''Abrothallus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

lichenicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

-dwelling)

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 ...

. It is the only genus in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

family Abrothallaceae, which itself is the sole

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Abrothallales.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by the Italian botanist

Giuseppe De Notaris Giuseppe De Notaris (18 April 1805 – 22 January 1877) was an Italian botanist generally known for his work with cryptogams native to Italy. Biography Born 18 April 1805, in Milan, he studied medicine at the University of Pavia, obtaining his ...

in 1849. The classification of the genus in either family or order was uncertain until

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis revealed the group as an independent lineage in the class

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1,300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added more orders to the class. Traditionally, most of it ...

. Both the family and the order were circumscribed in 2013 by Sergio Pérez-Ortega and Ave Suija. In 2012 Mikhail Zhurbenko proposed the genus ''Epinephroma'' to contain ''E. kamchatica''; later analysis showed it to be the

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

of an ''Abrothallus'' species, and now ''Epinephroma'' is placed in

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with ''Abrothallus''. Other synonyms are ''Abrothallomyces'', ''Phymatopsis'', and ''Pseudo-lecidea''.

Description

There are several morphological characteristics help define the genus ''Abrothallus''. These include: spherical (or nearly so)

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

without a margin or well-defined edge that are sometimes dusted with golden or green

pruina Pruinescence , or pruinosity, is a "frosted" or dusty-looking coating on top of a surface. It may also be called a pruina (plural: ''pruinae''), from the Latin word for hoarfrost. The adjectival form is pruinose . Entomology In insects, a "bloom" ...

; bitunicate asci (i.e., with two functional ascal wall layers) that have four to eight

ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...

s; brown, 2- to 4-celled, warted asymmetric ascospores;

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the f ...

that are ramified-

anastomosed An anastomosis (, : anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal (suc ...

; and the presence of an (the uppermost layer of the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in oth ...

) with granulose

pigments A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

that often dissolve in

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which utili ...

Species

Species Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (Binomial nomenclature, scientific names) in the fungus Kingdom (biology), kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partn ...

(in the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...

) accepts 44 species of ''Abrothallus'': *'' Abrothallus acetabuli'' – parasitic on '' Parmelia acetabulum''; from Europe *'' Abrothallus altoandinus'' *'' Abrothallus boomii'' *'' Abrothallus brattii'' *'' Abrothallus bryoriarum'' *'' Abrothallus caerulescens'' *'' Abrothallus canariensis'' *'' Abrothallus cetrariae'' *'' Abrothallus cladoniae'' *'' Abrothallus curreyi'' – New Zealand *'' Abrothallus doliiformis'' *'' Abrothallus eriodermae'' *'' Abrothallus ertzii'' *'' Abrothallus etayoi'' *'' Abrothallus granulatae'' – parasitic on '' Pseudocyphellaria granulata''; from Argentina *''

Abrothallus halei ''Abrothallus halei'' is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungus in the family Abrothallaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2010 by the lichenologists Sergio Pérez-Ortega, Ave Suija, David Leslie Hawksworth, and ...

'' – parasitic on '' Lobaria quercizans'' and '' L. pulmonaria''; from Europe and North America *'' Abrothallus heterodermiicola'' *'' Abrothallus hypotrachynae'' *'' Abrothallus kamchatica'' *'' Abrothallus lobariae'' *'' Abrothallus macrosporus'' – South America *'' Abrothallus microspermus'' *'' Abrothallus nephromatis'' *'' Abrothallus niger'' – Ecuador *'' Abrothallus parmeliarum'' *'' Abrothallus parmotrematis'' *'' Abrothallus peyritschii'' *'' Abrothallus pezizicola'' *'' Abrothallus prodiens'' *'' Abrothallus prodiens'' *'' Abrothallus psoromatis'' *'' Abrothallus puntilloi'' *'' Abrothallus ramalinae'' –

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

*'' Abrothallus santessonii'' *'' Abrothallus secedens'' – commensalistic on species of ''

Pseudocyphellaria ''Pseudocyphellaria'' is a genus of large, leafy lichens that are sometimes referred to as "specklebelly" lichens.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. ''Lichens of North America''. Yale University Press: New Haven. The genus has ...

''; from Argentina and Kenya *'' Abrothallus stereocaulorum'' *'' Abrothallus stictarum'' – Colombia *'' Abrothallus stroblii'' *'' Abrothallus subhalei'' *'' Abrothallus suecicus'' *'' Abrothallus teloschistis'' *'' Abrothallus tetrasporus'' *'' Abrothallus tulasnei'' – parasitic on '' Xanthoparmelia somloensis''; from Canada *'' Abrothallus usneae'' *'' Abrothallus welwitschii''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4669602, from2=Q29476615, from3=Q27973071 * Dothideomycetes genera Lichenicolous fungi Taxa named by Giuseppe De Notaris Taxa described in 1845