The Ceratobasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

Cantharellales The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi ( Aphelariaceae and Clavulinaceae), and cortici ...

. All

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

within the family have

basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not ...

(fruit bodies) that are thin and effused. They have sometimes been included within the

corticioid fungi The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or p ...

or alternatively within the "

heterobasidiomycetes Heterobasidiomycetes, including jelly fungi, smuts and rusts, are basidiomycetes with septate basidia. This contrasts them to homobasidiomycetes (alternatively called holobasidiomycetes), including most mushrooms and other Agaricomycetes, which ...

". Species are

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

, but some are also

facultative {{wiktionary, facultative Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" (antonym '' obligate''), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Facultative (FAC), facultative wetland (FACW), or facultative upland (FACU): wetland indicator statuses ...

plant pathogens Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomy ...

or are associated with

orchid mycorrhiza Orchid mycorrhizae are endomycorrhizal fungi which develop symbiotic relationships with the roots and seeds of plants of the family Orchidaceae. Nearly all orchids are myco-heterotrophic at some point in their life cycle. Orchid mycorrhizae are cr ...

. Genera of economic importance include ''

Ceratobasidium ''Ceratobasidium'' is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are effused and the genus is sometimes grouped among the corticioid fungi, though species also retain features of the heterobasidiomycetes. Anamorphic ...

'' and ''

Rhizoctonia ''Rhizoctonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies), but are most frequently found in their sterile, anamorphic state. ''Rhizoctonia'' species are saprotrophic, b ...

'', both of which contain plant pathogenic species causing diseases of commercial crops and turf grass.

Taxonomy

The family was created in 1948 by American mycologist G.W. Martin to accommodate species of

with heterobasidiomycete features (elongated

sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (pl. sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the ti ...

and

basidiospores A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are pro ...

that give rise to secondary spores). He restricted the Ceratobasidiaceae to the genus ''Ceratobasidium'', though including within the genus species later placed in ''Thanatephorus'' and ''

Oliveonia ''Oliveonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Auriculariales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies) with microscopically prominent cystidia and aseptate basidia producing basidiospores that give rise to secondary ...

''. In 1981, Jülich created the

Ceratobasidiales to accommodate the family. By 1995, the order and the family contained 18 genera, including ''Ceratobasidium'', '' Heteroacanthella'', ''Oliveonia'', '' Scotomyces'', ''Thanatephorus'', and their various synonyms and anamorphs.

Current status

Molecular research, based on

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived cha ...

analysis of DNA sequences, has now shown that the Ceratobasidiaceae do not belong to a separate order, but are part of the Cantharellales. The genera ''Heteroacanthella'' and ''Oliveonia'' are not closely related to the Ceratobasidiaceae, but have been placed in the

Auriculariales The Auriculariales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Species within the order were formerly referred to the "heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on ...

. No species of the genus ''Scotomyces'' has yet been sequenced. Following changes to the

International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants The ''International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants'' (ICN) is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "tra ...

, the practice of giving different names to teleomorph and anamorph forms of the same fungus was discontinued, meaning that ''Thanatephorus'' became a synonym of the earlier name ''Rhizoctonia'', previously used for anamorphic species. DNA evidence also placed most, if not all, ''Ceratobasidium'' species in ''Rhizoctonia''. Research on the

septal pore In algal anatomy, a pit connection is a hole in the septum between two algal cells, and is found only in the red algae − specifically, all orders except the Porphyridiales and haploid Bangiales. They are often stoppered with proteinaceous "pit p ...

ultrastructure of the little-known and atypical type species of ''Ceratobasidium'', '' C. calosporum'', indicates that it is a member of the Auriculariales and is unrelated to other species of ''Ceratobasidium''. Technically, this means that the Ceratobasidiaceae belong within the Auriculariales, but this is a taxonomic problem that has yet to be resolved.

Habitat and distribution

Species are mainly

, occurring in the soil and producing fruit bodies on dead stems and plant detritus. Some occur on attached leaves and stems. Several species have been isolated from

or from diseased crops and turf grass. Distribution appears to be

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

Economic importance

Several species of ''Ceratobasidium'' and ''Rhizoctonia'' are opportunistic parasites of plants, causing a variety of economically important diseases of crops.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3774448 Cantharellales Ceratobasidiaceae