The Magnaporthaceae 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 ...

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

Magnaporthales The Magnaporthales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes Sordariomycetes is a class of fungi in the subdivision Pezizomycotina (Ascomycota), consisting of 28 orders, 90 families, 1344 genera. Sordariomycetes is from the Latin ...

. It was circumscribed by Paul F. Cannon in 1994 for a group of grass-associated fungi centered on ''Magnaporthe'' (''Nakataea''). Magnaporthaceae have a harpophora-like asexual morphology and are often associated with roots of grasses or cereals. Important pathogens from the ''Magnaporthaceae'' include '' Nakataea oryzae,

Gaeumannomyces graminis ''Gaeumannomyces graminis'' var. ''graminis'' is a plant pathogen. This fungal pathogen produces extensive damage on the sheath of rice, causing black spots which protrude from the infected. This pathogen also generates a discoloration in the fol ...

'', '' Magnaporthiopsis poae'' and ''

Magnaporthe rhizophila ''Magnaporthe rhizophila'' is a fungus species in the family Magnaporthaceae. These dark mycelial fungi are common pathogens of cereal and grass roots. Rice blast is one disease known to be caused by M. rhizophila and presents with vascular disco ...

''.

Taxonomy and systematics

Type genus: ''Nakataea'' Hara (= ''Magnaporthe'' R.A. Krause & R.K. Webster) Type species: '' Nakataea oryzae'' (Catt.) J. Luo & N. Zhang

Description

Magnaporthaceae that reproduce sexually, have

perithecial An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mos ...

ascomata that are immersed in host tissue, frequently with long necks.

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 ...

are cylindrical and stain positive in Meltzer's reagent.

Ascospore An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...

s are curved to sigmoid and contain septa. They show variability in their morphology and can be filiform (''Gaeumannomyces'') or fusiform (''Nakataea'' = ''Magnaporthe''). The colour of ascospores is hyaline to olivaceous. Asexual morphs have hyaline to pale brown conidia, which are septate to aseptate, straight or curved and variable in shape.

Higher order systematics

Magnaporthaceae used to be the only family within the order

, which are closely related to the orders

Diaporthales Diaporthales is an order of sac fungi. Wijayawardene et al. in 2020 added a number of name families to the order. Diaporthales includes a number of plant pathogenic fungi, the most notorious of which is ''Cryphonectria parasitica'' (Murrill) B ...

and

Ophiostomatales The Ophiostomatales are an order of fungi in the class Sordariomycetes. They are commonly symbionts to insect species, which can be found in numerous cases, including some termites and many bark beetles A bark beetle is the common name for th ...

. Phylogenetic analysis showed that three clear clades could be distinguished within the

. The Magnaporthaceae are sister to Pyriculariaceae, and Ophioceraceae.

Taxonomic history

The family Magnaporthaceae was originally described with six genera and around 20 species comprising mainly

necrotrophic 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 t ...

and hemibiotrophic plant pathogens infecting root and shoots of ''

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

'' and ''

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' w ...

''. Later, endophytic or apparently saprotrophic taxa on non-gramineous hosts were also added. Based on a multilocus phylogeny it was suggested that both ''Magnaporthe'' and ''Gaeumannomyces'' are polyphyletic genera. Resolving the polyphyletic nature of ''Pyricularia'' led to the definition of the family Pyriculariaceae and separated Pyricularia species from Magnaporthe species. The rice blast fungus ''

Pyricularia oryzae ''Pyricularia'' is a genus of fungi which was named by Saccardo in 1880.Saccardo, P.A. Michelia 2(no. 6): 20. 1880 The polyphyletic nature of ''Pyricularia'' has been resolved and species of ''Pyricularia s. str.'' were shown to belong to a mon ...

'' (syn. ''Magnaporthe oryzae'') is accommodated in the Pyriculariaceae, while ''

Magnaporthe salvinii ''Magnaporthe salvinii'' is a fungus known to attack a variety of grass and rice species, including ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) and ''Zizania aquatica'' (wild rice). Symptoms of fungal infection in plants include small, black, lesions on the le ...

'' (now ''Nakataea oryzae'') causing stem rot in rice, belongs to the Magnaporthaceae.

Differentiation from other families

Magnaporthaceae are distinguished from Pyriculariaceae by their asexual morphs. For Magnaporthaceae, the morphology of phialophora- or harpophora-like species is characterised by falcate versicoloured conidia on brown, erect conidiophores. In the case of Pyriculariaceae, ''Pyricularia'' or pyricularia-like species are characterised by pyriform 2-septate conidia and rhexolytic secession.

Genera

*'' Buergenerula'' *''Bussabanomyces'' *'' Ceratosphaerella'' *'' Clasterosporium'' *''Endopyricularia'' *'' Gaeumannomyces'' *'' Harpophora'' *Kohlmeyeriopsis *'' Magnaporthiopsis'' *'' Nakataea'' *'' Ophioceras'' *'' Omnidemptus'' *''Pyriculariopsis'' *''Slopeiomyces''

References

External links

*
Biolib
*
Magnaporthaceae
' in

MycoBank MycoBank is an online database, documenting new mycological names and combinations, eventually combined with descriptions and illustrations. It is run by the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute in Utrecht. Each novelty, after being screene ...

B#81963 Ascomycota families Magnaporthales {{Sordariomycetes-stub