''Darksidea'' is a genus 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 ...
belonging to the
ascomycetes
Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The de ...
, in the order
Pleosporales
The Pleosporales is the largest order (biology), order in the fungal class Dothideomycetes. By a 2008 estimate, it contained 23 family (biology), families, 332 genera and more than 4700 species. The majority of species are saprobes on decaying pl ...
. It was described in 2015 by D.G. Knapp, Kovács, J.Z. Groenew. & Crous. Like many other members of the ascomycetes, they are
dark septate endophytes, who colonize epidermal, intra- and inter-cellular root tissue, nearly always found upon grass species in arid or semiarid climates.
The name "Darksidea" is not only inspired by the unique coloration of its hyphae, but is also a reference to its membership within the dark septate endophytes, being "on the dark side" of this mysterious and confounding form-group of
root-associated fungi.
Species
* ''
Darksidea alpha''
* ''
Darksidea beta''
* ''
Darksidea delta''
* ''
Darksidea epsilon''
* ''
Darksidea gamma''
* ''
Darksidea zeta''
References
Pleosporales
Taxa described in 2015
Dothideomycetes genera
{{Pleosporales stub