Cladosporium
Cladosporium Link, Mag. Gesell. naturf. Freunde, Berlin 7: 37 (1816) [1815].
Index Fungorum number: IF 7681; Facesoffungi number: FoF 06967, 316 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 134 species with molecular data.
Associated with leaf spots. Sexual morph: Unknown. Asexual morph: Stromata absent to sometimes well-developed. Conidiophores mononematous, usually macronematous, solitary, fasciculate, in small to large fascicles, loosely to densely caespitose, usually erect, occasionally sub decumbent, decumbent or repent, straight to flexuous, unbranched or branched, continuous to septate, subhyaline to usually distinctly pigmented, smooth to verruculose, proliferation holoblastic, occasionally enteroblastic (after a period when growth has stopped and then resumed), usually sympodial, rarely monopodial (sometimes leaving coarse annellations from repeated enteroblastic proliferation). Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal or intercalary, monoblastic or usually polyblastic, mostly sympodially proliferating, more or less cylindrical, geniculate-sinuous or nodulose, sometimes with unilateral swellings, conidiogenous loci usually conspicuous, protuberant, composed of a central convex dome surrounded by a more or less raised periclinal rim (coronate), thickened, refractive or barely to distinctly darkened; conidial formation holoblastic. Conidia solitary or catenate, in unbranched or branched acropetal chains, amero- to phragmosporous, shape and septation variable, usually subglobose, ovoid, obovoid, ellipsoid, fusiform, limoniform to cylindrical, aseptate or with several transverse eusepta, rarely with a single longitudinal septum, subhyaline to usually pigmented, smooth, verruculose, verrucose, echinulate, cristate, hila protuberant, coronate, with a central convex dome and raised periclinal rim, thickened, refractive to darkened; microcyclic conidiogenesis often occurring. In vitro: Stromata usually lacking. Conidiophores usually solitary, arising terminally or laterally from plagiotropous or ascending hyphae, often longer than in vivo. Micronematous conidiophores, lacking in vivo, are often formed in culture. Conidial chains often longer than in vivo (species with solitary conidia are often capable of forming conidial chains in culture) (adapted from Bensch et al. 2012).
Type species: Cladosporium herbarum (Pers.) Link.
Notes: Cladosporium is a ubiquitous genus in the family Cladosporiaceae of the recently proposed order Cladosporiales (Abdollahzadeh et al. 2020). Cladosporium is morphologically characterised by its asexual morph, which shows discerned conidiophores producing acropetal chains of conidia from mono- or polyblastic conidiogenous cells. The conidiogenous cells and conidia display conidiogenous loci (scars) with a unique coronate feature comprising a central convex dome enclosed by a raised periclinal rim, typically thickened, refractive and darkly pigmented (David 1997). Cladosporium species share similarities to genera such as Hyalodendriella, Ochrocladosporium, Rachicladosporium, Rhizocladosporium, Toxicocladosporium, Verrucocladosporium and Neocladosporium (Crous et al. 2007b; Bezerra et al. 2017). Cladosporium can be distinguished from similar genera based on DNA sequence data. Several studies provided multi-gene analyses of Cladosporium and more than 230 species have been recognized in the Cladosporium complex. Species in Cladosporium sensu stricto are well-delineated using sequences of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of the rDNA and of the two protein encoding genes, translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1) and actin (act). Cladosporium was formerly heterogeneous and comprised 772 names (Dugan et al. 2004). Heuchert et al. (2005) studied Cladosporium spp. residing on other fungi, and Schubert (2005) provided a detailed account of foliicolous species. A reexamination and new circumscription of Cladosporium sensu stricto was given by Crous et al. (2007a). The most significant morphological characters of Cladosporium are the shape, thickness and density of conidiophores, the presence of ramoconidia, and the formation and ornamentation of conidia. Bensch et al. (2012) provided a detailed explanation of Cladosporium. Species within Cladosporium are split into three species complexes based on morphology and phylogeny, i.e. C. cladosporioides, C. herbarum and C. sphaerospermum complex (Bensch et al. 2012; Marin-Felix et al. 2017). The C. cladosporioides species complex is characterised by narrowly cylindrical or cylindrical-oblong, non-nodulose, typically non-geniculate conidiophores and conidia with a rather inconstant surface ornamentation ranging from smooth to erratically verrucose-rugose or rough-walled. The C. herbarum species complex is differentiated by nodulose conidiophores, with conidiogenesis limited to swellings, and verruculose, verrucose or echinulate conidia. The C. sphaerospermum complex is identified by the formation of several globose or subglobose terminal and intercalary conidia with inconstant surface ornamentation and seldom poorly discerned conidiophores (Bensch et al. 2012, 2015). Schubert et al. (2007c) suggested standardization of methods for Cladosporium taxonomy and diagnostics.
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