Corticiaceae
Encyclopedia
The Corticiaceae are a family
of fungi in the order
Corticiales
. The family formerly included almost all the corticioid (patch- or crust-forming) fungi
, whether they were related or not, and as such was highly artificial. In its current sense, however, the name Corticiaceae is restricted to a comparatively small group of mainly corticioid genera
within the Corticiales, though the family is as yet not well defined.
of hymenomycetes that produced basidiocarps (fruit bodies) which were effused (spread out and patch-like) and had a more or less smooth hymenophore
(spore-bearing surface). Since this definition was vague, superficial, and covered a large range of unrelated fungi, the Corticiaceae, though widely adopted, were also widely recognized as an unnatural grouping
. Indeed, in a 1964 survey of families, Donk considered the Corticiaceae to be "a nice example of how extremely artificial taxa can be".
In this wide sense, the boundaries of the Corticiaceae were never clearly defined. It was sometimes separated from the Stereaceae
, a family in which fruitbodies had a tendency to form pilei
(caps or brackets), but often these two artificial families were united. In this united sense, the Corticiaceae certainly included the genera and species treated in the standard, 8-volume reference work The Corticiaceae of North Europe (1972-1987), where it was acknowledged that the family was "not a natural taxon but an assemblage of species with similar habitat." With the addition of non-European species, this meant that the Corticiaceae eventually expanded to include over 200 genera worldwide. The name "Corticiaceae" is still occasionally used in this wide sense (sensu lato), but it has generally been replaced by the term "corticioid fungi".
Earlier family names for the Corticiaceae s.l. are the Cyphellaceae
, Peniophoraceae
, and Vuilleminiaceae
, as noted by Donk in 1964. Since the name Corticiaceae was so commonly used, it was officially conserved
against these earlier names under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. This only applies, however, if the suppressed names are considered to be synonyms, rather than distinct families separate from the Corticiaceae.
. The family, however, remains undefined. Larsson, in 2007, treated it as synonymous with the order, but the resurrection of the Punctulariaceae
and Vuilleminiaceae
within the Corticiales now leaves the Corticiaceae as a "dustbin taxon" for the leftover genera. As such, the family contains some 27 genera
and over 100 species.
of Corticium
, (C. roseum), and species in genera such as Erythricium
, Laetisaria
, Limonomyces
, and Marchandiobasidium
. Several of the Corticiaceae also produce sclerotia, bulbils, or other anamorphic (asexual) propagules, including species in the genera Corticium, Laetisaria, Marchandiobasidium, and Waitea
. Species in the genus Marchandiomyces
are entirely anamorphic. Finally, many of the Corticiaceae s.s. are obligate or facultative
pathogens, such as Marchandiobasidium aurantiacum and Marchandiomyces corallinus on lichens and Erythricium salmonicolor, Laetisaria spp, Limonomyces spp, and Waitea circinata
on grasses and other plants.
anamorph growing on bamboo. The anomalous agaric
species, Marchandiomphalina foliacea, is lichenized. Collectively, they have a cosmopolitan distribution
.
is also a pathogen, causing diseases of cereal crops, including "sheath spot" of rice
. The same fungus also causes "brown ring patch" in turf grasses
. Laetisaria fuciformis is the cause of "red thread" disease
in turf grass, whilst Limonomyces roseipellis is the cause of "pink patch" disease.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of fungi in the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Corticiales
Corticiales
The Corticiales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order is mostly composed of corticioid fungi, but also includes one anomalous agaricoid species, Marchandiomphalina foliacea. Species within the order are generally saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters, but several are...
. The family formerly included almost all the corticioid (patch- or crust-forming) fungi
Corticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
, whether they were related or not, and as such was highly artificial. In its current sense, however, the name Corticiaceae is restricted to a comparatively small group of mainly corticioid genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
within the Corticiales, though the family is as yet not well defined.
History
The German mycologist Wilhelm Gustav Franz Herter first published the Corticiaceae in 1910 to accommodate speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of hymenomycetes that produced basidiocarps (fruit bodies) which were effused (spread out and patch-like) and had a more or less smooth hymenophore
Hymenophore
A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body. Hymenophores can be smooth surfaces, lamellae, folds, tubes, or teeth....
(spore-bearing surface). Since this definition was vague, superficial, and covered a large range of unrelated fungi, the Corticiaceae, though widely adopted, were also widely recognized as an unnatural grouping
Form taxon
Form classification is the classification of organisms based on their morphology, which does not necessarily reflect their biological relationships...
. Indeed, in a 1964 survey of families, Donk considered the Corticiaceae to be "a nice example of how extremely artificial taxa can be".
In this wide sense, the boundaries of the Corticiaceae were never clearly defined. It was sometimes separated from the Stereaceae
Stereaceae
The Stereaceae are a family of corticioid fungi in the Russulales order. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, are lignicolous or terrestrial , and typically saprobic. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi , the family contains 22 genera and 125 species.-Genera...
, a family in which fruitbodies had a tendency to form pilei
Pileus (mycology)
The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus...
(caps or brackets), but often these two artificial families were united. In this united sense, the Corticiaceae certainly included the genera and species treated in the standard, 8-volume reference work The Corticiaceae of North Europe (1972-1987), where it was acknowledged that the family was "not a natural taxon but an assemblage of species with similar habitat." With the addition of non-European species, this meant that the Corticiaceae eventually expanded to include over 200 genera worldwide. The name "Corticiaceae" is still occasionally used in this wide sense (sensu lato), but it has generally been replaced by the term "corticioid fungi".
Earlier family names for the Corticiaceae s.l. are the Cyphellaceae
Cyphellaceae
The Cyphellaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order. The family contains 16 genera and 31 species.-Genera:*Asterocyphella*Campanophyllum*Catilla*Cheimonophyllum*Chondrostereum*Cunninghammyces*Cyphella...
, Peniophoraceae
Peniophoraceae
The Peniophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Russulales. Species of this family have a cosmopolitan distribution and are mostly saprobic, causing rots of standing and fallen wood. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 7 genera and 88 species....
, and Vuilleminiaceae
Vuilleminiaceae
The Vuilleminiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family in its current sense is based on molecular research and contains just three genera of temperate corticioid fungi.-History:...
, as noted by Donk in 1964. Since the name Corticiaceae was so commonly used, it was officially conserved
Conserved name
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning a "name which should be conserved"...
against these earlier names under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. This only applies, however, if the suppressed names are considered to be synonyms, rather than distinct families separate from the Corticiaceae.
Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has limited the Corticiaceae in its strict sense (sensu stricto) to a comparatively small group of genera within the CorticialesCorticiales
The Corticiales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order is mostly composed of corticioid fungi, but also includes one anomalous agaricoid species, Marchandiomphalina foliacea. Species within the order are generally saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters, but several are...
. The family, however, remains undefined. Larsson, in 2007, treated it as synonymous with the order, but the resurrection of the Punctulariaceae
Punctulariaceae
The Punctulariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family in its current sense is based on molecular research and contains just three genera of corticioid fungi.-History:...
and Vuilleminiaceae
Vuilleminiaceae
The Vuilleminiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family in its current sense is based on molecular research and contains just three genera of temperate corticioid fungi.-History:...
within the Corticiales now leaves the Corticiaceae as a "dustbin taxon" for the leftover genera. As such, the family contains some 27 genera
Genera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
and over 100 species.
Description
Though now based on molecular phylogenetics, the Corticiaceae s.s. have certain features partly in common. Basidiocarps, for example, have a tendency to be pink or orange, as in the type speciesType species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
of Corticium
Corticium
Corticium is a genus of crust fungi in the family Corticiaceae. According to a 2008 estimate, the genus contains 25 widely distributed species.-Species:*Corticium appalachiense*Corticium auberianum*Corticium boreoroseum...
, (C. roseum), and species in genera such as Erythricium
Erythricium
Erythricium is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, and contains three species....
, Laetisaria
Laetisaria
Laetisaria is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution and contains three species....
, Limonomyces
Limonomyces
Limonomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. The genus contains two species, found in Europe and North America....
, and Marchandiobasidium
Marchandiobasidium
Marchandiobasidium is a genus of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing the single species Marchandiobasidium aurantiacum, found in Europe and North America....
. Several of the Corticiaceae also produce sclerotia, bulbils, or other anamorphic (asexual) propagules, including species in the genera Corticium, Laetisaria, Marchandiobasidium, and Waitea
Waitea
Waitea is a genus of fungi in the family Corticiaceae. The genus contains two species found in Australia and Switzerland....
. Species in the genus Marchandiomyces
Marchandiomyces
Marchandiomyces is a genus of anamorphic fungi in the family Corticiaceae....
are entirely anamorphic. Finally, many of the Corticiaceae s.s. are obligate or facultative
Facultative
Facultative means "optional" or "discretionary" , used mainly in biology in phrases such as:* Facultative anaerobe, an organism that can use oxygen but also has anaerobic methods of energy production...
pathogens, such as Marchandiobasidium aurantiacum and Marchandiomyces corallinus on lichens and Erythricium salmonicolor, Laetisaria spp, Limonomyces spp, and Waitea circinata
Waitea circinata
Waitea circinata is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state, sometimes called Rhizoctonia zeae...
on grasses and other plants.
Habitat and distribution
The majority of species in the Corticiaceae are wood-rotting saprotrophs, typically forming corticioid basidiocarps on the undersides of dead, attached branches, less commonly on fallen wood. Several species are parasites of lichens, grasses, or other plants. Guilia tenuis is a pycnidialPycnidium
A pycnidium is an asexual fruiting body produced by mitosporic fungi in the form order Sphaeropsidales . It is often spherical or inversely pearshaped and its internal cavity is lined with conidiophores. When ripe, an opening generally appears at the top, through which the pycnidiospores escape....
anamorph growing on bamboo. The anomalous agaric
Agaric
An agaric is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus that is clearly differentiated from the stipe , with lamellae on the underside of the pileus. "Agaric" can also refer to a basidiomycete species characterized by an agaric-type fruiting body...
species, Marchandiomphalina foliacea, is lichenized. Collectively, they have a cosmopolitan distribution
Cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
.
Economic importance
Several species within the Corticiaceae are commercially important pathogens of crops or turf grass. Erythricium salmonicolor attacks woody commercial crops (citrus, coffee, rubber, etc.) in the tropics, causing "pink disease". Waitea circinataWaitea circinata
Waitea circinata is a species of fungus in the family Corticiaceae. Basidiocarps are thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more frequently encountered in its similar but sterile anamorphic state, sometimes called Rhizoctonia zeae...
is also a pathogen, causing diseases of cereal crops, including "sheath spot" of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
. The same fungus also causes "brown ring patch" in turf grasses
Lawn
A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which usually are maintained at a low and consistent height. Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn...
. Laetisaria fuciformis is the cause of "red thread" disease
Red Thread (disease)
Red Thread Disease is a fungal infection found on lawns and other turfed areas. It is caused by the corticioid fungus Laetisaria fuciformis and has two separate stages. The stage that gives the infection its name is characterised by very thin, red, needle-like strands extending from the grass blade...
in turf grass, whilst Limonomyces roseipellis is the cause of "pink patch" disease.