Batistiaceae Samuels & K.F. Rodrigues, Mycologia 81(1): 54 (1989)
MycoBank number: MB 81989; Index Fungorum number: IF 81989; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01321; 1 species.
Saprobic on wood. Sexual morph: Ascomata cleistothecial, stipitate-capitate, solitary to gregarious, superficial, black, globose, long stipitate, carbonaceous, without an ostiole. Peridium cephalothecoid. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, globose, lacking a visible discharge ring and deliquescent. Ascospores irregularly arranged, brown, ellipsoidal to oblong, 1-celled, without germ slits or germ pores, smooth-walled. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Synnemata determinate, dark brown to black. Hyphae of stipe parallel, dark brown, septa simple. Conidiophores forming a compact, grey palisade. Capitulum terminal, globose, in vertical section composed of a darkly pigmented dome of angular cells giving rise to loose textura intricata of hyaline, more or less swollen hyphae, a compact subhymenium of similar hyphae and then a conidiogenous hymenium. Conidiogenous cells phialidic, single or in terminal pairs, light brown, cylindrical, with an abruptly terminated apex and cylindrical collarette, smooth-walled. Conidia in dry chains without connectives, pale olivaceous, light brown to grey in mass, ellipsoidal, globose, subglobose or oblong, 1-celled, with thin, smooth-walls (adapted from Maharachchimbura et al. 2016b).
Type genus – Batistia Cif.
Notes – Batistiaceae, introduced in 1989 and classified in Sordariales, is typified by Batistia (Samuels & Rodrigues 1989, Eriksson 2001). Kirk et al. (2001) excluded the family from Sordariales and placed in Sordariomycetidae families incertae sedis. However, based on molecular analyses, Huhndorf et al. (2004b) placed Batistiaceae in Pezizomycotina family incertae sedis. This classification was followed by Lumbsch & Huhndorf (2010) and Wijayawardene et al. (2012). However, Maharachchikumbura et al. (2015) determined that the sequence data published by Huhndorf et al. (2004b) was contaminated. The classification of Batistiaceae was verified in Sordariomycetidae family incertae sedis (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015, 2016b, Hongsanan et al. 2017, Wijayawardene et al. 2018a). A lack of ex-type cultures and sequence data in GenBank makes it difficult to place Batistiaceae in a phylogenetic scheme (Kirk et al. 2008, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015, 2016b, Hongsanan et al. 2017). We follow its classification in Sordariomycetidae family incertae sedis until other evidence emerges (Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015, 2016b). Fresh collections, especially of neotype or epitype strains, together with molecular data are needed to clarify the species and family. In this entry Batistia annulipes is illustrated.
Genera