The Doassansiaceae 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 division
Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...
and order of
Doassansiales
The Doassansiales are an order of fungi in the class Exobasidiomycetes. The order consist of three families: the Doassansiaceae, the Melaniellaceae, and the Rhamphosporaceae (which is a monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonom ...
. 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 58 species. They have a widespread distribution.
[P. F. Cannon and P. M. Kirk (editors) ] ''Doassansiaceae'' is also known and classified as a ''
smut fungi
The smuts are multicellular fungi characterized by their large numbers of teliospores. The smuts get their name from a Germanic word for dirt because of their dark, thick-walled, and dust-like teliospores. They are mostly Ustilaginomycetes (phylum ...
''.
[K. G. Mukerji and C. Manoharachary (editors) ]
They have parasitic
hyphae
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 ...
with clamps, they are also
teliosporic (have a thick-walled resting spore) and
dimorphic (can be
mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungus, fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of Spore#Fungi, spores containing Secondary metabolite#Fungal secondary metabolites, fungal seco ...
or
yeasts
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitut ...
) as well as not forming
ballistocondia (air discharged spores) in the haploid phase.
The do not have
haustoria
In botany and mycology, a haustorium (plural haustoria) is a rootlike structure that grows into or around another structure to absorb water or nutrients. For example, in mistletoe or members of the broomrape family, the structure penetrates t ...
(root-like structures).
When the family was originally created (by R. Bauer and Oberw. 1997), it had 7 genera (''Burrillia'', ''Doassansia'', ''Heterodoassansia'', ''Nannfeldtiomyces'', ''Narasimhania'', ''Pseudodoassansia'' and ''Tracya'') and 36 species. Then ''Doassinga'' was added in 1998.
Others were added after this date, such as ''Pseudodermatosorus'' in 1999.
Description
They have
sori that develops on leaves, petioles and stems of plants, it is visible as pale green, yellowish or brownish lesions with spore balls as very small brown dots. The hyphae are intercellular and the spore balls are globose or irregular in shape and composed of a central mass of spores, with a missing central sterile region. They sometimes have sterile cells scattered around and sometimes have a sterile cortex. The teliospores are globose or irregularly faceted,
hyaline
A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none.
Histopathology
Hyaline cartilage is ...
or yellowish, smooth, thin walled, germinating to form a short hypha-like promycelium from which a cluster of basidiospores are produced towards an apex.
[
]
Genera
As accepted by the GBIF
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via the Internet using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the ...
;[
]
Ecology
They are parasitic on plants, attaching to leaves and stems of monocotyledons
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of t ...
.[
''Doassansia sagittaria'' and ''Doassansia deformans'' can be found on plants of '']Sagittaria lancifolia
''Sagittaria lancifolia'', the bulltongue arrowhead, is a perennial, monocot plant in the family Alismataceae, genus ''Sagittaria'', with herbaceous growth patterns. It is native to the southeastern United States. It is known from every coastal ...
'', ''Doassansia alismatis'' can be found on various species of '' Alisma'' and both ''Doassansia occulta'' and ''Doassansia martianoffiana'' can be found on various species of ''Potamogeton
''Potamogeton'' is a genus of aquatic, mostly freshwater, plants of the family Potamogetonaceae. Most are known by the common name pondweed, although many unrelated plants may be called pondweed, such as Canadian pondweed (''Elodea canadensis'' ...
'' plants.
Also, '' Acornus calamus'' is a host to ''Nannfeldtiomyces sparganii'' and the leaves of ''Sparganium americanum'' are a host to ''Nannfeldtiomyces anomalus''.[Donald H. Les ] ''Narasimhania'' also affects ''Alisma'' plants.
They can affect water plants as well as land based plants.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10475068
Ustilaginomycotina
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases
Basidiomycota families