The Doassansiaceae are a
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
of
fungi
A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...
in the division
Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...
and order of
Doassansiales. The family contains 11
genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
and about 58 species. They have a widespread distribution.
[P. F. Cannon and P. M. Kirk (editors) ] ''Doassansiaceae'' is also known and classified as a ''
smut fungi
The smuts are multicellular fungus, fungi characterized by their large numbers of teliospores. The smuts get their name from a Germanic word for 'dirt' because of their dark, thick-walled, and dust-like teliospores. They are mostly Ustilaginomycet ...
''.
[K. G. Mukerji and C. Manoharachary (editors) ]
They have parasitic
hyphae
A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium.
Structure
A hypha consists of one o ...
with clamps, they are also
teliosporic (have a thick-walled resting spore) and
dimorphic (can be
mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures that certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal ...
or
yeasts
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitu ...
) as well as not forming
ballistoconidia (air discharged spores) in the haploid phase.
The do not have
haustoria
In botany and mycology, a haustorium (plural haustoria) is a rootlike structure that grows into or around another structure to absorb water or nutrients. For example, in mistletoe or members of the broomrape family, the structure penetrates th ...
(root-like structures).
When the family was originally created (by R. Bauer and Oberw. 1997), it had 7 genera (''Burrillia'', ''Doassansia'', ''Heterodoassansia'', ''Nannfeldtiomyces'', ''Narasimhania'', ''Pseudodoassansia'' and ''Tracya'') and 36 species. Then ''Doassinga'' was added in 1998.
Others were added after this date, such as ''Pseudodermatosorus'' in 1999.
Description
They have
sori that develops on leaves, petioles and stems of plants, it is visible as pale green, yellowish or brownish lesions with spore balls as very small brown dots. The hyphae are intercellular and the spore balls are globose or irregular in shape and composed of a central mass of spores, with a missing central sterile region. They sometimes have sterile cells scattered around and sometimes have a sterile cortex. The teliospores are globose or irregularly faceted,
hyaline
A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and .
Histopathology
Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...
or yellowish, smooth, thin walled, germinating to form a short hypha-like
promycelium from which a cluster of basidiospores are produced towards an apex.
[
]
Genera
As accepted by the GBIF
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...
;[
]
Ecology
They are parasitic on plants, attaching to leaves and stems of monocotyledons
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are flowering plants whose seeds contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. A monocot taxon has been in use for several decades, but with various ranks and ...
.[
''Doassansia sagittaria'' and ''Doassansia deformans'' can be found on plants of '' Sagittaria lancifolia'', ''Doassansia alismatis'' can be found on various species of '']Alisma
''Alisma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Alismataceae, members of which are commonly known as water-plantains. The genus consists of aquatic plants with leaves either floating or submerged, found in a variety of still water habit ...
'' and both ''Doassansia occulta'' and ''Doassansia martianoffiana'' can be found on various species of ''Potamogeton
''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis' ...
'' plants.
Also, '' Acornus calamus'' is a host to ''Nannfeldtiomyces sparganii'' and the leaves of ''Sparganium americanum'' are a host to ''Nannfeldtiomyces anomalus''.[Donald H. Les ] ''Narasimhania'' also affects ''Alisma'' plants.
They can affect water plants as well as land based plants.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10475068
Ustilaginomycotina
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
Basidiomycota families