Pleosporales » Cucurbitariaceae » Cucurbitaria

Cucurbitaria berberidis

Cucurbitaria berberidis (Pers.) Gray, Nat. Arr. Brit. Pl. (London) 1: 519 (1821).

≡ Sphaeria berberidis Pers., Neues Mag. Bot. 1: 83 (1794).

Index Fungorum number: IF 239072; Facesoffungi number: FoF 11477, Fig. 1

Description: see Doilom et al. (2013), Wanasinghe et al. (2018), Jaklitsch et al. (2018).

Material considered: see Doilom et al. (2013), Wanasinghe et al. (2018), Jaklitsch et al. (2018).

Fig. 1 Cucurbitaria berberidis (MFLU 12-0111, iso-epitype). a, b Ascomata on the natural substrate. c Section through ascomata. d Peridium. e Pseudoparaphyses. f Ostiolar canal with periphyses. g, h Asci with ascospores. i, j Ascospores. k Close-up of a pycnidium. l Pycnidia. m Pycnidium with setae. n Close-up of setae. o Seta and projecting subglobose cell from the pycnidial surface. p Hyaline unicellular conidia. Scale bars: c = 200 μm, d = 50 μm, e, g, h, n = 20 μm, f = 30 μm, i, j, o = 10 μm, p = 5 μm.

Importance and distribution

There are 280 Cucurbitaria epithets in Index Fungorum (2022), many species have been transferred to other genera such as Alternaria, Amphilogia, Apiosporina, Asteromassaria, Bionectria, Byssosphaeria, Camarosporidiella, Chaetoplea, Clonostachys, Clypeosphaeria, Cosmospora, Cryphonectria, Cucurbitaria, Curreya, Cytospora, Decaisnella, Delphinella, Dialonectria, Endothia, Fenestella, Fusarium, Fusarium solani-melongenae, Geejayessia, Hydropisphaera, Hypocreopsis, Hypomyces, Hypoxylon, Karstenula, Lasionectria, Leptosphaeria, Lizonia, Macroconia, Macronectria, Melanomma, Microcera, Nectria, Nectriella, Nectriopsis, Neonectria, Nitschkia, Ovicuculispora, Paranectria, Phragmodothella, Plenodomus, Pleospora, Praetumpfia, Pronectria, Protocreopsis, Pyrenophora, Sarcopodium, Solenopezia, Stylonectria, Teichospora, Thelonectria, Thyridaria, Thyronectria and Trichoderma. Cucurbitaria comprises 95 species known on wide range of host such as Acer campestre (Sapindaceae), Acer negundo (Sapindaceae), Adesmia pinifolia (Fabaceae), Agave sisalana (Asparagaceae), Alnus viridis (Betulaceae), Ammodendron conollyi (Fabaceae), Amorpha sp. (Fabaceae), Celtis sp. (Cannabaceae), Crataegus pojarkovae (Rosaceae), Malus sylvestris (Rosaceae), Pinus sp. (Pinaceae), Pyrus sp. (Rosaceae), Sambucus caerulea (Adoxaceae) and Sophora japonica (Fabaceae). Cucurbitaria has a wide distribution such as Africa (Tanzania), Asia (Pakistan), Europe (Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom), South America (Argentina) and The United States (New Mexico, Kansas, Utah). Some Cucurbitaria species are saprobic and others are pathogenic causing disease such as Cucurbitaria bud blight on Picea pungens (Borthwick 1909) and other host plants (Gregory et al. 1998). Cucurbitaria is a genus with high diversity but numerous species lack molecular data. A monograph of Cucurbitaria is needed to resolve the taxonomy of the genus.

Biochemical importance of the genus, chemical diversity or applications

Cucurbitaria produces several chemicals and enzymes and the chemical diversity has not been extensively studied. Norlichexanthone has been isolated from Cucurbitaria sp. (ChemFaces 2011-2018).

References

Appadoo MA, Wanasinghe DN, Gafforov Y, Chethana KW, Abdurazakov A, Hyde KD, Li Q. 2021 – Morphological and phylogenetic insights reveal Cucurbitaria berberidicola (Cucurbitariaceae, Pleosporales) as a new species from Uzbekistan. Phytotaxa 518, 1–13.

Barr ME. 1990b – Some dictyosporous genera and species of Pleosporales in North America. Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden 62, 1–92.

Borthwick AW. 1909 – A new disease of Picea. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 4, 259–261.

Checa J, Jaklitsch WM, Blanco MN, Moreno G, Olariaga I, Tello S, Voglmayr H. 2015 – Two new species of Thyronectria from Mediterranean Europe. Mycologia 107, 1314–1322.

De Gruyter J, Woudenberg JHC, Aveskamp AA, Verkley GJM et al. 2013 – Redisposition of phoma-like anamorphs in Pleosporales. Studies in Mycology 75, 1–36.

Doilom M, Liu JK, Jaklitsch WM, Ariyawansa H et al. 2013 – An outline of the family Cucurbitariaceae. Sydowia 65, 167–192.

Gregory SC, Redfern DB. Great Britain. 1998 – Diseases and disorders of forest trees: A guide to identifying causes of ill-health in woods and plantations. London: Stationery Office.

Hyde KD, Jones EBG, Liu JK, Ariyawansa H et al. 2013 – Families of Dothideomycetes. Fungal Diversity 63, 1–313.

Jaklitsch WM, Checa J, Blanco MN, Olariaga I et al. 2018 – A preliminary account of the Cucurbitariaceae. Studies in Mycology 90, 71–118.

Jaklitsch WM, Voglmayr H. 2017 – Three former taxa of Cucurbitaria and considerations on Petrakia in the Melanommataceae. Sydowia 69, 81–95.

Mirza F. 1969 – Taxonomic investigations on the ascomycetous genus Cucurbitaria SF Gray (Doctoral dissertation). ETH Zurich.