Dichoporis
Dichoporis Clem., Genera of Fungi: 40, 173 (1909).
= Diporina Clem., Genera of Fungi: 40, 173 (1909).
Index Fungorum number: IF 1517; Facesoffungi number: FoF 08854, 20 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), no molecular data available
Lichenized on bark and rocks in terrestrial, (sub-)tropical to rarely temperate habitats. Thallus usually ecorticate, whitish to brownish. Photobiont Trentepohlia. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecia, usually dispersed but often dense, very rarely fused, immersed-erumpent to prominent, usually black or covered by thallus layer, lens-shaped to wart-shaped, usually carbonaceous, ostiolate. Involucrellum usually present and carbonized, very rarely reduced or absent. Excipulum prosoplectenchymatous, pale to brown. Hamathecium comprising paraphyses, hyaline, flexuose, typically branched and sometimes somewhat anastomosing. Asci usually 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to narrowly obclavate, shortly pedicellate, with narrow ocular chamber, non-amyloid. Ascospores irregularly arranged to uni- or biseriate, fusiform to ellipsoid or bacillar, hyaline,uniseptate, very rarely with two obscure, additional septa, with thin eusepta and rectangular lumina, smooth-walled, often constricted (and sometimes breaking apart) at the septa. Asexual morph: Pycnidia common, immersed to erumpent, usually visible as black dots. Conidia typically acrogenous, either macro- or microconidia; macroconidia uniseptate, oblong-bacillar, typically with narrow gelatinous appendages 1–2 µm broad, about 3–6 times as long as broad, and about one fifth to half as long as the conidia, hyaline; microconidia aseptate, typically fusiform, small, hyaline. Chemistry: No secondary substances known (adapted from Hongsanan et al. 2020b).
Type species: Dichoporis schizospora (Vain.) Clem.
Notes: Dichoporis is characterised by immersed-erumpent to prominent ascomata, prosoplectenchymatous, pale to brown excipulum, cylindrical to narrowly obclavate asci and ellipsoid or bacillar, hyaline, uniseptate ascospores. Hongsanan et al. (2020b) used Dichoporis for a group of non-foliicolous taxa that was known as Strigula taylorii group by Roux and Sérusiaux (2004). Two names exist for this group, Dichoporis and Diporina Clem. introduced in the same publication (Clements 1909) and the latter is based on D. subsimplicans (Nyl.) Clem as type species. Hongsanan et al. (2020b) preferred to use Dichoporis instead of Diporina as the former shows some likely relationships with the genus Phylloporis and is less confusing than Diporina. Clements (1909) mentioned Diporina as having intact ascospores while Dichoporis has ascospores that break into part-spores but these characters are not taxonomically informative at the genus level (Jiang et al. 2020b). Dichoporis includes non-foliicolous taxa previously placed in Strigula s. lat. Hongsanan et al. (2020b) predicted that Dichoporis is a member of the clade containing Strigula s. str. lineages since it has same ascospores and conidial features with the latter. Dichoporis is distinct from Swinscowia. It is still uncertain how Dichoporis and Swinscowia are related to the foliicolous Phylloporis and Phyllocratera, respectively. The main difference is that the photobiont in foliicolous taxa has cells which forms specific, plate-like arrangements (Aptroot et al. 1997; Lücking 2008; Hongsanan et al. 2020b). Harris (1995) pointed out that the nature of the photobiont is a non-mycological character of no taxonomic significance. Hongsanan et al. (2020b) explained that the photobiont choice is determined by inherently fixed preferences of the mycobiont for specific photobiont types but it does not imply that closely related mycobionts cannot associate with different photobiont lineages, rather each circumstance has to be assessed in a phylogenetic context. Sufficient data are not available to compare Dichoporis with Phylloporis (has sequence data) and Swinscowia (has sequence data) with Phyllocratera. Jiang et al. (2020b) reported that data from foliicolous lineages demonstrates that each genus-level mycobiont lineage links to a specific photobiont lineage representing either Cephaleuros, Phycopeltis or Trentepohlia but the generic delineation within Trentepohlia s. lat. is still unclear. Hongsanan et al. (2020b) maintained this concept and kept Dichoporis and Swinscowia as distinct genera from Phylloporis and Phyllocratera. Phylloporis and Phyllocratera. also have unbranched paraphyses while Dichoporis and Swinscowia have branched and anastomosing paraphyses. Dichoporis resembles Anisomeridium in having similar thallus morphology and photobiont, black perithecia anduniseptate ascospores (Harris 1995). Dichoporis differs from Anisomeridium in that the latter produces aseptate macroconidia without gelatinous appendages but surrounded in a gelatinous mass showed as drops from the pycnidia, and this character does not occur in Strigulaceae. Dichoporis is a distinct genus in Strigulaceae but needs to be re-collected as molecular data is lacking.
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