Neophaeosphaeriaceae Ariyaw. & K.D. Hyde, Fungal Divers. 74: 45 (2015).
MycoBank number: MB 551471; Index Fungorum number: IF 551471; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01164, 4 species.
Saprobic or pathogenic on stems and leaves of herbaceous, or woody plants in terrestrial habitats. Sexual morph: Ascomata scattered or clustered in circular areas, immersed, depressed globose, with a small ostiolar pore slightly penetrating above the surface, under clypeus, coriaceous, papilla not conspicuous. Peridium 3-layered, thin-walled, pigmented, pseudoparenchymatous cells of textura angularis. Hamathecium comprising dense, septate, cellular pseudoparaphyses, embedded in a gelatinous matrix. Asci 8-spored, bitunicate, fissitunicate, broadly cylindrical to oblong, with a short, broad, bulbous, furcate pedicel, apically rounded, with an ocular chamber. Ascospores obliquely 1-seriate and partially overlapping, oblong to broadly fusiform, yellowish brown, mostly 3-septate, verruculose (adapted from Ariyawansa et al. 2015b). Asexual morph: Coelomycetous, coniothyrium-like. Conidiomata pseudoparenchymatous, sometimes stromatic. Conidiogenous cells lining entire locule, holoblastic, proliferating percurrently, usually resulting in conspicuous annellations. Conidia globose, ovoid or ellipsoid, yellowish brown often becoming brown at maturity, aseptate, verrucose to punctuate (adapted from Câmara et al. 2003).
Type – Neophaeosphaeria M.P.S. Câmara, M.E. Palm & A.W. Ramaley.
Notes – Neophaeosphaeriaceae was introduced by Ariyawansa et al. (2015b) to accommodate Neophaeosphaeria and its allied species. Based on multi-gene analyses in Ariyawansa et al. (2015b), Neophaeosphaeria with the type species, N. filamentosa, form a distinct monophyletic clade sister to the clades of Coniothyriaceae, Cucurbitariaceae and Leptosphaeriaceae. Therefore, Neophaeosphaeria was excluded from Leptosphaeriaceae and placed in a new family Neophaeosphaeriaceae. The new family also shares some characters with Leptosphaeriaceae. However, Neophaeosphaeriaceae has pseudoparenchymatous peridium, while Leptosphaeriaceae has scleroplectenchymatous peridium (Ariyawansa et al. 2015b).
Genera