Staurosphaeria
Staurosphaeria Rabenh., Klotzschii Herb. Viv. Mycol., Edn Nov, Ser. Sec., Cent. 8: no. 736 (1858).
Index Fungorum number: IF 5186; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08176, 4 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 4 species with molecular data.
Necrotrophic or saprobic on dead branches. Sexual morph: cucurbitaria-like. Ascomata black, superficial to semi-immersed, gregarious, confluent, sometimes scattered beneath the host periderm or on decorticated wood, fully or partly erumpent, globose, black, ostiolate. Ostiole central, short. Peridium composed of blackish to dark brown cells of textura angularis, cells towards the inside lighter, composed of thin-walled cells of textura angularis. Hamathecium comprising numerous, branched septate, pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical, short pedicellate. Ascospores overlapping uniseriate, muriform, mostly ellipsoidal, 4–6-transversely septate, with 1–2 vertical septa, constricted at middle septum, initially hyaline, becoming brown at maturity, slightly paler, conical and narrow at the ends. Asexual morph: Conidiomata solitary, globose, dark brown, immersed, erumpent, globose, with central ostiole; ostiolar canal filled with hyaline cells; conidiomatal wall of 6–8 layers of dark brown textura angularis. Conidiophores reduced to conidiogenous cells lining the inner cavity. Macroconidiogenous cells hyaline, smooth, doliiform, proliferating percurrently at apex. Macroconidia solitary, ellipsoid, smooth, red-brown, with central transverse septum, becoming muriformly septate. Microconidial cells intermingled with macroconidial cells, hyaline, integrated, proliferating percurrently at apex, subcylindrical. Microconidia hyaline, globose to ellipsoid, smooth, aseptate (adapted from Wanasinghe et al. 2017).
Type species: Staurosphaeria lycii Rabenh.
Notes: Staurosphaeria is characterised by solitary, globose, dark brown conidiomata, hyaline, smooth, doliiform macroconidiogenous cells, solitary, ellipsoid, smooth, red-brown macroconidia and hyaline, globose to ellipsoid, smooth, aseptate microconidia. Staurosphaeria differs from Camarosporium sensu stricto in having evenly pigmented red-brown muriformly septate conidia and a microconidial morph while in Camarosporium sensu stricto the conidia are unevenly pigmented (pale brown at ends) and lacks a microconidial morph. Rabenhorst (1858) considered Staurosphaeria and Karstenula (Didymosphaeriaceae) as congeneric while Constantinescu (1993) linked the type species, K. rhodostoma to the asexual morph Microdiplodia frangulae. Staurosphaeria is a distinct and well-defined genus in Coniothyriaceae. Molecular markers available for Staurosphaeria are ITS, LSU, SSU and TEF-1.
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