''Symbiotaphrina'' 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 ...
including seven species 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
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
Symbiotaphrinaceae and the monotypic order
Symbiotaphrinales .
The family and order were published in 2018 to contain the genus.
[
]
Taxonomy
Sexual states of ''Symbiotaphrina'' species (formerly included in the discomycete genus ''Tromeropsis'') are black disk-shaped apothecia
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. As ...
with multi-spored asci, and one-celled, unpigmented 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. The apothecia can be revived for several years after they have been dry.yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...
-like endosymbiont
An endosymbiont or endobiont is an organism that lives within the body or cells of another organism. Typically the two organisms are in a mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship. Examples are nitrogen-fixing bacteria (called rhizobia), whi ...
s of Anobiid beetles (e.g. the cigarette beetle '' Lasioderma'' and the related '' Stegobium''). The ellipsoid
An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation.
An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a Surface (mathemat ...
al yeast cells have monopolar budding
Budding or blastogenesis is a type of asexual reproduction in which a new organism develops from an outgrowth or bud due to cell division at one particular site. For example, the small bulb-like projection coming out from the yeast cell is kno ...
. A few species also have mycelial asexual states with conidium
A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word f ...
-producing pores ("phialides
The phialide ( ; , diminutive of phiale, a broad, flat vessel) is a flask-shaped projection from the vesicle (dilated part of the top of conidiophore) of certain fungi. It projects from the mycelium without increasing in length unless a subsequ ...
") in somatic hyphae
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 ...
.
Ecology and physiology
''Symbiotaphrina'' species can be found on dry, decayed wood. A few live in Anobiid beetles in a specialized structure (a "mycetome
A mycetome is a specialized organ in a variety of animal species which houses that animal's symbionts, isolating them from the animal's natural cellular defense mechanisms and allowing sustained controlled symbiotic growth. In several species, su ...
") between the fore- and mid-gut. Cells are transmitted between host generations when adults rub them onto egg surfaces eaten by hatched larvae. These fungi assist beetles with B-vitamin
B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds.
Dietary supplements containing all eight are referred to as a vitam ...
biosynthesis, fatty acid
In chemistry, in particular in biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with an aliphatic chain, which is either saturated and unsaturated compounds#Organic chemistry, saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have an ...
and sterol
A sterol is any organic compound with a Skeletal formula, skeleton closely related to Cholestanol, cholestan-3-ol. The simplest sterol is gonan-3-ol, which has a formula of , and is derived from that of gonane by replacement of a hydrogen atom on ...
metabolism
Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the co ...
, and break down flavonoids
Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans.
Chemically, flavonoids ...
and other toxins.
Symbiotic ''Symbiotaphrina'' species can be isolated in axenic culture
In biology, axenic (, ) describes the state of a culture in which only a single species, variety, or strain of organism is present and entirely free of all other contaminating organisms. The earliest axenic cultures were of bacteria or unicellul ...
by aseptically dissecting beetle guts, spreading them onto agar
Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from " ogonori" and " tengusa". As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, t ...
, with incubation at .
Species
As 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 ...
;Symbiotaphrina buchneri
''Symbiotaphrina'' is a genus including seven species of fungi in the monotypic family Symbiotaphrinaceae and the monotypic order Symbiotaphrinales .
The family and order were published in 2018 to contain the genus.
Taxonomy
Sexual states of ' ...
''
*''Symbiotaphrina desertorum
''Symbiotaphrina'' is a genus including seven species of fungi in the monotypic family Symbiotaphrinaceae and the monotypic order Symbiotaphrinales .
The family and order were published in 2018 to contain the genus.
Taxonomy
Sexual states of ...
''
*''Symbiotaphrina kochii
''Symbiotaphrina'' is a genus including seven species of fungi in the monotypic family Symbiotaphrinaceae and the monotypic order Symbiotaphrinales .
The family and order were published in 2018 to contain the genus.
Taxonomy
Sexual states of ...
''
*''Symbiotaphrina larreae
''Symbiotaphrina'' is a genus including seven species of fungi in the monotypic family Symbiotaphrinaceae and the monotypic order Symbiotaphrinales .
The family and order were published in 2018 to contain the genus.
Taxonomy
Sexual states of ...
''
*'' Symbiotaphrina lignicola''
*'' Symbiotaphrina microtheca''
*'' Symbiotaphrina sanguinea''
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7661139, from2=Q60730927, from3=Q60730928
Ascomycota
Ascomycota genera
Taxa described in 1980