Lasiosphaeriaceae Nannf., Nova Acta R. Soc. Scient. upsal., Ser. 4 8(no. 2): 50 (1932)

Index Fungorum number: IF 80930; MycoBank number: MB 80930Facesoffungi number: FoF 01145; 315 species.

Saprobic on wood, rotting vegetation, soil, dung of the herbivore, in freshwater, marine or terrestrial habitats, many coprophilous. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecial or cleistothecial, gregarious or scattered, yellow, brown to black, solitary, superficial, erumpent or immersed, globose, subglobose to ovoid, carbonaceous, coriaceous or membranaceous, ornamented, tuberculate or smooth, with setae or hair, papillate or indistinct or absent, ostiolate, when present periphysate, the apex collapsing when dry. Peridium thick, composed of two layers, outer layer comprising brown cells of textura angularis or globulosa, carbonaceous, coriaceous or membranaceous; inner layer comprising hyaline cells of textura prismatica or porrecta, thin, membranaceous. Paraphyses numerous, hyaline, septate, filiform or cylindrical. Asci 4- or 8- spored, unitunicate, thin or thick-walled, cylindrical to clavate, pedicellate, with a J-, apical ring. Ascospores uniseriate to irregular, hyaline, brown or black, allantoid, clavate, cylindrical, ellipsoid to dumbbell-like, curved or not, concolorous or versicolorous, ornamented or smooth-walled, with or without germ pore, appendage present or absent, with or without guttules. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Conidiophores macronematous or mononematous, scattered or gregarious, brown, straight, septate, branched, smooth-walled. Conidiogenous cells enteroblastic or holoblastic, phialidic, hyaline to dark brown, subglobose to ampulliform, proliferating percurrently, with collarette. Conidia solitary, globose, subglobose to cylindrical, hyaline to brown, smooth, aseptate (adapted from Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b).

Type genusLasiosphaeria Ces. & De Not.

Notes – Lasiosphaeriaceae has black ascomata and cylindrical to clavate asci with brown to hyaline ascospores and is typified by Lasiosphaeria (Cesati & De Notaris 1863). Wijayawardene et al. (2018a) accepted 32 genera in Lasiosphaeriaceae, but the family is in need of revision with DNA sequence data analyses. Many of the genera included in this family lack sequence data and require confirmation with fresh collections and phylogenetic analyses. Species of Lasiosphaeriaceae cluster in several clades within Sordariales (Huhndorf et al. 2004b). Wang et al. (2019a) made progress towards resolving the family and proposed Cladorrhinum, Podospora and Triangularia in Podosporaceae based on multi-gene analysis, and the family is sister to Chaetomiaceae. The lasiosphaeriaceous complex is composed of Lasiosphaeriaceae sensu stricto (Lasiosphaeriaceae II) and Lasiosphaeriaceae sensu lato (Lasiosphaeriaceae I and III) (Fig. 23).

Figure 23 – Phylogram generated from maximum likelihood analysis based on combined LSU, ITS, tub2 and rpb2 sequence data of Sordariales. Related sequences were taken from Wang et al. (2016b). Two hundred and fifty-seven strains are included in the combined analyses which comprised 2717 characters (855 characters for LSU, 480 characters for ITS, 860 characters for tub2, 522 characters for rpb2) after alignment. Members of Amphisphaeriales are used as outgroup taxa. Single gene analyses were carried out and the phylogenies were similar in topology and clade stability. The best RAxML tree with a final likelihood value of -59082.079074 is presented. Estimated base frequencies were as follows: A = 0.238795, C = 0.266829, G = 0.275292, T = 0.219085; substitution rates AC = 1.483472, AG = 3.436969, AT = 1.859704, CG = 1.064423, CT = 6.934931, GT = 1.000000; gamma distribution shape parameter a = 0.757314. Bootstrap support values for ML greater than 50% are given near the nodes. Ex-type strains are in bold. The newly generated sequences are indicated in blue.

Figure 23 – Continued.

Figure 23 – Continued.