''Zeus'' is a fungal

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 ...

within the family

Rhytismataceae The Rhytismataceae are a family of fungi in the Rhytismatales order. It contains 55 genera and 728 species. Genera According to the 2007 Outline of Ascomycota, the following genera are in the Rhytismataceae. The placement of the genus '' Nymano ...

. It is a

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 ...

genus, containing the single species ''Zeus olympius'', originally discovered in 1987 on

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

in Greece.

Fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

are yellow discs that grow in the decaying wood of

Bosnian pine ''Pinus heldreichii'', the Bosnian pine or Heldreich's pine, is a species of pine native to mountains of southeast Europe in the Balkans and southern Italy. Description It is an evergreen tree up to in height, and in trunk diameter. The bark i ...

trees.

Taxonomy and classification

''Zeus olympius'' was first described scientifically 1987 by David Minter and Stephanos Diamandis, based on collections made by the latter from Greece's

. The generic and

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 ...

s refer to the king of the gods in

Ancient Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancient ...

, who is said to have lived on Mount Olympus. Based on physical characteristics, ''Zeus'' produces fruit bodies that are most similar to '' Colpoma'', '' Therrya'', and '' Coccomyces'', all genera in the order

Rhytismatales The Rhytismatales are an order of the class Leotiomycetes within the phylum Ascomycota. Genera ''incertae sedis'' The following genera within the Rhytismatales have not been placed with any certainty into a family (''incertae sedis or ...

. The authors also noted some similarities with '' Cerion'' and ''

Ocotomyces ''Ocotomyces'' is a genus of fungi in the Rhytismatales order. The relationship of this taxon to other taxa within the order is unknown (''incertae sedis''), and it has not yet been placed with certainty into any family. This is a monotypic ...

''. None of these genera have species with ellipsoid ascospores; ascospore shape is known to be an important criterion in the Rhytismatales for distinguishing between genera, so the authors felt justified in creating a new genus for their discovery.

Description

Unopened fruit bodies of ''Zeus olympius'' are circular blackened crusts that occur below the bark. When ripe, the fruit body expands, breaking through the bark, and the crust splits radially into small black teeth. This exposes the fertile layer (

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in oth ...

), which is an orange- to golden-coloured angular or circular disc ranging from 0.2–5 mm in diameter. The

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

s are thin-walled, smooth, more or less ellipsoidal, and measure 12–15 by 5–8 μm. The asci are eight-spored, and measure about 110–120 by 10–12.5 μm before the spores are discharged.

Habitat and distribution

''Zeus olympius'' is known only from the type locality in Greece, at an elevation of about on

, as well as from the

Pirin The Pirin Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria, with the highest peak, Vihren, at an altitude of . The range extends about from the north-west to the south-east and is about wide, spanning a territory of . To the north ...

and Slavyanka Mountain in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. The fruit bodies grow scattered or in small groups on the dead portions of twigs and small branches of ''

'' (''Pinus leucodermis'') that are still living towards their bases. This habitat suggests that the fungus may be a

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

or a facultative

endophyte An endophyte is an endosymbiont, often a bacterium or fungus, that lives within a plant for at least part of its life cycle without causing apparent disease. Endophytes are ubiquitous and have been found in all species of plants studied to date; ...

. Although its

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

is not officially listed by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

, it is considered "potentially

Critically Endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

". Threats to its habitat include

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), dese ...

s and

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8069812 Taxa described in 1987 Fungi of Europe Monotypic Leotiomycetes genera