The Ceratobasidiaceae 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

Cantharellales The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles (Cantharellaceae), but also some of the tooth fungi (Hydnaceae), clavarioid fungi ( Aphelariaceae and Clavulinaceae), and cor ...

. All

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

within the family have

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 are thin and effused. They have sometimes been included within 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 ...

or alternatively within 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 ...

". Species are

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 ( ...

, but some are also facultative plant pathogens or are associated with

orchid mycorrhiza Orchid mycorrhizae are endomycorrhizal fungi which develop symbiotic relationships with the roots and seeds of plants of the family Orchidaceae. Nearly all orchids are myco-heterotrophic at some point in their life cycle. Orchid mycorrhizae are cr ...

. Genera of economic importance include '' Ceratobasidium'' and ''

Rhizoctonia ''Rhizoctonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Cantharellales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies), but are most frequently found in their sterile, anamorphic state. ''Rhizoctonia'' species are saprotrophic, bu ...

'', both of which contain plant pathogenic species causing diseases of commercial crops and

turf grass A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

Taxonomy

The family was created in 1948 by American mycologist G.W. Martin to accommodate species of

with heterobasidiomycete features (elongated

sterigmata In biology, a sterigma (pl. sterigmata) is a small supporting structure. It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the ti ...

and basidiospores that give rise to secondary spores). He restricted the Ceratobasidiaceae to the genus ''Ceratobasidium'', though including within the genus species later placed in ''Thanatephorus'' and ''

Oliveonia ''Oliveonia'' is a genus of fungi in the order Auriculariales. Species form thin, effused, corticioid basidiocarps (fruit bodies) with microscopically prominent cystidia and aseptate basidia producing basidiospores that give rise to secondary s ...

''. In 1981, Jülich created the order Ceratobasidiales to accommodate the family. By 1995, the order and the family contained 18 genera, including ''Ceratobasidium'', '' Heteroacanthella'', ''Oliveonia'', '' Scotomyces'', ''Thanatephorus'', and their various synonyms and anamorphs.

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 now shown that the Ceratobasidiaceae do not belong to a separate order, but are part of the Cantharellales. The genera ''Heteroacanthella'' and ''Oliveonia'' are not closely related to the Ceratobasidiaceae, but have been placed in the

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 ...

. No species of the genus ''Scotomyces'' has yet been sequenced. Following changes to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, the practice of giving different names to teleomorph and anamorph forms of the same fungus was discontinued, meaning that ''Thanatephorus'' became a synonym of the earlier name ''Rhizoctonia'', previously used for anamorphic species. DNA evidence also placed most, if not all, ''Ceratobasidium'' species in ''Rhizoctonia''. Research on the

septal pore In algal anatomy, a pit connection is a hole in the septum between two algal cells, and is found only in the red algae − specifically, all orders except the Porphyridiales and haploid Bangiales. They are often stoppered with proteinaceous "pit ...

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 little-known and atypical type species of ''Ceratobasidium'', '' C. calosporum'', indicates that it is a member of the Auriculariales and is unrelated to other species of ''Ceratobasidium''. Technically, this means that the Ceratobasidiaceae belong within the Auriculariales, but this is a taxonomic problem that has yet to be resolved.

Habitat and distribution

Species are mainly

, occurring in the soil and producing fruit bodies on dead stems and plant detritus. Some occur on attached leaves and stems. Several species have been isolated from

or from diseased crops and turf grass. Distribution appears to be

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 ...

Economic importance

Several species of ''Ceratobasidium'' and ''Rhizoctonia'' are opportunistic parasites of plants, causing a variety of economically important diseases of crops.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3774448 Cantharellales Ceratobasidiaceae