Dissoconium aciculare
Dissoconium aciculare de Hoog, Oorschot & Hijwegen, Proc. K. Ned. Akad. Wet., Ser. C, Biol. Med. Sci. 86(2): 198 (1983).
Index Fungorum number: IF 107937; Facesoffungi number: FoFxxx, Fig. 1
Description: see Crous et al. (2013); (Crous et al. 2009b).
Material examined: see Crous et al. (2013); (Crous et al. 2009b).
Fig. 1. Dissoconium aciculare (redrawn from Seifert et al. 2011). a. Mycelium, conidiophores, conidiogenous cells and conidia of D. aciculare.
Importance and role
Importance of genus to ecosystem
Species of Dissoconium are mostly associated with leaf spots. Several Dissoconium species cause the disease complex commonly known as sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) on the surface of numerous fruit (e.g., apple (Rosaceae), pawpaw (Annonaceae), persimmon(Ebenaceae) (Batzer et al. 2005; Gleason et al. 2011; Hemnani et al. 2008). They are commensalists and often occur in the asexual state on lesions associated with pathogenic species of Capnodiales (Crous et al. 2009b).
Industrial relevance and applications
Dissoconium cause leaf diseases of E. globulus (Myrtaceae) which is the main tree planted for pulp and paper production. High susceptibility of E. globulus to infection by Dissoconium cause economic loss for pulp producing industry in Brazil (Teodoro et al. 2012).
Quarantine significance
Dissoconium is significant in quarantine purposes. Spore fall is often successful in the isolation of Dissoconium species, which readily shoot off their conidia (de Hoog et al. 1991). There is evidence that Dissoconium species parasitize Erysiphales and other fungi in the phyllosphere (de Hoog et al. 1991). D. apiculatum is an active mycoparasite on powdery mildews (Hijwegen and Buchenauer 1984). Some Dissoconium sp. exhibit in vitro antifungal activity against S. sclerotiorum (Gama et al. 2018).
Biochemical importance of the genus, chemical diversity or applications
Dissoconium produces important chemical, enzymes and toxins which contribute to the mycoparasitic nature of the fungus (Gama et al. 2018). Further studies are needed to identify those chemicals.
Diversity of the genus
Even though there are ten Dissoconium records in Index fungorum, the real number of species is less as many have been synonymized and transferred to other genera such as Ramichloridium and Uwebraunia. Dissoconium comprises five species known on several host plants such as Annonaceae, Cupressaceae, Ebenaceae, Erysiphaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Lauraceae, Musaceae, Myrtaceae, Nelumbonaceae, Pinaceae, Proteaceae, Rosaceae. Dissoconium has a worldwide geographical distribution such as Australia, Canary Islands, China, Ecuador, Georgia, Germany, Illinois, Iowa, Italy, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Netherlands, New Zealand, Ohio, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, United States, Wisconsin, Zambia amongst others. Comprehensive studies to discover more species of Dissoconium.
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