The Mortierellaceae 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 Mortierellales. The family contains six

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 93

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 ...

Taxonomic history

Many genera have been included in this family.Alexopoulos C. J., C. W. Mims, & M. Blackwell. 1996. Introductory Mycology. Fourth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. According to Fitzpatrick, the family contained ''

Mortierella ''Mortierella'' species are soil fungi belonging to the order Mortierellales within the subphylum Mortierellomycotina (phylum: Mucoromycota). The widespread genus contains about 85 species. Taxonomy The genus name of ''Mortierella'' is in hon ...

'', '' Herpocladium'', ''

Dissophora ''Dissophora'' is a genus of fungi in the Mortierellaceae family of the Zygomycota. The genus is widespread in north temperate regions and contains three species. ''Dissophora'' was circumscribed by American mycologist Roland Thaxter Roland Th ...

'', and '' Haplosporangium''.Fitzpatrick, Harry Morton. 1930. The Lower Fungi: Phycomycetes. First Edition. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. New York. Later, '' Herpocladium'' was removed and ''

Aquamortierella ''Aquamortierella'' is a fungal genus in the Mortierellaceae family of the Zygomycota. The genus is monotypic, containing the single species ''Aquamortierella elegans'', found in New Zealand and Japan. The genus name of ''Aquamortierella'' is i ...

'' added. Another genus, '' Echinosporangium'', was later added.Hesseltine C. W. & J. J. Ellis. 1973. Mucorales. ''in'': The Fungi: An Advanced Treatise. Volume 5B. A Taxonomic Review with Keys: Basidiomycetes and Lower Fungi. Academic Press. New York. pg. 187-217. Currently, the family contains ''

'', which may be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

compared to other genera, the bitypic (containing only two species) ''

'' and ''

Modicella ''Modicella'' is a genus of fungi in the Mortierellaceae in the family of the Mucoromycota. It was formerly in the family Zygomycota Zygomycota, or zygote fungi, is a former division or phylum of the kingdom Fungi. The members are now par ...

'', and the monotypic (containing only one species) genera '' Aquamortirella'', ''

Lobosporangium ''Lobosporangium'' is a fungal genus in the Mortierellaceae family of the Zygomycota. The genus is monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species ...

'', and ''

Gamsiella ''Gamsiella'' is a fungal genus in the Mortierellaceae family of the Zygomycota. The genus is monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is on ...

''.White, M. M., James, T. Y., O’Donnell, K., Cafaro, M. J., Tanabe, Y., & Sugiyama, J. (2006). Phylogeny of the Zygomycota based on nuclear ribosomal sequence data. Mycologia, 98(6), 872-884. A new genus, '' Echinochlamydosporium'', was described in 2011. In 2018, due to DNA analysis, ''Echinochlamydosporium'' was transferred to the Calcarisporiellaceae family.

Morphology

Members of this family have

coenocytic A coenocyte () is a multinucleate cell which can result from multiple nuclear divisions without their accompanying cytokinesis, in contrast to a syncytium, which results from cellular aggregation followed by dissolution of the cell membranes insid ...

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 ...

. Colonies tend to be white or off-white and are characterized by

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