Ophiostomataceae Nannf., Nova Acta R. Soc. Scient. upsal., Ser. 4 8(no. 2): 30 (1932)
MycoBank number: MB 91154; Index Fungorum number: IF 91154; Facesoffungi number: FoF 01807; 353 species.
Saprobic or parasitic on woody plants, occasionally on herbaceous plants, symbionts of or associated with beetles and mites. Sexual morph: Ascomata superficial, perithecial or cleistothecial, globose to subglobose, with external hairs, pale brown, dark brown or black, with long or short ostiolar necks, or sometimes lacking ostioles. Ostiolar neck short or long, slender, straight or flexuous, brown to dark brown at the base, pale brown to hyaline at the apex, containing parallel hyphae with pigmented cell walls around the ostiole. Ostiolar hyphae present or absent; when present, convergent or divergent, filamentous, septate, pale brown to hyaline, with some genera containing ostiolar beak (e.g. Subbaromyces). Peridium pseudoparenchymatous, with outer wall layers composed of angular cells with thickened, pigmented walls, and lined by thin-walled, hyaline cells of textura angularis. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, evanescent, fusiform, oblong to clavate, some genera globose to subglobose (e.g. Fragosphaeria), with thin, deliquescent walls. Ascospores bi- to multi-seriate, variable in shape, frequently asymmetrical, oval, allantoid, fusiform, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, reniform, or falcate, aseptate or 1-septate, hyaline or appearing yellowish in mass, with or without a sheath. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Conidiophores mononematous or synnematous, simple or branched, with some bearing a brush-like apical branching structure (e.g. Leptographium), erect, hyaline or dark brown to black. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, polyblasic, sympodial, denticulate, phiailidic, with some proliferating at or somewhat below the apex and giving rise to another series of denticles or conidiogenous loci (e.g. Ophiostoma, Sporothrix). Conidia solitary or aggregated, fusiform, obovate to oblong, cylindrical, aseptate, hyaline, some bearing conidia in a viscoid pale reddish-brown head (e.g. pesotum-like) (adapted from Maharachchikumbura et al. 2016b).
Type genus – Ophiostoma Syd. & P. Syd.
Notes – Ophiostomataceae was originally described with three genera (Ophiostoma, Ceratostomella, Endoconidiophora) (Nannfeldt 1932). de Beer et al. (2013a) accepted six genera (Ceratocystiopsis, Ophiostoma, Fragosphaeria, Leptographium, Raffaelea, Graphium) based on phylogenetic analyses. Maharachchikumbura et al. (2015, 2016b) provided an updated outline of Ophiostomataceae with 12 genera (Ceratocystiopsis, Fragosphaeria, Hyalobelemnospora, Hyalorhinocladiella, Klasterskya, Leptographium, Ophiostoma, Pesotum, Phialographium, Raffaelea, Spumatoria, Subbaromyces), which included sexual and asexual morphs, based on a phylogenetic analysis. Pesotum and Hyalorhinocladiella appear to be synonyms of Ophiostoma, but this may need further study. de Beer et al. (2016a) accepted Sporothrix in Ophiostomatales based on DNA sequence data and morphology of both morphs. Bateman et al. (2016) introduced Afroraffaelea. We accept 13 genera based on previous research (Afroraffaelea, Aureovirgo, Ceratocystiopsis, Fragosphaeria, Graphilbum, Hawksworthiomyces, Klasterskya, Leptographium, Ophiostoma, Raffaelea, Sporothrix, Spumatoria, and Subbaromyces) (Bateman et al. 2016, de Beer et al. 2013a, 2016a, Maharachchikumbura et al. 2015b, 2016b).