Megalospora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Megalosporaceae.[2]

Megalospora
Megalospora porphyritis on red maple
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Megalosporaceae
Genus: Megalospora
Meyen (1843)
Type species
Megalospora sulphurata
Meyen (1843)
Synonyms[1]
  • Austroblastenia Sipman (1983)
  • Bombyliospora De Not. (1852)
  • Bombyliosporomyces Cif. & Tomas. (1953)
  • Byssophragmia M.Choisy (1931)
  • Dumoulinia Stein (1883)
  • Heterothecium Flot. (1850)

Taxonomy

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The genus was circumscribed in 1843 by Prussian botanist Franz Meyen, with Megalospora sulphurata assigned as the type, and at that time, only species. The genus was then largely defined on the basis of the structure of the apothecia.[3]

In 2012, Gintaras Kantvilas and H. Thorsten Lumbsch synonymized the genus Austroblastenia (which contained two species) with Megalospora, based on both morphology and molecular phylogeny.[4]

Description

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Megalospora is characterised by its large, bicellar ascospores. Other features include the crustose thallus, the lecideine apothecia, and the presence of oil droplets in the hymenium.[5] The photobiont partner is a member of the green algal genus Dictyochloropsis. Megalospora species are usually distinguished based on the type of ascospore, thallus chemistry, and the presence or absence of reproductive propagules such as isidia and soralia.[4]

Species

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As of December 2021, Species Fungorum accepts 22 species of Megalospora.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Synonymy: Megalospora Meyen, in Meyen & Flotow, Nova Acta Phys.-Med. Acad. Caes. Leop.-Carol. Nat. Cur., Suppl. 1 19: 228 (1843)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  2. ^ Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8. hdl:10481/61998.
  3. ^ Meyen, J.; Flotow, J. (1843). "Observationes Botanicas in itinere circum terram institutas (1830–1832): Lichenes". Nova Acta Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Germanicae Naturae Curiosorum (in Latin). 19 (Suppl. 1): 209–232.
  4. ^ a b Kantvilas, Gintaras; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2012). "Reappraisal of the genera of Megalosporaceae (Teloschistales, Ascomycota)". Australian Systematic Botany. 25 (3): 210–216. doi:10.1071/SB11040. S2CID 84245560.
  5. ^ a b c d Untari, Ludmilla Fitri (2006). "The lichen genus Megalospora in Java". Mycotaxon. 97: 129–143.
  6. ^ Source dataset. Species Fungorum Plus: Species Fungorum for CoL+. "Megalospora". Catalog of Life Version 2021-12-18. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b Lumbsch, H.T.; Ahti, T.; Altermann, S.; De Paz, G.A.; Aptroot, A.; Arup, U.; et al. (2011). "One hundred new species of lichenized fungi: a signature of undiscovered global diversity". Phytotaxa. 18 (1). Magnolia Press: 83. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.18.1.1. hdl:11336/4198.
  8. ^ a b Lücking, R. (2007). "Megalospora imshaugii sp. nov. and M. caraibica sp. nov. from Jamaica (Ascomycota: Teloschistales: Megalosporaceae) increase the number of American Megalospora species to ten". Fungal Diversity. 27: 103–110.
  9. ^ Kantvilas, Gintaras (2018). "A new species of Megalospora Meyen (lichenised Ascomycetes) from Tasmania". Cryptogam Biodiversity and Assessment (1): 6–10. doi:10.21756/cab.v3i01.esp2 (inactive 2024-11-05).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  10. ^ Sipman, H. (1986). "Additional notes on the lichen family Megalosporaceae". Willdenowia. 15: 557–564.
  11. ^ a b Sipman, H.J.M. (1983). A Monograph of the Lichen Family Megalosporaceae. Bibliotheca Lichenologica. Vol. 18. Strauss & Kramer GmbH. pp. 1–241. ISBN 978-3-7682-1354-7.
  12. ^ a b Kantvilas, Gintaras (1994). "Additions to the family Megalosporaceae in Tasmania and mainland Australia". The Lichenologist. 26 (4): 349–366. Bibcode:1994ThLic..26..349K. doi:10.1006/lich.1994.1029. S2CID 84768080.