Delitschiaceae

Introduction

Members of Delitschiaceae can be found on old dung or exposed wood, and they are widely distributed around the world (Barr 2000). The family includes three genera and ca. 80 described species, of which a majority belongs to the genus Delitschia.

Characteristics

Delitschiaceae is characterized by periphysate ostioles, wide endotunica in the ascus, and ocular chamber containing refractive rods and often a dome (Barr 2000). The ascospores are one-celled or septated and dark brown in colour. A gelatinous coating surrounds each spore and every cell contains a germ-slit (Barr 2000).

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Members of Delitschiaceae have often been included in Sporormiaceae (Arx & Müller 1975, Kirk et al. 2001), but molecular analyses support that the two families should be separated (Winka 2000, Kruys et al. 2006). Sister-taxon to Delitschia spp. is Zopfia rhizophila, although this relationship has no significant support (Kruys et al. 2006). The two genera Semidelitschia and Ohleriella have not been included in any molecular studies.

References

Arx von, J. A., and E. Müller. 1975. A re-evaluation of the bitunicate ascomycetes with keys to families and genera. Studies in Mycology 9: 1-159.

Barr, M. E. 2000. Notes on coprophilous bitunicate Ascomycetes. Mycotaxon 76:105- 112.

Bell, A. 2005. An illustrated guide to the coprophilous Ascomycetes of Australia. CBS Biodiversity Series, vol. 3. CBS, Utrecht.

Bell, A., and D. P. Mahoney. 2001. Semidelitschia nannostellata (Fungi: Dothideales: Sporormiaceae), a new species from Australia. Muelleria 15: 3-6.

Breton, A., and L. Faurel. 1970. Un Delitschia à asques multispores, Delitschia myriaspora nov. sp. Revue de Mycologie 35: 41-46.

Cain, R. F. 1934. Studies of coprophilous Sphaeriales in Ontario. Univ. of Toronto Studies 38, Toronto.

Cain, R. F., and E. R. Luck-Allen. 1969. Semidelitschia, a new genus of the Sporormiaceae. Mycologia 61: 580-585.

Doveri, F. 2004. Fungi Fimicoli Italici: A guide to the recognition of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes living on faecal material. Associazione Micologica Bresadola, Trento.

Hyde, K. D., and T. S. Steinke. 1996. Two new species of Delitschia from submerged wood. Mycoscience 37: 99-102.

Jeng, R. S., E. R. Luck-Allen, and R. F. Cain. 1977. New species and new records of Delitschia from Venezuela. Canadian Journal of Botany 55: 383-392.

Kirk, P. M., P. F. Cannon, J. C. David, and J. A Stalpers. 2001. Ainsworth and Bisby´s Dictionary of the Fungi. CAB International.

Kruys, Å., O. E. Eriksson, and M. Wedin. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of coprophilous Pleosporales (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota), and the classification of some bitunicate taxa of unknown position. Mycological Research 110: 527-536.

Luck-Allen, E. R., and R. F. Cain. 1975. Additions to the genus Delitschia. Canadian Journal of Botany 53: 1827-1887.

Mirza, J. H., and R. S. Khan. 1979. Studies on coprophilous Ascomycetes of Pakistan III: Semidelitschia tetraspora sp. nov. Pakistan Journal of Botany 11: 99-101.

Richardson, M. J. 1998. Coniochaeta polymegasperma and Delitschia trichodelitschioides, two new coprophilous ascomycetes. Mycological Research 102: 1038-1040.

Winka, K. 2000. Phylogenetic relationship within the Ascomycota based on 18S rDNA sequences. PhD Thesis, Umeå University.