''Rickiopora'' is a fungal

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 ...

of unknown familial placement in the order

Polyporales The Polyporales are an order of about 1800 species of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The order includes some (but not all) polypores as well as many corticioid fungi and a few agarics (mainly in the genus ''Lentinus''). Many species within ...

. 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 one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

, containing the single neotropical species ''Rickiopora latemarginata''.

Taxonomy

''Rickiopora latemarginata'' was first characterized by

Johannes Rick Johannes (João Evangelista) Rick (19 January 1869 – 1946) was an Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycologist considered the "father of Brazilian mycology". He was the first to systematically document the fungal biodiversity, particularly the ...

, who called it ''Daedalea latemarginata''. Mario Rajchenberg proposed a transfer to genus '' Ceriporiopsis'' in 1987. In collaboration with Mauro Westphalen and Michal Tomšovský, Rajchenberg

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 ...

the new genus ''Rickiopora'' in 2016 to contain the fungus. The generic name honours Johannes Rick. The fungus ''Antrodiella angulatopora'', described from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Leif Ryvarden Leif Randulff Ryvarden (born 9 August 1935) is a Norwegian mycologist. Early life and education Leif Ryvarden was born in Bergen as a son of Einar Norberg Johansen (1900–1959) and Hjørdis Randulff (1912–1975). He finished his secondary edu ...

in 1987, was later determined by Rajchenberg to be

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

with ''Ceriporiopsis latemarginata''. ''Rickiopora'' groups

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

ally in the "residual polyploid

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

", but is distinct from all other polypore genera found in this clade and so has not been assigned to any specific

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 ...

of the

Description

A combination of characteristics found in ''Rickiopora'' distinguish it from other polypore genera. It has

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 ...

that become corky to tough and brittle when dried. The

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 ...

l system is monomitic, consisting of clamped and metachromatic generative hyphae (

staining Staining is a technique used to enhance contrast in samples, generally at the microscopic level. Stains and dyes are frequently used in histology (microscopic study of biological tissues), in cytology (microscopic study of cells), and in the ...

a reddish purple when mounted in cresyl blue), and thick-walled hyphae with sparse clamps. The spores are

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

to ovoid, measuring 11–16 by 4–7

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 ...

. ''Rickiopora'' features both a bipolar mating system, and astatocenocytic nuclear behaviour.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q30689016 Fungi of South America Polyporales Monotypic Polyporales genera