Asterolibertia
Asterolibertia G. Arnaud, Annals d'École National d'Agric. de Montpellier, Série 2 16(1-4): 165 (1918) [1917].
Index Fungorum number: IF 421; Facesoffungi number: FoF 06731, 35 morphological species (Species Fungorum, 2022), no molecular data available.
Epiphytes on surface of the leaves, forming blackened irregular areas. Superficial hyphae globose to subglobose appressoria, intercalary. Sexual morph: Thyriothecia superficial, solitary or scattered, circular, flattened, wall composed of dark brown cells, upper wall with a parallel arrangement of cells radiating from the centre, nonbranching at rim, from which hyphae strands develop, dehiscing stellately at the centre, easily removed from host surface, with a poorly developed basal layer. Hamathecium lacking pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, globose to subglobose, with short pedicel or sometimes pedicel absent, ocular chamber not observed. Ascospores overlapping 2–3 seriate, oblong to fusoid, 1-septate, constricted at the septum, upper cell broader but shorter than lower cell, hyaline when immature, dark brown at maturity, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Unknown (adapted from Hongsanan et al. 2014b).
Type species: Asterolibertia couepiae (Henn.) G. Arnaud
Notes: Hongsanan et al. (2014) synonymized Asterolibertia under Asterina based on morphology. However, Firmino et al. (2016) questioned the intercalary appressoria in Asterolibertia as not homologous to the lateral appressoria in Asterina. Asterolibertia is characterised by circular thyriothecial ascomata opening by a central star shape split, adhering to the host via superficial hyphae with intercalary appressoria, and form two-celled ascospores. Fresh collections with DNA sequence data are needed to confirm the systematic position of Asterolibertia.
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