Berkleasmium
Berkleasmium Zobel, Icon. fung. (Prague) 6: 4 (1854).
Index Fungorum number: IF 7362; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01879, 44 morphological species (Species Fungorum 2022), 7 species with molecular data.
Saprobic on decaying wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata superficial, seated on a subiculum, solitary, scattered, subglobose to globose, dark brown to black, with a central ostiole. Setae multi-celled, thick-walled, brown to black, straight or slightly curved, covering the whole ascomata. Peridium composed of several layers’ cells of textura angularis, with inner cells pale brown and outer cells dark brown. Hamathecium comprising numerous, filiform, septate, branched pseudoparaphyses. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, cylindrical, pedicellate, apically rounded. Ascospores biseriate, fusiform, tapering towards the rounded ends, slightly curved, guttulate, multi-septate, not constricted at septa, hyaline, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous, with dictyoconidia; Sporodochia black, distinct, compact, where crowded tending to become confluent; conidia broad-cylindrical, multicellular, with large and fairly regular cells, fuscous, borne on short conidiophores which become obscure with maturity. 2) Hyphomycetous, helicosporous; colonies on the substratum superficial, effuse, gregarious, brown; mycelium composed of partly immersed, partly superficial, brown, septate, branched hyphae, with masses of crowded, glistening conidia; conidiophores macronematous, mononematous, erect, arising as lateral branches from creeping hyphae, short, cylindrical, 0–3-septate, brown, smooth-walled; conidiogenous cells holoblastic, mono- to polyblastic, integrated, sympodial, terminal, cylindrical, truncate at apex, brown, smooth-walled; conidia solitary, acrogenous, helicoid, tapering to apex and base, coiled 1–3 times, becoming loosely coiled or uncoiled in water, with elongated basal cell, rounded at tip, multi-septate, slightly constricted at septa, and conidial filament brown, smooth-walled (adapted from Lu et al. 2018).
Type species: Berkleasmium concinnum (Berk.) S. Hughes.
Notes: Berkleasmium is characterised by superficial ascomata, seated on a subiculum, scattered, subglobose to globose, dark brown to black, multi-celled, thick-walled setae, cylindrical, pedicellate, apically rounded asci and guttulate, multi-septate, hyaline, smooth-walled ascospores. The asexual morph is characterised by black, distinct, compact sporodochia, and broad-cylindrical, multicellular conidia. Secondly, some species also have a helicosporous asexual morph characterised by effuse, gregarious, brown mycelium, macronematous, mononematous, erect conidiophores, holoblastic, mono- to polyblastic conidiogenous cells and acrogenous, helicoid conidia. Moore (1958) re-surrected Berkleasmium to accommodate sporodochial species previously placed in Sporidesmium and characterised by dark colored dictyospores formed on short, simple conidiophores or directly on the hyphae. Hughes (1958) considered B. cordaeanum as a synonym of Sporidesmium concinnum and provided the combination B. concinnum. Moore (1959) accepted ten species and provided a key to accepted species in Berkleasmium. Ellis (1971) described Berkleasmium as sporodochial characterised by narrow, macronematous conidiophores, which are mostly unbranched and closely packed in a sporodochium, monoblastic, determinate, acrogenous and cylindrical conidiogenous cells terminally incorporated on the conidiophores and conidia being solitary, brown, muriform, clavate or oblong, with rounded ends or irregular, and often with a protruding hilum. Whitton et al. (2012) provided a key to 34 accepted species of Berkleasmium. Tanney and Miller (2017) revealed that Neoacanthostigma septoconstrictum is the sexual morph of Berkleasmium based on phylogenetic analyses of ITS-LSU sequence data, re-examined reference specimens and reported co-occurrence of N. septoconstrictum ascomata (MFLU 16-1134, holotype) and B. concinnum sporodochia (K(M)-IMI94327 - slide ex-holotype). Tanney and Miller (2017) accepted Berkleasmium in Tubeufiaceae. In the multi-gene phylogenetic analysis of Lu et al. (2018) based on ITS, LSU, RPB2 and TEF-1a sequence data B. concinnum grouped with other Neocanthostigma species with high statistical support. The sexual morph of B. concinnum resembles N. aquaticum and N. thailandicum in having superficial ascomata settled on a subiculum, subglobose to globose, dark brown to black, multi-celled setae covering the whole ascoma, 8-spored, bitunicate, cylindrical, pedicellate asci and fusiform, slightly curved ascospores with tapering rounded ends. Several authors added new species and discussed Berkleasmium (Etayo & Diederich 1995, Whitton et al. 2012, Tanney & Miller 2017, Tibpromma et al. 2017). Lu et al. (2018) introduced two new species, four new combinations and accepted seven species in Berkleasmium. Berkleasmium is a distinct genus in Tubeufiaceae comprising 44 morphological species. Molecular markers available for Berkleasmium are ITS, SSU, LSU, RPB2 and TEF-1.
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