Amorosiaceae Thambug. & K.D. Hyde, Fungal Diversity 74: 252 (2015).
MycoBank number: MB 551277; Index Fungorum number: IF 551277; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01084, 15 species.
Fungicolous, endophytic or saprobic on other fungi or dead woody plant materials in terrestrial habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata solitary or gregarious, immersed to semi immersed, becoming erumpent, coriaceous, dark brown to black, globose to subglobose or conical, uniloculate, ostiolate. Ostiole crest-like, rounded, central, cylindrical, papillate, well-developed, with a pore-like opening or through the cracks of host surface. Peridium comprising several layers of dark brown to lightly pigmented cells of textura angularis, fusing with the stromata. Hamathecium comprising numerous, wide, cellular, septate, branched or unbranched pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, cylindrical to cylindricclavate, pedicellate, rounded at the apex, with an ocular chamber. Ascospores 1–3-seriate, partially overlapping, fusiform, to cylindrical, or ellipsoidal-fusiform, hyaline, some light brown when mature, 1–3-septate, constricted at the central septum, filled with different sized guttules when immature, surrounded by a mucilaginous sheath. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous or hyphomycetous. Hyphomycetous asexual morph; Chlamydospores occasionally, formed in short chains, arising from the mycelium, individual chlamydospores subhyaline, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose. Conidiophores micronematous to semi macronematous, arising singly and not combined in sporodochia or synemmata, pale brown, unbranched, similar to the mycelium. Conidiogenous cells integrated, terminal or intercalary, where terminal, monoblastic, determinate, short cylindrical to elongate-cylindrical, subhyaline to pale brown or brown, smooth-walled. Conidia solitary, dry, lateral, elongate-clavate, pale brown to brown, 1–3-septate, 3–4-septate when mature, constricted at the septa, smooth-walled, lacking any mucilaginous sheath or appendages. Coelomycetous asexual morph; Conidiomata pycnidial, solitary to gregarious, ovoid to globose, covered with hyaline to pale brown, septate, branched hyphal growth. Conidiomata wall comprising few layers of hyaline to brown cells of textura angularis. Conidiogenous cells phialidic, doliform, hyaline, smooth-walled. Conidia cylindrical, hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled, guttulate.
Type – Amorosia Mantle & D. Hawksw.
Notes – Amorosiaceae was established by Thambugala et al. (2015b) to accommodate Amorosia and Angustimassarina. Amorosia remains as a monotypic genus, while Angustimassarina contains twelve species (Species Fungorum 2020). Amorosiaceae mainly differs from the other phylogenetically closely families Lophiostomataceae, Teichosporaceae (Floricolaceae) and Sporormiaceae in having hyphomycete asexual morphs with elongate-clavate, uni- to multi-septate conidia and appears to grow within other ascomata of other ascomycetes and may be mycoparasitic. However, Jayasiri et al. (2019) introduced a coelomycetous species associated with fallen pod of Cassia sp. (Fabaceae) and accommodated in a newly established genus (Amorocoelophoma Jayasiri et al.) in Amorosiaceae mainly based on their analyses of gene sequence data. Subsequently, Crous et al. (2019a) included another new genus Alfoldia D.G. Knapp et al. in the family to house an endophytic species associated with roots of woody plants.