''Polycoccum anatolicum'' is a species of

lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a member of a specialised group of fungi that live exclusively on lichens as their host organisms. These fungi, comprising over 2,000 known species across 280 genera, exhibit a wide range of ecological strategies, includ ...

in the family

Polycoccaceae Polycoccaceae is a family (biology), family of lichenicolous fungus, lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi in the order Trypetheliales. The family was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 2015 by Damien Ertz, Josef Hafellner, and Paul Di ...

. The fungus causes mild bleaching on infected parts of the surface of the

host A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it. Host may also refer to: Places * Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County * Host Island, in the Wilhelm Archipelago, Antarctica People * ...

. It is the only species of ''

Polycoccum ''Polycoccum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Polycoccaceae. It has about 60 species. Species As accepted by Species Fungorum; *'' Polycoccum acarosporicola'' *'' Polycoccum aksoyi'' *'' Polycoccum alboatrum'' *'' Polycoccum ...

'' known to infect ''

Lepraria ''Lepraria'' is a genus of leprose (powdery) crustose lichens that grows on its substrate like patches of granular, caked up, mealy dust grains.A taxonomic revision of the North American species of Lepraria s.l. that produce divaricatic acid, w ...

''.

Taxonomy

It was described as a new species by Mehmet Gökhan Halici and Hatice Esra Akgül in 2013. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected growing on the

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

of the dust lichen ''

Lepraria incana ''Lepraria incana'' is a species of dust lichen in the family Stereocaulaceae. First described scientifically by Johann Jacob Dillenius in 1741, and then formally by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, it is the type species of the genus ''Lepraria''. ...

'', which itself was growing on the trunk on a ''

Prunus ''Prunus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs from the family (biology), family Rosaceae. The genus includes plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds (collectively Drupe, stonefruit). The genus has a cosm ...

'' species in western Turkey at an altitude of . The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

refers to the type locality in

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Description

''Polycoccum anatolicum'' is a minute fungus that parasitises lichens without killing the

tissue outright. Its own vegetative filaments (

hypha 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 ...

e) are colourless and extremely thin, and the only obvious sign of infection is a gradual bleaching of the

colonised 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples fo ...

patches of

. The spore-bearing structures are tiny, flask-shaped perithecia that develop one at a time. When young they lie buried in the host, with just the pore (

ostiole An ''ostiole'' is a small hole or opening through which algae or fungi release their mature spores. The word is a diminutive of wikt:ostium, "ostium", "opening". The term is also used in higher plants, for example to denote the opening of the ...

) peeping out; at maturity they rise slightly above the surface and measure 75–90

micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

s (μm) across. Each perithecial wall is 10–15 μm thick, built from several layers of tightly packed reddish-brown cells arranged like bricks (a ''textura angularis''), and it darkens towards the top. Inside, a mesh of slender, septate filaments () threads the cavity. The asci arise from the base of the

perithecium 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 ...

; they are double-walled (), narrowly cylindrical to club-shaped, and bear 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. Mature asci are typically 83–91 × 14–18 μm, with a thickened tip and a

dextrinoid In mycology a tissue or feature is said to be amyloid if it has a positive amyloid reaction when subjected to a crude chemical test using iodine as an ingredient of either Melzer's reagent or Lugol's solution, producing a blue to blue-black staini ...

(reddish-brown) inner contents when stained in

iodine Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

. The spores line up in a single row, each one shaped rather like the sole of a shoe, with rounded ends and a single, barely constricted cross-wall. They are pale brown at first, then darken and become finely warty; older spores often contain several oil droplets. Typical dimensions are 26–30 × 9–11 μm. No asexual reproductive bodies (

conidiomata Conidiomata (singular: Conidioma) are blister-like fruiting structures produced by a specific type of fungus called a coelomycete. They are formed as a means of dispersing asexual spores call conidia, which they accomplish by creating the blister- ...

) have been observed, and chemical spot tests show no

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a β-sheet secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human ...

reaction in the hymenial gel. ''

Polycoccum dzieduszyckii ''Polycoccum'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Polycoccaceae. It has about 60 species. Species As accepted by Species Fungorum; *'' Polycoccum acarosporicola'' *'' Polycoccum aksoyi'' *'' Polycoccum alboatrum'' *'' Polycoccum ...

'' is morphologically similar, but can be distinguished from ''P. anatolicum'' by its eight-spored asci and its growth on ''

Verrucaria ''Verrucaria'' is a genus of lichenized (lichen-forming) fungi in the family Verrucariaceae. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by German botanist Heinrich Adolph Schrader in 1794, with '' Verrucaria rupestris'' assigned as the type species. ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108272530 Trypetheliales Fungi described in 2013 Fungi of Asia Lichenicolous fungi Fungus species