Discosiaceae Maharachch. & K.D. Hyde, fam. nov., Index Fungorum number: IF551177
Saprobic or pathogenic on plant leaves. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered, immersed to erumpent. Ostiole circular, papillate. Peridium comprising several layers of compressed cells, brown at the base, dark brown outwardly. Hamathecium comprising numerous, hypha-like, flexuose, paraphyses. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, obclavate to cylindrical, with a discoid, J+ subapical ring. Ascospores overlapping uniseriate or biseriate, obovoid to ellipsoid, transversally septate, with or without vertical septa, hyaline. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous. Conidiomata stromatic, scattered to gregarious, subepidermal or subepidermal in origin, immersed to erumpent. Peridium composed of 3–4 layers of cells of textura angularis, outer 1–2-layers brown and inner 1–2 layers hyaline or pale brown. Conidiophores arising from the inner layer cells of basal stroma, absent or reduced to conidiogenous cells, when present long, septate and branched. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, annelidic, cylindrical or lageniform, hyaline. Conidia cylindrical to clavate, or fusiform, straight or curved, 2–4-euseptate, hyaline, pale olivaceous, or brown, bearing cellular, filiform or attenuated appendages.
Type: Discosia Lib., Pl. crypt. Arduenna, fasc. (Liège) 4: no. 346 (1837)
Notes: Phylogenetic analyses of combined LSU and ITS sequence data of Discosia and related genera showed Discosiaceae taxa to be distinct from the family Bartaliniaceae and Pestalotiopsidaceae. Hence the new family Discosiaceae was introduced for Discosia and Adisciso, Discostroma, Immersidiscosia, Sarcostroma, and Seimatosporium (Senanayake et al.2015). Members of the family Discosiaceae are saprobes, endophytes, or foliar pathogens in tropical and temperate regions (Nag Raj 1993; Tanaka et al. 2011). The family presently includes four coelomycetous asexual genera Discosia, Immersidiscosia, Sarcostroma and Seimatosporium, and two sexual genera Adisciso and Discostroma; which were earlier classified under Amphisphaeriaceae. Von Arx (1981) treated Bartalinia, Bartaliniopsis, Bleptosporium, Doliomyces and Hyalotia as synonyms of Seimatosporium. However, Nag Raj (1993) did not accept von Arx’s (1981) treatment and sequence data also does not support this.