Aleurocystis

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Aleurocystis
Systematics
Subdivision : Agaricomycotina
Class : Agaricomycetes
Subclass : insecure position (incertae sedis)
Order : Russulales (Russulales)
Family : Layer mushroom relatives (Stereaceae)
Genre : Aleurocystis
Scientific name
Aleurocystis
Lloyd ex G. Cunn. (1956)

Aleurocystis is a genus of fungusthat is traditionallyassigned tothe layer fungus relatives (Stereaceae) family . The representatives of the genus are very similar to species of the genus Aleurodiscus due to their discoid to bowl-shaped fruiting bodies and large basidiospores. Due to their inamyloid basidiospores and the crystal- bearing cystids ( metuloids ) they can be easily distinguished. The white rot fungi grow on dead but not yet fallen twigs and branches. The genus is predominantly found in the tropics. The type species of the genus is Aleurocystis hakgallae (Berk. & Broome) G. Cunn.

features

The annual fruiting bodies are resupinate to cup-shaped and pale yellow to ocher in color. When fresh and moist, they are gelatinous to tough and dry, horny and firm. The hyphae system is monomitic . The generative hyphae wear buckles. In subiculum thick-walled hyphae occur, which can be straight and branched or unbranched. The hyphal walls appear gelatinized in KOH . The four-pore basidia are club-shaped, along with thick-walled, metuloid cystidia. They are especially encrusted in the upper part, older cystidia can also be encrusted in the lower part. They are significantly elongated and in older hymenia they can protrude beyond the basidia. There are also simple hyphidia (paraphysoids), some of which can be branched and then resemble Dendrohyphidia . The large, thin-walled basidiospores are smooth and inamyloid.

Systematics

The genus was described in 1956 by Gordon Herriott Cunningham . Despite their striking, macroscopic similarity, their representatives are probably not related to Aleurodiscus . Due to their microscopic features, especially the inamyloid basidiospores and the crystal-covered cystids (metuloids), they can be easily distinguished from the species of the genus Aleurodiscus . It is possible that the genus is related to Cytidia , with which it shares numerous characteristics. Both form almost gelatinous, cup-shaped fruit bodies and large basidiospores. Of course, this can just as easily be attributed to a convergent development. It is known that mushrooms , which have fruiting bodies in exposed locations such as dead branches that have remained on the tree, also often have large basidiospores. The reason for this is unknown, but the phenomenon occurs in numerous unrelated groups and therefore must have a selective advantage. The metuloid cystids separate Aleurocystis from the genus Cytidia Quel. and Auriculariopsis (Lev.) Maire whose species look very similar at first glance.

Whether metuloid cystids are really an indication of a different ancestry of these genera is controversial among mycologists. In many corticoid genera ( Gloeocystidiellum , Hyphoderma , Peniophora, etc.), in which such cystids also occur, this feature only serves to differentiate between the species and not to differentiate at the genus level. Unfortunately, the genus has not yet been investigated in terms of molecular biology (as of 2014), but it is questionable whether the genus with its inamyloid spores really belongs to the phylloxera family. In any case, Karl H. Larsson no longer places them in this family in his revision of the corticoid fungi.

Ecology and diffusion

The white rot fungi grow on dead hardwood and are predominantly found in the tropics.

species

swell

  • Aleurocystis. Lloyd ex G. Cunn. (1956). In: MycoBank.org. International Mycological Association, accessed September 16, 2014 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c L. Ryvarden: The genus Aleurocystis . In: Cryptogamy Mycology . tape 19 , no. 1-2 , 1998, pp. 93 ( mycobank.org ).
  2. ^ Karl-Henrik Larsson: Re-thinking the classification of corticioid fungi . In: Mycological research . tape 111 , no. 9 , 2007, p. 1040-1063 .