''Typhula'' 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 ...

clavarioid fungi The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fungi a ...

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 ...

Agaricales The Agaricales are an order (biology), order of fungi in the division (mycology), division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics (gilled mushrooms), but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are ...

. Species of ''Typhula'' are

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

, mostly decomposing leaves, twigs, and herbaceous material.

Basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do no ...

(fruit bodies) are club-shaped or narrowly cylindrical and are simple (not branched), often arising from

sclerotia A sclerotium (; : sclerotia () is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant u ...

. A few species are

facultative Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" (antonym ''obligate''), used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Facultative (FAC), facultative wetland (FACW), or facultative upland (FACU): wetland indicator statuses for plants * Facultative ...

plant pathogens Plant diseases are diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomycetes, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virus-like orga ...

, causing a number of commercially important crop and turfgrass diseases.

Taxonomy

The genus was first introduced as a section of ''Clavaria'' by South African-born

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (31 December 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a Cape Colony mycologist who is recognized as one of the founders of mycology, mycological Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in Cape Colony at ...

in 1801. He differentiated ''Typhula'' from ''

Clavaria ''Clavaria'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavariaceae. Species of ''Clavaria'' produce basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are either cylindrical to club-shaped or branched and coral-like. They are often grouped with similar-looking species ...

'' on the basis of fruitbody shape (''Typhula'' having a distinct head and stem). The name was taken up at generic level by

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

in 1818. Fries described four species in the genus. Subsequent authors described another 150 or so species in ''Typhula''. The genus was revised in 1950 by

E. J. H. Corner Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was an English mycologist and botanist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1929–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the Univ ...

, who characterized ''Typhula'' species as having fruit bodies arising from

, the genera ''Pistillaria'' and ''Pistillina'' accommodating similar species lacking sclerotia. A later and more specialist revision by Jacques Berthier (1976) placed both these latter genera in synonymy.

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 ...

, indicates that the genus is

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

and forms a natural group. 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 ...

, ''T. phacorrhiza'', is not, however, closely related to other species in the genus and belongs in ''

Macrotyphula ''Macrotyphula'' is a genus of clavarioid fungi in the family (biology), family Phyllotopsidaceae. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are simple, narrowly club-shaped to filiform, sometimes arising from a sclerotium. They typically grow on dead wood or ...

''. Rather than rename all other species currently referred to ''Typhula'' or ''Macrotyphula'', a proposal is being made to change the type species of ''Typhula'' to '' T. incarnata''.

Description

(fruit bodies) arise singly or severally from a sclerotium or directly from the substrate. Fruit bodies are filiform (hair-like) to club-shaped, typically with a distinct sterile stalk and fertile head, normally white, in some species buff to pink, or with a dark reddish stem. The sclerotia (when present) are spherical to lentil-shaped, hard and horny, yellow-brown to blackish brown. Microscopically, the hyphal system is

monomitic 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 or ...

, the hyphae with or without

clamp connection A clamp connection is a hook-like structure formed by growing hyphal cells of certain fungi. It is a characteristic feature of basidiomycete fungi. It is created to ensure that each cell, or segment of hypha separated by septa (cross walls), rece ...

s. The

basidia A basidium (: basidia) is a microscopic spore-producing structure found on the hymenophore of reproductive bodies of basidiomycete fungi. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the group. These bodies are also ...

produce 2 to 4

basidiospores A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are pr ...

that are smooth (lobed in one species), colourless, and

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 ...

or inamyloid.

Habitat and distribution

''Typhula'' species mostly occur as

saprotrophs Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ...

on dead herbaceous stems, fern stems, grass stems, fallen leaves, and woody detritus. Some species occur on a wide range of host plants, others—such as '' Typhula quisquiliaris'' on

bracken Bracken (''Pteridium'') is a genus of large, coarse ferns in the family (biology), family Dennstaedtiaceae. Ferns (Pteridophyta) are vascular plants that undergo alternation of generations, having both large plants that produce spores and small ...

—appear to be host-specific. A few species are or can become facultative (opportunistic) parasites of crops and turfgrass. Most species have been described from the north temperate zone, but little research has been undertaken in the tropics or southern hemisphere, where they are either less common or (as yet) overlooked.

Economic importance

The

psychrophilic Psychrophiles or cryophiles (adj. ''psychrophilic'' or ''cryophilic'') are extremophile, extremophilic organisms that are capable of cell growth, growth and reproduction in low temperatures, ranging from to . They are found in places that are pe ...

species '' Typhula canadensis'', '' Typhula ishikariensis'', and '' Typhula incarnata'' are the causal agents of grey snow mould (also called speckled snow mould or typhula blight), a disease that can destroy turfgrass when covered for a long period with snow. It is a particular problem on golf courses established in unsuitable areas. More importantly, the same two species can also damage crops of

winter wheat Winter wheat (usually ''Common wheat, Triticum aestivum'') are strains of wheat that are planted in the autumn to germinate and develop into young plants that remain in the vegetative phase during the winter and resume growth in early spring. C ...

, as can the unrelated '' Macrotyphula phacorrhiza''.

References

{{Authority control Typhulaceae Agaricales genera