Spinomyces is a genus of fungi in the family Gomphillaceae.[2] It has six species of leaf-dwelling lichens.[3]

Spinomyces
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Graphidales
Family: Gomphillaceae
Genus: Spinomyces
Bat. & Peres ex Xavier-Leite, M.Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
Type species
Spinomyces albostrigosus
(R.Sant.) Xavier-Leite, Cáceres & Lücking (2023)
Species

S. aggregatus
S. albostrigosus
S. deslooveri
S. guatemalensis
S. microcarpus
S. verrucosus

Synonyms[1]
  • Spinomyces Bat. & Peres (1961)

Taxonomy

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The genus name Spinomyces has a complex taxonomic history. In 1961,[4] the mycologists Augusto Chaves Batista and Generosa Emília Pontual Peres first proposed the name Spinomyces, using a specimen they called S. genipae. However, when scientists later examined this original specimen, they discovered it was actually a mixture of two different lichens – one that appeared to be Tricharia albostrigosa (without reproductive structures) and another species of Echinoplaca. Because Batista and Peres published the name without providing a formal scientific description as required by naming rules, Spinomyces was not considered a valid genus name at that time.[5]

In 2023, when the lichenologists Amanda Xavier-Leite, Marcela Cáceres, and Robert Lücking needed a name for a newly recognised group of lichens centred around what was then called Aderkomyces albostrigosus, they decided to resurrect and formally validate the name Spinomyces.[5] Rather than basing it on the mixed-up Echinoplaca specimen as had been previously suggested by some researchers in 1998,[6] they chose to establish the genus with Tricharia albostrigosa (now Spinomyces albostrigosus) as its type species.[5]

Description

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These lichens form a continuous, smooth layer on leaf surfaces, characterised by distinctive white bristles. Their reproductive structures (apothecia) sit directly on the surface and typically range in colour from yellowish to reddish-brown. Under the microscope, these structures usually produce single spores that are divided into multiple compartments both lengthwise and crosswise (muriform).[5]

A characteristic feature of the genus is its specialised reproductive structures (hyphophores), which are white bristles that often widen at their tips. These structures produce chains of spindle-shaped cells (diahyphae) at their tips.[5]

Species

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References

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  1. ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: Spinomyces Bat. & Peres ex Xavier-Leite, M. Cáceres & Lücking, in Xavier-Leite, Goto, Lücking & Cáceres, Mycol. Progr. 22(12, no. 88): 22 (2023)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Spinomyces". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  3. ^ Hyde, K.D.; Noorabadi, M.T.; Thiyagaraja, V.; He, M.Q.; Johnston, P.R.; Wijesinghe, S.N.; et al. (2024). "The 2024 Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 15 (1): 5262–5263. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/15/1/25.
  4. ^ Batista, A.C. (1961). "Um pugilo de gêneros novos de líquens imperfeitos" [A handful of new genera of imperfect lichens]. Publicações, Instituto de Micologia da Universidade de Recife (in Spanish). 320: 1–31.
  5. ^ a b c d e Xavier-Leite, Amanda Barreto; Goto, Bruno Tomio; Lücking, Robert; da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia (2023). "New genera in the lichenized family Gomphillaceae (Ascomycota: Graphidales) focusing on neotropical taxa". Mycological Progress. 22 (12): e88. doi:10.1007/s11557-023-01933-1.
  6. ^ Lücking, Robert; Sérusiaux, Emmanuël; Maia, Leonor C.; Pereira, Eugênia C.G. (1998). "A revision of the names of foliicolous lichenized fungi published by Batista and co-workers between 1960 and 1975". The Lichenologist. 30 (2): 121–191. doi:10.1006/lich.1997.0117.