''Abrothallus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

lichenicolous fungi A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component of the lichen, which is known as a lichenized fungus. They are most commonly specific to ...

. It is the only genus in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

family Abrothallaceae, which itself is the sole

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Abrothallales.

Taxonomy

The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

by Italian botanist

Giuseppe De Notaris Giuseppe De Notaris (18 April 1805, Milan – 22 January 1877) was an Italian botanist generally known for his work with cryptogams native to Italy. He studied medicine at the University of Pavia, obtaining his medical degree in 1830. Having deve ...

in 1849. The classification of the genus in either family or order was uncertain until

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis revealed the group as an independent

lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...

in the class

Dothideomycetes Dothideomycetes is the largest and most diverse class of ascomycete fungi. It comprises 11 orders 90 families, 1300 genera and over 19,000 known species. Traditionally, most of its members were included in the loculoascomycetes, which is not par ...

. Both the family and the order were circumscribed in 2013 by Sergio Pérez-Ortega and

Ave Suija Ave Suija (born 16 April 1969) is an Estonian lichenologist. The lichenicolous fungus A lichenicolous fungus is a parasitic fungus that only lives on lichen as the host. A lichenicolous fungus is not the same as the fungus that is the component ...

. In 2012 Mikhail Zhurbenko proposed the genus ''Epinephroma'' to contain ''E. kamchatica''; later analysis showed it to be the

anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage (morph), typically a fruiting body. *Anamorph: an ase ...

of an ''Abrothallus'' species, and now ''Epinephroma'' is placed in

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with ''Abrothallus''. Other synonyms are ''Abrothallomyces'', ''Phymatopsis'', and ''Pseudo-lecidea''.

Description

There are several morphological characteristics help define the genus ''Abrothallus''. These include: spherical (or nearly so)

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...

without a margin or well-defined edge that are sometimes dusted with golden or green

pruina Pruinescence , or pruinosity, is a "frosted" or dusty-looking coating on top of a surface. It may also be called a pruina (plural: ''pruinae''), from the Latin word for hoarfrost. The adjectival form is pruinose . Entomology In insects, a "blo ...

; bitunicate

asci ASCI or Asci may refer to: * Advertising Standards Council of India * Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy * Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative * American Society for Clinical Investigation * Argus Sour Crude Index * Association of ...

(i.e., with two functional ascal wall layers) that have four to eight

ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...

s; brown, 2- to 4-celled, warted asymmetric ascospores;

paraphyses Paraphyses are erect sterile filament-like support structures occurring among the reproductive apparatuses of fungi, ferns, bryophytes and some thallophytes. The singular form of the word is paraphysis. In certain fungi, they are part of the fe ...

that are ramified- anastomosed; and the presence of an epihymenium (the uppermost layer of the

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...

) with granulose

pigments A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

that often dissolve in

potassium hydroxide Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula K OH, and is commonly called caustic potash. Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which exp ...

Species

*'' Abrothallus acetabuli'' – parasitic on '' Parmelia acetabulum''; from Europe *'' Abrothallus boomii'' *'' Abrothallus brattii'' *'' Abrothallus bryoriarum'' *'' Abrothallus caerulescens'' *'' Abrothallus canariensis'' *'' Abrothallus cetrariae'' *'' Abrothallus cladoniae'' *'' Abrothallus curreyi'' – New Zealand *'' Abrothallus doliiformis'' *'' Abrothallus eriodermae'' *'' Abrothallus ertzii'' *'' Abrothallus etayoi'' *'' Abrothallus granulatae'' – parasitic on '' Pseudocyphellaria granulata''; from Argentina *''

Abrothallus halei ''Abrothallus halei'' is a species of lichenicolous fungus in the family Abrothallaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2010 by lichenologists Sergio Pérez-Ortega, Ave Suija, David Leslie Hawksworth, and Rolf Santesson. The t ...

'' – parasitic on ''

Lobaria quercizans ''Lobaria quercizans'' or ''Ricasolia quercizans,'' commonly known as the smooth lungwort, is a macrolichen in the family Peltigeraceae. It forms large, smooth, grey (pale green when wet) growths that often have abundant red-brown apothecia. D ...

'' and '' L. pulmonaria''; from Europe and North America *'' Abrothallus heterodermiicola'' *'' Abrothallus hypotrachynae'' *'' Abrothallus kamchatica'' *'' Abrothallus lobariae'' *'' Abrothallus macrosporus'' – South America *'' Abrothallus microspermus'' *'' Abrothallus nephromatis'' *'' Abrothallus niger'' – Ecuador *'' Abrothallus parmeliarum'' *'' Abrothallus parmotrematis'' *'' Abrothallus peyritschii'' *'' Abrothallus pezizicola'' *'' Abrothallus prodiens'' *'' Abrothallus prodiens'' *'' Abrothallus prodiens'' *'' Abrothallus psoromatis'' *'' Abrothallus puntilloi'' *'' Abrothallus ramalinae'' –

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

*'' Abrothallus santessonii'' *'' Abrothallus secedens'' – commensalistic on species of ''

Pseudocyphellaria ''Pseudocyphellaria'' is a genus of large, leafy lichens that are sometimes referred to as "specklebelly" lichens.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. ''Lichens of North America''. Yale University Press: New Haven. The genus has ...

''; from Argentina and Kenya *'' Abrothallus stereocaulorum'' *'' Abrothallus stictarum'' – Colombia *'' Abrothallus stroblii'' *'' Abrothallus subhalei'' *'' Abrothallus suecicus'' *'' Abrothallus teloschistis'' *'' Abrothallus tulasnei'' – parasitic on '' Xanthoparmelia somloensis''; from Canada *'' Abrothallus usneae'' *'' Abrothallus welwitschii''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4669602, from2=Q29476615, from3=Q27973071 * Dothideomycetes genera Lichenicolous fungi Taxa named by Giuseppe De Notaris Taxa described in 1845