Darksidea alpha
Darksidea alpha D.G. Knapp, Kovács, J.Z. Groenew. & Crous, in Knapp, Kovács, Zajta, Groenewald & Crous, Persoonia 35: 96 (2015)
Index Fungorum number: IF 810761 Facesoffungi number: FoF xxx, Fig.1
Description: see Knapp et al. (2015)
Material examined: see Knapp et al. (2015)
Fig. 1. Darksidea alpha (CBS 135650; redrawn from Knapp et al. 2015) a, b Asci c ascospores. Scale bars a–c = 10 µm.
Importance and role
Importance of genus to ecosystem
Species of Darksidea are endophytic. They have the ability to grow inside the host plant, without any side effects on the plant tissues (Al-Ani 2019). They may facilitate plant growth and stress tolerance in stressful ecosystems (Li et al. 2018).
Industrial relevance and applications
There are currently no industrial applications of Darksidea. Being Dark septate endophytes (DSE), they may be useful as biopesticides, and biofertilizers. Further studies are needed.
Quarantine significance
No biocontrol agent has been reported from Darksidea. They may play important role in control of plant pathogens. Further studies are needed.
Biochemical importance of the genus, chemical diversity or applications
Darksidea can produce various chemicals and enzymes such as cellulose (Sarrocco et al. 2019).
Diversity of the genus
Darksidea comprises six species known from two host plants and one plant family namely Poaceae. Darksidea seems to be host specific. Darksidea has been reported only from Hungary. Many hosts and regions are still understudied for the genus. Many more species of Darksidea can be discovered in future studies.
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