The Pyriculariaceae are a family of

ascomycete Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...

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 introduced by S. Klaubauf, M.H. Lebrun & P.W. Crous in 2014.

Taxonomy

Type genus: Pyricularia Sacc. 1880 Type species:

Pyricularia grisea ''Magnaporthe grisea'', also known as rice blast fungus, rice rotten neck, rice seedling blight, blast of rice, oval leaf spot of graminea, pitting disease, ryegrass blast, Johnson spot, neck blast, wheat blast, and Imochi (Japanese:稲熱) is a ...

Sacc. 1880 The

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

nature of Pyricularia has been resolved in 2014 leading to the definition of a new family, the Pyriculariaceae. Phylogenetic analysis showed that three clear clades could be distinguished. One clade corresponds to

Magnaporthaceae The Magnaporthaceae are a family of fungi in the order Magnaporthales. 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 ...

(based on Nakataea), and two other clades were defined as new families: Pyriculariaceae (based on Pyricularia), and Ophioceraceae (based on Ophioceras).

Description

The Pyriculariaceae that reproduce sexually form perithecial fruiting bodies (

ascomata 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 mo ...

), which are immersed, black and with long cylindrical necks covered in

seta In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

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 subcylindrical, unitunicate, short-stipitate and with a large apical ring staining in Meltzer's iodine 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 septate and fusiform. Asexual morphs are

hyphomycetes Hyphomycetes are a form classification of fungi, part of what has often been referred to as fungi imperfecti, Deuteromycota, or anamorphic fungi. Hyphomycetes lack closed fruit bodies, and are often referred to as moulds (or molds). Most hyphom ...

with simple, branched

conidiophores A conidium ( ; ), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are al ...

. Asexual spores (

conidia A conidium ( ; ), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (), is an asexual, non-motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word for dust, ('). They are also called mitospores due to the ...

) are hyaline to brown in colour with transverse septa. The typical pyriform shape and 2-septate conidium morphology is characteristic for ''Pyricularia'' and ''Neopyricularia.'' Other genera have obclavate to more ellipsoid 2-septate conidia. ''Deightoniella'' and ''Macgarvieomyces'' evolved 1-septate conidia. An identification key to genera of Pyriculariaceae is provided by Maharachchikumbura et al (2016)

Differentiation from other families

Pyriculariaceae is distinguished from

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

Genera

* Bambusicularia * Barretomyces * Macgarvieomyces * Neocordana * Neopyricularia * Proxipyricularia * Pseudopyricularia * Pyricularia * Xenopyricularia

Ecology

Pyriculariaceae are saprobic or plant pathogenic fungi on various plant hosts, commonly on

monocots Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of t ...

. Their host spectrum includes many

grasses 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 and ...

(Poaceae), and also

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

sedges 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'' wit ...

, rushes and

commelina ''Commelina'' is a genus of approximately 170 species commonly called dayflowers due to the short lives of their flowers. They are less often known as widow's tears. It is by far the largest genus of its family, Commelinaceae. The Swedish taxonom ...

. Blast diseases by Pyriculariaceae are caused by use of an

appressorium An appressorium is a specialized cell typical of many fungal plant pathogens that is used to infect host plants. It is a flattened, hyphal "pressing" organ, from which a minute infection peg grows and enters the host, using turgor pressure capable ...

to penetrate the host.

Economic significance

Species of Pyriculariaceae cause major diseases on grasses, among which ''

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 ...

'' (sexual morph ''Magnaporthe oryzae'') is responsible for the devastating disease of rice (rice blast). ''P. oryzae'' can also infect other host plants, such as

Eleusine ''Eleusine'' is a genus of Asian, African, and South American plants in the grass family,Oryza ''Oryza'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. It includes the major food crop rice (species ''Oryza sativa'' and ''Oryza glaberrima''). Members of the genus grow as tall, wetland grasses, growing to tall; the genus includes both annual an ...

Setaria ''Setaria'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. The name is derived from the Latin word ''seta'', meaning "bristle" or "hair", which refers to the bristly spikelets. The genus includes over 100 species distributed in many tr ...

Triticum Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologica ...

. Other Pyricularia species can infect

Cenchrus ''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Common names include buffelgrasses, sandburs, and sand spur “sti ...

Echinochloa ''Echinochloa'' is a very widespread genus of plants in the grass family and tribe Paniceae. Some of the species are known by the common names barnyard grass or cockspur grass. Some of the species within this genus are millets that are grown a ...

Lolium ''Lolium'' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera. They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' is ...

Pennisetum ''Pennisetum'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. They are known commonly as fountaingrasses (fountain grasses).Zingiber The genus ''Zingiber'' is native to Southeast Asia especially in Thailand, China, the Indian Subcontinent, and New Guinea. It contains the true gingers, plants grown the world over for their culinary value. The most well known are '' Z. officina ...

References

External links

*
Pyriculariaceae
' 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#810202
Biolib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q21398147 Magnaporthales