''Heterochaete'' 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 ...
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
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
...
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 ...
.
Species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
produce effused, gelatinous, waxy, or leathery basidiocarps (fruit bodies) on wood, partly or wholly covered in small sterile spines or pegs. The presence of these sterile spines distinguishes the genus from ''
Exidiopsis'', species of which are microscopically similar but have smooth basidiocarps.
''Heterochaete'' was monographed by Bodman in 1952 who accepted some 29 species worldwide, most of them from the tropics and subtropics.
On the basis of morphological differences, Bodman considered the genus to be heterogeneous
and this has been confirmed by
molecular
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, ...
research, based on
cladistic
Cladistics ( ; from Ancient Greek 'branch') 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 ...
analysis of
DNA sequences
A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases within the nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. This succession is denoted by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of the ...
. As a result, several species previously placed in ''Heterochaete'' have now been referred to the genera ''
Crystallodon'', ''
Eichleriella'', ''
Heteroradulum'', ''
Hirneolina'', ''
Metulochaete'', and ''
Tremellochaete''.
DNA research has also indicated that the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, ''H. andina'', is congeneric with ''Exidiopsis'' making ''Heterochaete'' an earlier name for ''Exidiopsis'' , though no name changes have yet been made on this basis.
Most of the 30 or so residual species in ''Heterochaete'' have yet to be re-assessed.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5746912
Auriculariales
Agaricomycetes genera
Taxa named by Narcisse Théophile Patouillard