Synnemasporellaceae X.L. Fan & J.D.P. Bezerra, Persoonia 40: 130 (2018)

MycoBank number: MB 823994; Index Fungorum number: IF 823994; Facesoffungi number: FoF 05208; 2 species.

Saprobic, pathogenic or endophytic on several hosts. Sexual morph: Pseudostromata appearing upon the bark surface as pustules containing a small cluster of ostioles developing through the adherent periderm, covered by a whitish pulverulence. Stromatic zones absent. Ascomata perithecial, sphaerical or slightly flattened, with long necks, thickly clustered underneath the ectostromatic disks. Asci clavate. Ascospores biseriate, fusoid-ellipsoid, 2-celled, hyaline, usually with a short, hyaline, bristle-like appendage at both ends. Asexual morph: Coelomycetous or hyphomycetous. Conidiomata pycnidial or synnematal. Synnemata long and determinate, parallel, comprised of slender, cylindrical black stalks emerging from host tissue and a sphaerical, capitate, shiny black mass of conidia, conidiogenous cells zone concave, dark. Pycnidia centrally

Type genusSynnemasporella X.L. Fan & J.D.P. Bezerra

Notes – Synnemasporellaceae was established by Fan et al. (2018) to accommodate taxa with synnematous conidiomata and which lack the usual characters of any of the hyaline, didymosporous, stromatic genera in Diaporthales. Based on phylogenetic analyses, Synnemasporellaceae forms a well-supported clade between the families Apiosporopsidaceae and Juglanconidaceae. Species in the family have distinct synnemata, ascomatal and/or conidiomatal characters, ascospore shape, conidiogenous cells and conidia as well as different fungi-host associations and disease symptoms from species in Apiosporopsidaceae and Juglanconidaceae (Senanayake et al. 2017a, Voglmayr et al. 2017). Synnemasporellaceae has also been placed in a sister clade with Melanconidaceae (Mejía et al. 2011), the latter family having different conidia colour and hilum to the species in Synnemasporellaceae (Wehmeyer 1933b). ostiolate, hemisphaerical, immersed, slightly erumpent. Conidiophores aggregated, straight to curved. Conidiogenous cells aggregated, hyaline, straight to curved, cylindrical. Conidia cylindrical to clavate, with a discrete hilum, smooth, pale brown (adapted from Fan et al. 2018).