Sclerencoelia
Sclerencoelia Pärtel & Baral, MycoBank MB 815439.
Diagnosis: Apothecia growing out from substratal sclerotia or crust-like stromatic tissue within bark, erumpent through bast (secondary phloem) and periderm; gregarious or in small clusters, cupulate, when dry compressed or retracted, subsessile, development cleistohymenial, opening rather lately, disc brownish to black, receptacle surface (blackish-)grey, white-pruinose from crystals. Ectal excipulum of t. globulosa, inner part of globose to broadly ellipsoid, ± hyaline cells, sharply delimited from medullary excipulum, outer part of brown, thick-walled globose cells, pigment olivaceous to black-brown in KOH. Medullary excipulum of hyaline t. intricata. Asci cylindric-clavate, 8-spored; apex rounded to truncate, inamyloid or faintly blue in iodine (IKI), reduced Sclerotinia-type. Ascospores cylindrical, slightly curved (allantoid), eguttulate, uninucleate, 0–1-septate when overmature, budding small subglobose conidia. Paraphyses apically uninflated to slightly clavate or fusoid, septate, upper part covered by rough brown exudate. Crystals always present, hexagonal, abundantly covering the exterior of the ectal excipulum.
Anamorphs Myrioconium-like (sporodochial, or formed on germinating ascospores).
Ecology: parasitic or saprobic on xeric bark and wood of deciduous trees.
Type species: Sclerencoelia fascicularis (Alb. & Schwein.: Fr.) Pärtel & Baral.
Etymology: Sclerencoelia refers to the presence of substratal sclerotia and the relatedness to members of the family Sclerotiniaceae, and the encoelioid appearance of apothecia.
Comments: The three species recognized in the genus are morphologically almost indistinguishable with all having long-lived, desiccation-tolerant apothecia. In both the multigene (Fig. 1) and the ITS analysis (Fig. 2), the monophyly of Sclerencoelia was strongly supported, yet its relationship with other genera remained unresolved. While S. fraxinicola seems restricted to Fraxinus, S. fascicularis and S. pruinosa most commonly occur on Populus spp. Which species of Sclerencoelia occur in North America remains uncertain.
Reference:
Pärtel K, Baral HO, Tamm H, Pôldmaa K. 2017. Evidence for the polyphyly of Encoelia and Encoelioideae with reconsideration of respective families in Leotiomycetes. Fungal Diversity. 82:183–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-016-0370-0.
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