Pyriculariaceae Klaubauf, M.-H. Lebrun & Crous, Stud. Mycol. 79: 104 (2014)

MycoBank number: MB 810202; Index Fungorum number: IF 810202; Facesoffungi number: FoF 05054; 82 species.

Pathogenic or saprobic on various plant hosts, commonly on monocotyledons. Sexual morph: Ascomata perithecial, immersed, solitary, scattered or gregarious, black, coriaceous, with long cylindrical necks, covered in setae. Peridium brown to dark brown, comprising several layers of textura angularis. Paraphyses septate, intermingled among asci. Asci 8-spored, unitunicate, subcylindrical, short pedicellate, with a large, J+, apical ring. Ascospores overlapping 2–3-seriate, ellipsoid to obclavate, fusiform, with 3 septa, often with median cells pigmented, pale brown. Asexual morph: Hyphomycetous. Conidiophores solitary or in fascicles, subcylindrical, erect, olivaceous, pale brown or brown, branched or unbranched. Conidiogenous cells holoblastic, polyblastic, integrated, pigmented, denticulate. Conidia hyaline to brown, pyriform to elliptical, 1– 5-transversely septate, in some genera with apical mucoid appendages (adapted from Klaubauf et al. 2014).

Type genusPyricularia Sacc.

Notes – Klaubauf et al. (2014) introduced Pyriculariaceae as a sister family to the Ophioceraceae, and accepted two genera Deightoniella and Pyricularia in Pyriculariaceae, and introduced seven genera (viz. Bambusicularia, Barretomyces, Macgarvieomyces, Neopyricularia, Proxipyricularia, Pseudopyricularia, Xenopyricularia) based on morphology and phylogenetic analyses. DNA replication licensing factor (MCM7) and calmodulin (calM) genes were used as a phylogenetic marker for some genera by Pordel et al. (2015, 2017). Hernández-Restrepo et al. (2015b) established Neocordana, a new genus in Pyriculariaceae. Wijayawardene et al. (2017a, 2018a) accepted ten genera in Pyriculariaceae. It is difficult to identify some of these genera in this family without molecular data. We illustrate both morphs of Pyricularia with line diagrams and describe and illustrate a new collection of Deightoniella africana.