Mycosphaerellales » Mycosphaerellaceae

Episphaerella

Episphaerella Petr., Annls mycol. 22(1/2): 126 (1924).

Index Fungorum number: IF 1875; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08604, 11 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 1 species with molecular data.

Parasitic on living leaves, superficial, with large colonies, irregular, black and with numerous ascomata. Sexual morph: Ascomata solitary to gregarious, globose to subglobose, dark brown, collapsed when dry, with apical ostiole, lacking superficial mycelium. Peridium comprising 3–4 layers of brown cells of textura angularis, lacking hamathecial pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, oblong-ovoid, sub-cylindrical, sessile, with minute ocular chamber. Ascospores 2–3-seriate, ellipsoidal oblong obovoid, ends rounded, uniseptate, hyaline. Asexual morph: Unknown (adapted from Boonmee et al. 2017).

 Type species: Episphaerella manihotis (Henn.) Petr.

Notes: Episphaerella is characterised by solitary to gregarious, globose to subglobose ascomata, oblong-ovoid, sub-cylindrical, sessile asci and 2–3-seriate, ellipsoidal oblong obovoid, uniseptate, hyaline ascospores. Petrak (1924) provided a brief description of Episphaerella. Müller and Arx (1962) revised Episphaerella with an illustration of infection method in E. manihotis comprising internal mycelium with digitate developments within the leaf. Swart (1988) transferred Parodiella banksiae to Episphaerella based on the internal hyphae. Hansford (1946) considered the internal mycelium as an unreliable character to separate Episphaerella from Eudimeriolum. von Arx and Müller (1954) synonymized Episphaerella with Eudimeriolum providing the combination E. manihotis and transferred the genus to Dimeriaceae. Barr (1997) transferred Episphaerella to Pseudoperisporiaceae based on the biotrophic lifestyle, small ascomata, superficial, and internal mycelium intracellular within leaf tissues. Episphaerella resembles members of Mycosphaerellaceae in ascomata features, asci shape and ascospores. Boonmee et al. (2017) re-examined the type specimen of E. manihotis (W Krypto 0010775) and placed Episphaerella in Mycosphaerellaceae based on morphology. The placement of Episphaerella in Mycosphaerellaceae is doubtful. Only ITS sequence data is available for Episphaerella dodonaeae (PDD 104466).

 

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