''Pleurothecium'' is a genus of terrestrial and freshwater

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 family

Pleurotheciaceae Pleurotheciaceae is a family of ascomycetous fungi within the monotypic order of Pleurotheciales in the subclass Savoryellomycetidae and within the class Sordariomycetes. Pleurotheciales, with the single-family ''Pleurotheciaceae'', is the larg ...

. It is typified by ''Pleurothecium recurvatum'' as the type species , which has the synonym of ''Carpoligna pleurothecii'' , Mycologia 9: 253. 1999.

History

Fernández et al. (1999) established '' Carpoligna'' with the sexual stage of ''Carpoligna pleurothecii'' as the type species and sporulated asexual stage from culture, which was physically linked to ''Pleurothecium recurvatum''. Réblová et al. (2016) proposed to adopt ''Pleurothecium'' over ''Carpoligna'' (Art. F.8.1, Shenzhen code). Thus, ''Carpoligna pleurothecii'' was then regarded as a synonym to ''Pleurothecium recurvatum''. Based on morphological and molecular data, species '' Pleurotheciella'' was found to be closely related to the genera ''Pleurothecium'' and '' Sterigmatobotrys'' in 2012. This was before the creation of the family ''

'' in 2015. A key to the various species of ''Pleurothecium'' was provided by Monteiro et al. (2016).

Description

''Pleurothecium'' species are characterized by astromatic, semi-immersed to superficial, dark brown, venter subglobose to conical

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

, with a papilla or short beak. They are sometimes lying toward the host, with or without

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

(bristles), sparse or abundant, septate (having septa; divided by partitions), hyaline (transparent) paraphyses (sterile upward-growing, basally-attached hypha),

unitunicate An ascus (; : asci) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some gener ...

(single walled), cylindrical-clavate (club) shaped. They have a short-stipitate asci with a distinct, J-apical ring and

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 ...

(glass-like), 3-septate, ellipsoidal to fusiform ascospores without mucilaginous sheath or appendages. The asexual morphs have distinct brown

conidiophores A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an asexual, non- motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also ...

(conidia, which are borne on specialized stalks) and polyblastic, sympodially denticulate (having teeth-like structures) conidiogenous cells. It also has solitary, unicellular or septate, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, fusiform or clavate

conidia A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an asexual, non- motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also ...

, straight or slightly curved (Wu & Zhang 2009, Réblová et al. 2012, Luo et al. 2018,).

Distribution and habitats

It has a scattered distribution, including places such as China and Thailand,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, North America, South America (including Brazil,), parts of Europe (including the United Kingdom,) Australia, and also New Zealand.Department of Scientific and Industrial Research They are found in terrestrial (soils,) and freshwater habits, on submerged leaves and wood.B.D. Borse, K.N. Borse, S.Y. Patil, C.M. Pawara, L.C. Nemade and V.R. Patil

Species

12 species are accepted by

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 ...

; *''

Pleurothecium aquaticum ''Pleurothecium'' is a genus of terrestrial and freshwater fungus, fungi in the family Pleurotheciaceae. It is typified by ''Pleurothecium recurvatum'' as the type species , which has the synonym of ''Carpoligna pleurothecii'' , Mycologia 9: 253. ...

'' *'' Pleurothecium aquisubtropicum'' *'' Pleurothecium bicoloratum'' *'' Pleurothecium clavatum'' *'' Pleurothecium floriforme'' *'' Pleurothecium guttulatum'' *'' Pleurothecium magnum'' *'' Pleurothecium malayense'' *'' Pleurothecium obovoideum'' *'' Pleurothecium pulneyense'' *'' Pleurothecium recurvatum'' *'' Pleurothecium semifecundum'' Former species; * ''P. leptospermi'' = ''Anapleurothecium leptospermi'', Pleurotheciaceae

References

Other sources

* Goos RD (1969) The genus Pleurothecium. Mycologia 61:1048–1053 {{Taxonbar, from=Q10634499 Sordariomycetes Sordariomycetes genera Taxa described in 1919 Taxa named by Franz Xaver Rudolf von Höhnel