The Auriculariaceae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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

Auriculariales The Auriculariales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. Species within the order were formerly referred to the " heterobasidiomycetes" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that produce spores on s ...

. Species within the family were formerly referred to the "

heterobasidiomycetes Heterobasidiomycetes, including jelly fungi, smuts and rusts, are basidiomycetes with septate basidia. This contrasts them to homobasidiomycetes (alternatively called holobasidiomycetes), including most mushrooms and other Agaricomycetes, whic ...

" or "jelly fungi", since many have gelatinous

basidiocarps In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma () is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not ...

(fruit bodies) that produce spores on septate

basidia A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium (a spore-producing structure) found on the hymenophore of fruiting bodies of basidiomycete fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly- ...

. Around 100 species are known worldwide. All are believed to be

saprotrophic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

, most growing on dead wood. Fruit bodies of several ''

Auricularia ''Auricularia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maint ...

'' species are cultivated for food on a commercial scale, especially in China.

Taxonomy

History

The family was established in 1897 by German mycologist

Gustav Lindau Gustav Lindau (2 May 1866 in Dessau – 10 October 1923 in Berlin), was a German mycologist and botanist. Biography Gustav Lindau studied natural history in Heidelberg and Berlin, where he studied under Simon Schwendener (1829–1919). He co ...

to accommodate species of fungi having "gymnocarpous" basidiocarps (with the hymenium exposed) and "auricularioid"

(more or less cylindrical basidia with lateral septa). It included not only the genus ''

'', but also '' Platygloea'', '' Jola'', '' Saccoblastia'', and ''Stypinella'' (= '' Helicobasidium''). In 1922, British mycologist

Carleton Rea Carleton Rea (7 May 1861 – 26 June 1946) was an English mycologist, botanist, and naturalist. Background and education Carleton Rea was born in Worcester, the son of the City Coroner. He was educated at The King's School and Magdalen Colle ...

recognized the family as containing the genera ''Auricularia'', ''

Eocronartium ''Eocronartium'' is a monotypic genus 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 organi ...

'', ''Helicobasidium'', ''Platygloea'', and '' Stilbum''. Both Lindau and Rea placed the family within the Auriculariales, but some subsequent authors placed it within the

Tremellales The Tremellales are an order of fungi in the class Tremellomycetes. The order contains both teleomorphic and anamorphic species, most of the latter being yeasts. All teleomorphic species in the Tremellales are parasites of other fungi, though th ...

. A radical revision was undertaken in 1984, when American mycologist

Robert Joseph Bandoni Robert Joseph Bandoni (11 November 1926 – 5 May 2009) was a mycologist who specialized on the taxonomy and morphology of the heterobasidiomycetes (“jelly fungi”). During his 50 years as professor at the University of British Columbia, ...

used

transmission electron microscopy Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a microscopy technique in which a beam of electrons is transmitted through a specimen to form an image. The specimen is most often an ultrathin section less than 100 nm thick or a suspension on a g ...

to investigate the

ultrastructure Ultrastructure (or ultra-structure) is the architecture of cells and biomaterials that is visible at higher magnifications than found on a standard optical light microscope. This traditionally meant the resolution and magnification range of a co ...

of the septal pore apparatus in the Auriculariales. This revealed that species of fungi with "auricularioid" basidia were not necessarily closely related and that ''

'' had more in common with ''

Exidia ''Exidia'' is a genus of fungi in the family Auriculariaceae. The species are saprotrophic, occurring in attached or recently fallen dead wood, and produce gelatinous basidiocarps (fruit bodies). The fruit bodies are diverse, pustular, lobed, bu ...

'' and its allies (with "tremelloid" basidia), than with other auricularioid fungi. Bandoni therefore limited the Auriculariaceae to the genus ''Auricularia''.

Current status

Molecular research, based on

cladistic Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups ("clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

analysis of

DNA sequences A nucleic acid sequence is a succession of bases signified by a series of a set of five different letters that indicate the order of nucleotides forming alleles within a DNA (using GACT) or RNA (GACU) molecule. By convention, sequences are us ...

, has confirmed that the Auriculariaceae belong within the order Auriculariales, but has also indicated that the family is not distinguishable from the Exidiaceae. A clade containing ''Auricularia'' and ''Exidia'' species (plus their allies) equates to the Auriculariaceae.

Description

The majority of species within the Auriculariaceae produce gelatinous

(fruit bodies) on dead wood. In some these are conspicuous and may be ear-shaped, button-shaped, lobed, or effused. Their

hymenophores A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body. Hymenophores can be smooth surfaces, lamellae, folds, tubes, or teeth. The term was coined by Robert Hooke Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was ...

(spore-bearing surfaces) may be smooth, warted, veined, spiny, or poroid. Some species, however, produce dry, leathery, or web-like fruit bodies resembling those of the

corticioid fungi The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or pa ...

Distribution and habitat

All species within the Auriculariaceae are thought to be saprotrophs, most of them wood-rotters typically found on dead attached or fallen wood. As a group, their distribution is

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

. The Auriculariaceae currently contain some 15 genera.

Economic importance

Several species within the order are edible and two, ''

Auricularia heimuer ''Auricularia heimuer'', also known as heimuer () or black wood ear, is a species of fungus in the order Auriculariales. It is commercially cultivated for food in China at a value exceeding $4 billion (USD) per year. The species was previously r ...

'' and '' Auricularia cornea'', are cultivated on a commercial scale, particularly in China and southeast Asia. They are widely exported, in a dried or powdered state, as "black fungus", "cloud ears", or "wood ears".

References

External links

Auriculariaceae
i

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2595929 Auriculariales Basidiomycota families Taxa named by Gustav Lindau Taxa described in 1897