dark brown to black, coriaceous, sometimes developing under a small blackened clypeus, ostiolate, papillate. Papilla short, rarely somewhat long, central or eccentric, cylindrical, sometime covered with black, amorphous material around the upper region, periphyses hyaline, short, filiform. Peridium comprising small, brown pseudoparenchymatous cells of textura angularis to textura prismatica or inner, hyaline, thick-walled cells of textura angularis and outer, brown cells of textura angularis. Paraphyses filamentous, septate or aseptate, slightly constricted at the septa, distally tapering, hyaline. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, cylindrical or oblong-fusiform, thin-walled, short-pedicellate or sessile, apex oblong with J- apical apparatus. Ascospores uniseriate, rarely biseriate, overlapping uniseriate to biseriate, ellipsoidal to fusiform, 0–3-septa, not constricted at the septum, hyaline, sometimes bi-guttulate, guttules located at the ends of the cell, sometimes with filamentous appendages at both ends. Asexual morph: sporothrix-like (Rappaz 1992, Fournier & Lechat 2010, Senanayake et al. 2016).
Type species: Phomatospora berkeleyi Sacc., Nuovo G. bot. ital. 7(4): 306 (1875)
Notes: Phomatospora, typified by P. berkeleyi, originates from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats (Hyde 1993, Raja & Shearer 2008). Ascospores of aquatic species have adaptive features such as appendages or slimy sheaths in order to facilitate entrapment of and/or adhesion to substrates (Hyde 1993, Raja & Shearer 2008). Phomatospora berkeleyi and P. arenaria were initially observed to produce a Sporothrix asexual morph in culture, similar to some taxa in the Xylariales, which led to Phomatospora being placed in Xylariales (Rappaz 1992). Molecular analyses conducted by Lumbsch & Huhndorf (2007), however, did not support this placement and subsequently, the genus was placed in Sordariomycetes genera incertae sedis. Réblová et al. (2016) as well as Senanayake et al. (2016) revealed through phylogenetic analyses that Phomatospora groups together with Lanspora, for which Phomatosporaceae was introduced. Phomatospora biseriata was recently excluded from the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Hyde et al. (2020) since it did not cluster with other species of Phomatospora. Further studies should confirm the definite identity of the species introduced as ‘Phomatospora biseriata’.
Species illustrated in this entry:
Phomatospora berkeleyi Sacc.
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