''Pochonia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

within the order

Hypocreales The Hypocreales are an order of fungi within the class Sordariomycetes. In 2008, it was estimated that it contained some 237 genera, and 2647 species in seven families. Since then, a considerable number of further taxa have been identified, in ...

and is described as anamorphic

Metacordyceps ''Metacordyceps'' is a genus of fungi in the family Clavicipitaceae. The anamorph In mycology, the terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota: *Teleom ...

; eight

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 ...

are described. Previously placed in the genus ''

Verticillium ''Verticillium'' is a genus of fungi in the division Ascomycota, and are an anamorphic form of the family Plectosphaerellaceae. The genus used to include diverse groups comprising saprobes and parasites of higher plants, insects, nematodes, mo ...

'', these fungi are known to be pathogenic to

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s and are being developed and commercialized as biological pesticides. The genus name of ''Pochonia'' is in honour of Jacques Pochon (1907-1978), who was a French doctor and

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Ancient Greek, Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of Microorganism, microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, f ...

from the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines f ...

. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

Augusto Chaves Batista Augusto Chaves Batista (15 June 1916 – 30 November 1967) was a Brazilian mycologist. He published more than 600 research papers, either alone or in collaboration with others. At the time of his death at the age of 51, Batista was the director of ...

and Ozório José de Menezes Fonseca in Publ. Inst. Micol. Univ. Recife vol.462 on page 4 in 1965.

Species

The '' IndexFungorum'' records the following species; * ''Pochonia bulbillosa'' * '' Pochonia chlamydosporia'' ** ''Pochonia chlamydosporia'' var. ''catenulata'' ** ''Pochonia chlamydosporia'' var. ''chlamydosporia'' * ''Pochonia globispora'' * ''Pochonia goniodes'' * ''Pochonia humicola'' * ''Pochonia microbactrospora'' * ''Pochonia parasitica'' * ''Pochonia rubescens'' * ''Pochonia suchlasporia'' ** ''Pochonia suchlasporia'' var. ''catenata'' ** ''Pochonia suchlasporia'' var. ''suchlasporia''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7206344 Biopesticides Parasitic fungi Clavicipitaceae