Botryosphaeriales » Botryosphaeriaceae

Neofusicoccum

Neofusicoccum Crous, Slippers & A.J.L. Phillips, in Crous et al., Stud. Mycol. 55: 247 (2006).

 Index Fungorum number: IF 500870; Facesoffungi number: FoF 00153, 45 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 43 species with molecular data.

Saprobic on host. Sexual morph: Ascomata forming botryose clusters each comprising up to 100 ascomata, erumpent through the bark, globose, with a short, conical papilla, dark brown to black, smooth, thick-walled, wall composed of dark brown thick-walled cells, lined with thin-walled, hyaline cells, contents conspicuously white when dry. Asci clavate, 8-spored, bitunicate. Ascospores broadly ellipsoidal to fusoid, often with an apiculus at each end, hyaline, smooth, aseptate, occasionally becoming uniseptate. Asexual morph: Conidiomatal aggregates morphologically indistinguishable from ascomatal aggregates. Conidiomata globose and non-papillate to pyriform with a short, acute papilla, entire locule lined with conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, hyaline, subcylindrical, proliferating percurrently to form 1–2 annellations, or proliferating at the same level to form periclinal thickenings. Conidia ellipsoidal with apex round and base flat, unicellular, hyaline, old conidia becoming 1–2-septate hyaline, or light brown with the middle cell darker than the terminal cells. Dichomera synasexual morph: Conidia subglobose to obpyriform, brown, apex obtuse, base truncate, 1–3 transverse septa, 1–2 longitudinal septa, and 1–2 oblique septa (adapted from Crous et al. 2006, Phillips et al. 2013).

Type species: Neofusicoccum parvum (Pennycook & Samuels) Crous, Slippers & A.J.L. Phillips

Notes: Neofusicoccum resembles Botryosphaeria and it is difficult to distinguish these two genera based on morphology. Some Neofusicoccum differs from Botryosphaeria in having a Dichomera synasexual morph and lacking paraphyses in the conidiomata (Phillips et al. 2013). However, the similarity of paraphyses to developing conidiogenous cells make the distinction of these two genera difficult. Crous et al. (2006) reported that the conidial L/W ratios of the fusicoccum-like morph are usually less than 4 and the conidia are more ellipsoidal compared to the definitely fusiform ones of Fusicoccum sensu strictoNeofusicoccum species can be identified based on DNA sequence data with LSU, RPB2 for genus level and ITS, TEF-1, BTUB, RPB2 for species level. Neofusicoccum is a distinct genus in Botryosphaeriaceae.

 

Recent News

Recent paper to be published

Recent Genus

Nothocladosporium
Phillipsiella
Curreya

Recent Species

Nothocladosporium syzygii
Phillipsiella atra
Curreya conorum