The Acarosporaceae are a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...
in the order
Acarosporales. Members of this family have a widespread distribution, and are mostly
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[green algae
The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...]
.
[ According to a 2021 estimate, the family contains 11 ]genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and about 260 species.hypha
A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium.
Structure
A hypha consists of one or ...
l structures similar in function to true 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 ...
, but often branched and forming a network).
Phylogeny
Formerly classified in the fungal order Lecanorales
The Lecanorales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The order contains 26 families, 269 genera, and 5695 species.
Families
* Aphanopsidaceae
* Biatorellaceae
* Brigan ...
, phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analyses in 1998 suggested that the Acarosporaceae belong outside this order;Lecanoromycetes
Lecanoromycetes is the largest class of lichenized fungi. It belongs to the subphylum Pezizomycotina in the phylum Ascomycota. The asci (spore-bearing cells) of the Lecanoromycetes most often release spores by rostrate dehiscence.
Genera of unc ...
.
Description
Most members of the Acarosporaceae are lichenised, although a rare few are lichenicolous
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 ...
. The form of the thallus
Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...
ranges from crustose
Crustose is a habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the substrates at all points. ''Crustose'' is found on rocks and ...
to squamulose
A squamulose lichen is a lichen that is composed of small, often overlapping "scales" called squamules. If they are raised from the substrate and appear leafy, the lichen may appear to be a foliose lichen, but the underside does not have a "ski ...
to -somewhat umbilicate. The 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 ...
are in the form of apothecia
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 ...
, which are usually immersed in the thallus. They are typically , although a few are , and ''Polysporina'' and ''Sarcogyne'' have apothecia. The photobiont
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.[green algae
The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...]
from the family Chlorococcaceae
Chlorococcaceae is a family of green algae, in the order Chlamydomonadales.
List of genera
* '' Apodochloris''
* '' Bracteacoccus''
* '' Chlorococcopsis''
* '' Chlorococcum''
* '' Chlorohippotes''
* '' Chlorotetraedron''
* '' Closteridium''
* ' ...
). Various lichen product
Lichen products, also known as lichen substances, are organic compounds produced by a lichen. Specifically, they are secondary metabolites. Lichen products are represented in several different chemical classes, including terpenoids, orcinol deriva ...
s have been reported in the family, including depside
A depside is a type of polyphenolic compound composed of two or more monocyclic aromatic units linked by an ester bond. Depsides are most often found in lichens, but have also been isolated from higher plants, including species of the Ericaceae, L ...
s, depsidone
Depsidones (+ " depside" + "one") are chemical compounds that are sometimes found as secondary metabolites in lichens. They are esters that are both depsides and cyclic ethers. An example is norstictic acid
Norstictic acid is a depsidone produc ...
s, and derivatives
The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value.
Derivative may also refer to:
In mathematics and economics
* Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages
* Formal derivative, an ...
of pulvinic acid
Pulvinic acids are natural chemical pigments found in some lichens, derived biosynthetically from the aromatic amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine, via dimerization and oxidative ring-cleavage of aryl pyruvic acids, a process that also produ ...
. Most Acarosporaceae species grow on land
''Ambient 4: On Land'' is the eighth solo studio album by British ambient musician Brian Eno. Released in 1982, it was the final edition in Eno's ambient series, which began in 1978 with '' Music for Airports''.
Overview
''On Land'' is a mix ...
or on rock.
Genera
These are the genera that are in the Acarosporaceae (including estimated number of species in each genus, totalling 261 species), according to a 2021 review of fungal classification.taxonomic authority
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
(those who first circumscribed the genus; standardized author abbreviations are used), year of publication, and the estimated number of species.Pleopsidium
''Pleopsidium'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Acarosporaceae. The widespread genus, which contains four species, was circumscribed by lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber
Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Hirschberg – ...
'' – 4 spp.
* ''Polysporina
''Polysporina'' is a genus of lichenized fungi
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organ ...
'' – 10 spp.
* '' Sarcogyne'' – ca. 30 spp.
* '' Timdalia'' – 1 sp.
* '' Trimmatothelopsis'' – 11 spp.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q338085
Acarosporales
Lichen families
Lecanoromycetes families
Taxa named by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo
Taxa described in 1852