''Keissleriella rara'' is a rare species of
fungus in the family
Lophiostomataceae
The Lophiostomataceae are a family of fungi in the order Pleosporales. Taxa have a widespread distribution, especially in temperate regions, and are saprobic or necrotrophic
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of ...
. The species fruits exclusively on dead or dying standing
culms of the saltmarsh plant ''
Juncus roemerianus''. It is known only from the
Atlantic Coast of
North Carolina.
Taxonomy and naming
The species was first
described by mycologists Jan Kohlmeyer, Brigitte Volkmann-Kohlmeyer, and Ove Eriksson in a 1996 ''
Mycological Research
''Fungal Biology'' is a scientific journal that publishes peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of basic and applied research of the fungi, including lichens, yeasts, oomycetes, and slime moulds. A publication of the British Mycological Society, it w ...
'' publication. The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
is from the
Latin ''rarus'' ("rare"), refers to the rarity of the species.
Description
The roughly spherical leathery
fruit bodies
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...
(ascomata) are 170–240
μm
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...
high by 200–300 μm wide, and are almost completely embedded in the
host
A host is a person responsible for guests at an event or for providing hospitality during it.
Host may also refer to:
Places
* Host, Pennsylvania, a village in Berks County
People
*Jim Host (born 1937), American businessman
* Michel Host ...
tissue. The ascomata have
ostiole
An ''ostiole'' is a small hole or opening through which algae or fungi release their mature spores.
The word is a diminutive of "ostium", "opening".
The term is also used in higher plants, for example to denote the opening of the involuted ...
s (openings) at the top, and are arranged in small dark brown colonies with light grey patches where the
cuticle
A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous, differing in their origin, structu ...
is detached from the plant
epidermis
The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rele ...
. There is a dark brown
mycelium in the epidermal cells surrounding the ostioles, making a pseudostroma—a
stroma in which fungal cells and remnants of host tissue are mixed. Although the ascomata have no necks, they do have black bristles (measuring 28–36 by 2.5–4 μm) that surround and obstruct the ostiole. The
peridium is 10–13 μm thick, and made of 2–3 layers of roughly spherical or ellipsoidal brown cells with large
lumina that form a ''textura angularis''—a
parenchyma
Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ or structure such as a tumour. In zoology it is the name for the tissue that fills the interior of flatworms.
Etymology
The term ''parenchyma'' is New Latin from the word π ...
-like tissue of very densely packed cells that appear angular in longitudinal section. Closer to the
locule
A locule (plural locules) or loculus (plural loculi) (meaning "little place" in Latin) is a small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an organism (animal, plant, or fungus).
In angiosperms (flowering plants), the term ''locule'' usu ...
, the cells become more
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 ...
(translucent) and thin-walled; it is from this region that the pseudo
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 ...
originate. The hamathecium (a term referring to all
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 ...
e that develop between
asci ASCI or Asci may refer to:
* Advertising Standards Council of India
* Asci, the plural of ascus, in fungal anatomy
* Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative
* American Society for Clinical Investigation
* Argus Sour Crude Index
* Association of ...
of the
hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...
) is made of branched