Cenococcum
Cenococcum Moug. & Fr., in Fries, Syst. mycol. (Lundae) 3(1): 65 (1829).
Index Fungorum number: IF 7516; Facesoffungi number: FoF 07680, 2 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 1 species with molecular data.
Present as sclerotia and ectomycorrhizas with host plants in forest soils. Sexual morph: Unknown. Asexual morph: Small, perfectly globose, free, destitute of all thallus and root, smooth, hard, of the size a seed, and nests most abundantly in black soil. Peridium thick, almost stiff, but becomes brittle with age, with a darkly vesicular texture. Conidia compact in a mass (adapted from original description of Fries 1829).
Type species: Cenococcum geophilum Fr.
Notes: Cenococcum is identified based on the mycelium morphology forming very compact conidia and mycorrhizal characters (Fries 1829) but several authors reported that the genus is not known to produce either meiotic or mitotic spores (Spatafora et al. 2017). Mikola (1948) provided an extensive monograph on the ecology-physiology of C. geophilum. Spatafora et al. (2017) reported a phylogenetic analysis of five nuclear loci (SSU, LSU, TEF1, RPB1, RPB2) of Dothideomycetes whereby Cenococcum formed a distinct lineage close to Glonium of Gloniaceae (Pleosporomycetidae incertae sedis) with strong statistical support. Glonium differs from Cenococcum in having a darkly pigmented, carbonaceous, hysteriate apothecia and is not biotrophic. Currently, Cenococcum is a distinct genus in Gloniaceae but more taxa with sequence data are needed to confirm this taxonomic placement. Molecular markers available for Glonium are ITS, LSU, SSU, TEF-1, GAPDH and RPB2.
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