The Hyaloriaceae 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 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 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- ...

and, as such, 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". All appear 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 ( ...

, growing on dead wood or plant remains. Less than 30 species are currently included within the Hyaloriaceae, but the family has not been extensively researched.

Taxonomy

History

The family was established in 1900 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 a single, neotropical species, '' Hyaloria pilacre''. Lindau considered his new family to be close to the

Tremellaceae The Tremellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Tremellales. The family is cosmopolitan and contains both teleomorphic and anamorphic species, most of the latter being yeasts. All teleomorphs in the Tremellaceae are parasites of other fung ...

, but distinguished by the "angiocarpous" or

gasteroid The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota. Species were formerly placed in the obsolete class Gasteromycetes Fr. (literally "stomach fungi"), or the equally obsolete order Gasteromycetales Rea, because they produce spores i ...

development of its fruit bodies (meaning that the spore-bearing hymenia were covered until maturity, rather than exposed). The Hyaloriaceae were placed within the order

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 ...

by most subsequent authors, until 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, ...

revised this group of fungi and placed the family within the

. Wells (1994) later extended the Hyaloriaceae to include other genera with "myxarioid" basidia (septate basidia with an enucleate stalk), previously placed in the Aporpiaceae or Myxariaceae.

Current status

Initial 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 supported the placement of the Hyaloriaceae within the Auriculariales and has also supported Wells' placement of the genus '' Myxarium'' within the family, though not all genera with "myxarioid" basidia are included.

Description

Species within the Hyaloriaceae form gelatinous fruit bodies that are pustular, lobed, or effused (''Myxarium'' species) or resemble miniature puffballs (''Hyaloria'' species). Microscopically, all possess "myxarioid" basidia.

Distribution and habitat

Species appear to be

, growing on dead wood or plant remains. 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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5952637 Auriculariales Hyaloriaceae Taxa named by Gustav Lindau Taxa described in 1900