Zasmidium cellare
Zasmidium cellare (Pers.) Fr., Summa veg. Scand., Sectio Post. (Stockholm): 407 (1849).
≡ Racodium cellare Pers., Neues Mag. Bot. 1: 123 (1794).
Index Fungorum number: IF 432191; Facesoffungi number: FoF11233, Fig. 1, 2
Description:
Hyphomycetous. Sexual morph: Unknown. Asexual morph: Aerial hyphae coarsely verrucose, olivaceous-green, thick-walled, 4–5.0 µm wide, with thin septa. Conidiophores not discerned from vegetative hyphae, reduced to conidiogenous cells. Conidiogenous cells 10−11.5 × 2.0−3.1 µm (x̄ = 10.2 × 2.2 µm, n = 5), integrated, mainly terminal, at times lateral, erect, arising from aerial hyphae, straight to somewhat flexuous, subcylindrical to cylindrical, pale brown, proliferating sympodially forming crowded, clearly pigmented scars that are thickened and refractive. Conidia 8.5−13 × 3.5−4.7 µm (x̄ = 11.3 × 4.1 µm, n = 10), ellipsoidal, subcylindrical to cylindrical, fusiform or sometimes irregular shaped, verrucose, obovate to obconical, pale brown, with truncate base, with a conspicuous, slightly pigmented, refractive hilum.
Material examined: France, in cellars on wood and barrels (BR-MYCO 174944-53).
Fig. 1 Zasmidium cellare (BR-MYCO 174944-53). a–c Herbarium material. d Squash mount of colonies. e–j Conidiophores and conidiogenesis cells. k–n Conidia. Scale bars: d = 100 μm, e–h = 10 μm, i–n = 5 μm.
Fig. 2 Zasmidium spp. (re-drawn from Fig. 1 Zasmidium dioscorinum in Singh et al. 2014). a Conidia. b Conidiophores arising from a stroma and superficial hyphae.
Importance and distribution
Zasmidium species are pathogenic showing as leaf spots, associated with sooty mould and flyspeck (Zhao et al. 2016) or causing yellowish discolorations of the host. Zasmidium cellare is also known as cellar mold, and present in dark-ethanol rich environments (Henry 2006). There are 237 Zasmidium epithets in Index Fungorum (2022), but many species have been transferred to other genera such as Hyalozasmidium, Paramycosphaerella, Pseudocercospora, Pseudozasmidium, Stenella and Verrucisporota. Zasmidium comprises 223 species known on a wide range of host including Aegle marmelos (Rutaceae), Agave sp. (Asparagaceae), Alocasia indica (Araceae), Alpinia sp. (Zingiberaceae), Anamirta paniculata (Menispermaceae), Anthurium sp. (Araceae), Aphanamixis polystachya (Meliaceae), Aporosa villosa (Phyllanthaceae), Argyreia sp. (Convolvulaceae), Asclepias curassavica (Apocynaceae), Bauhinia vahlii (Fabaceae), Bischofia javanica (Phyllanthaceae), Blechnum serrulatum (Blechnaceae), Bougainvillea glabra (Nyctaginaceae), Bridelia stipularis (Phyllanthaceae), Brownea hybrid (Fabaceae), Butea parviflora (Fabaceae), Canthium didymium (Rubiaceae), Eucalyptus tectifica (Myrtaceae), Geniostoma rupestre (Loganiaceae), Ischyrolepis subverticillata (Restionaceae), Malus domestica (Rosaceae) and Musa sapientum (Musaceae). Zasmidium has a wide distribution in Asia (China, India, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela), Australia, Caribbean (Cuba), Europe (Georgia), Oceania (New Zealand) and South Africa. Zasmidium is a diverse genus.
Industrial relevance and applications
The growth of Zasmidium cellare is believed to improve air quality in cellars, hence the proliferation of the fungus is encouraged in wineries, especially in some regions in Europe (Hungary and Germany) (Goodwin et al. 2016).
Quarantine significance
Zasmidium is of quarantine concern as it causes greasy spot of citrus and is in the list of quarantine pest for Morocco and Israel (EPPO 2009; Huang et al. 2015).
Biochemical importance of the genus, chemical diversity or applications
Zasmidium can produce a wide variety of chemicals such as α-Glucosidase inhibitors (Lopéz et al. 2019), (8,8′-bijuglone) which has antimicrobial activities (González-Montiel et al. 2020) and isocitrate lyase (Scott and Summerbell 2016) amongst others.
References
Arzanlou M, Groenewald JZ, Braun U, Shin HD, Crous P. 2007 – Phylogenetic and morphotaxonomic revision of Ramichloridium and allied genera. Studies in Mycology 58, 57–93.
Braun U, Crous PW, Schubert K, Shin HD. 2010 – Some reallocations of Stenella species to Zasmidium. Schlechtendalia 20, 99–104.
Braun U, Nakashima C, Crous PW. 2013 – Cercosporoid fungi (Mycosphaerellaceae) 1. Species on other fungi, Pteridophyta and Gymnospermae. IMA Fungus 4, 265–345.
EPPO 2009 – European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization Organisation Européenne et Méditerranéenne pour la Protection des Plantes. Available at: https://www.eppo.int/MEETINGS/2009_meetings/2009_meeting_list
González-Montiel GA, Kaweesa EN, Feau N, Hamelin RC, Stone JK, Loesgen S. 2020 – Chemical, Bioactivity, and Biosynthetic Screening of Epiphytic Fungus Zasmidium pseudotsugae. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) 25, 2358.
Goodwin S, McCorison C, Cavaletto J, Culley D, Labutti K, Baker S, Grigoriev I. 2016 – The mitochondrial genome of the ethanol-metabolizing, wine cellar mold Zasmidium cellare is the smallest for a filamentous ascomycete. Fungal Biology 120, 961–974.
Henry TT, Eckhard T, Roland WSW. 2006 – Moulds that should be better known: the wine cellar mould, Racodium cellare. Persoon 20, 171–175.
Huang F, Groenewald JZ, Zhu L, Crous PW, Li H. 2015 – Cercosporoid diseases of Citrus, Mycologia 107, 1151–1171.
Lopéz D, Cherigo L, Mejia LC, Marco A, Martínez-Luis S. 2009 – α-Glucosidase inhibitors from a mangrove associated fungus, Zasmidium sp. strain EM5-10. BMC Chemistry 13, 22.
Scott J, Summerbell R. 2016 – Biology of the Whiskey Fungus. In: Li DW (ed). Biology of Microfungi. London: Springer, pp. 413–428.
Singh R, Singh A, Kumar S, Upadhyaya P, Castañeda-Ruiz R. 2014 – Two new species of Zasmidium from northeastern Uttar Pradesh, India. Nova Hedwigia 98, 257–263.
Videira SIR, Groenewald JZ, Nakashima C, Braun U, Barreto RW, de Wit PJGM, Crous PW. 2017 – Mycosphaerellaceae - Chaos or clarity? Studies in Mycology 87, 257–421.
Zhao W, Hou Y, Bai J, Zhang W, Gao L, Gleason M, Sun G. 2016 – A new species of Zasmidium associated with sooty blotch and flyspeck. Phytotaxa 258, 190–194.
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