Auerswaldia
Auerswaldia Sacc., Syll. fung. (Abellini) 2: 626 (1883).
Index Fungorum number: IF 463; Facesoffungi number: FoF 12136, 3 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 2 species with molecular data.
Saprobic on dead wood. Sexual morph: Ascostromata black, superficial, gregarious, becoming erumpent at maturity, but still under host surface, flattened at the upper surface, globose to subglobose, with 4 to numerous locules, with individual ostioles, cells of ascostromata brown-walled textura angularis. Peridium of locules 2-layered, outer layer composed of small heavily pigmented thick-walled cells of textura angularis, inner layer composed of hyaline thin-walled cells of textura angularis. Pseudoparaphyses not observed. Asci 6–8–spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, clavate to cylindroclavate, with a short pedicel, apically rounded, with a small ocular chamber. Ascospores hyaline to brown, aseptate, oblong to ovate. Asexual morph: Conidiomata pycnidial, immersed in the host tissue and becoming erumpent at maturity, globose, coriaceous, dark brown in the erumpent part. Conidiomata wall with brown to dark brown outer layers and hyaline to light brown inner layers, comprising several layers with cells of textura angularis. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells, holoblastic, discrete, hyaline, cylindrical to ellipsoidal, smooth, straight or curved, formed from cells lining the innermost later of the pycnidium. Conidia initially hyaline and aseptate, becoming brown anduniseptate at maturity, slightly constricted at the septa, oblong to ellipsoidal, ends rounded, with slight undulating striations on the surface, lower cell smaller (adapted from Liu et al. 2012).
Type species: Auerswaldia examinans (Mont. & Berk.) Sacc.
Notes: Auerswaldia is characterised by black, superficial, gregarious ascostromata, 6–8-spored, bitunicate asci, hyaline to brown and aseptate, with oblong to ovate ascospores. The asexual morph is characterised by globose, coriaceous, dark brown conidiomata, holoblastic, discrete, hyaline, cylindrical to ellipsoidal conidiophores and hyaline, aseptate, becoming brown, uniseptate conidia at maturity. Auerswaldia resembles Auerswaldiella but has a different number of locules (40–50) within the ascostroma and larger brown ascospores while Auerswaldiella has only 4–6 locules and small, hyaline to light brown ascospores. Auerswaldia and Auerswaldiella also occur on different substrates. Arx and Müller (1975) synonymized Dothidea examinans under Bagnisiella. Schoch et al. (2009) also considered Bagnisiella as a synonym of Auerswaldia and used a strain of Bagnisiella examinans which clustered in Botryosphaeriaceae in their phylogenetic analysis. Liu et al. (2012) reported that Auerswaldia is a well-supported and distinct genus in Botryosphaeriaceae based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses of ITS, SSU, LSU, EF1-α and β-tubulin. Liu et al. (2012) also re-examined the holotype of A. examinans (K 76513) and treated Auerswaldia in Botryosphaeriaceae. Liu et al. (2012) also examined the type specimen of B. australis and did not consider Bagnisiella as a synonym of Auerswaldia based on its sunken ascostromata and cylindrical asci. In the phylogenetic analysis of Slippers et al. (2013) based on SSU, LSU, ITS, EF1, β-tubulin and mtSSU, Auerswaldia lignicola clustered together with Lasiodiplodia. Slippers et al. (2013) suggested that Auerswaldia might be a synonym of Lasiodiplodia and did not consider Auerswaldia as a genus in Botryosphaeriaceae. Auerswaldia remains in Dothideomycetes genera incertae sedis until more collections with DNA sequence data becomes available. Molecular markers available for Auerswaldia are ITS, SSU, BTUB and TEF-1.
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