Polycoccaceae

Polycoccaceae
Polycoccum pulvinatum (black dots) growing on the thallus of a Physcia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Dothideomycetes
Order: Trypetheliales
Family: Polycoccaceae
Ertz, Hafellner & Diederich (2015)
Genera

Clypeococcum
Polycoccum

Polycoccaceae is a family of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi in the order Trypetheliales.[1][2] The family was circumscribed in 2015 by Damien Ertz, Josef Hafellner, and Paul Diederich. Molecular phylogenetic analysis shows Polycoccaceae to have a sister relationship with the family Trypetheliaceae.[3]

Species within the Polycoccaceae distinguish themselves from those in the Trypetheliaceae due to their non-lichenized, lichenicolous nature and typically smaller, 1-septate, brown ascospores. However, both share similarities, such as perithecioid ascomata, intertwined paraphysoids set within a hymenial gel matrix, and bitunicate asci. The primary morphological characteristics of the core group of the family, the type genus Polycoccum, are its thick-walled ascospores that are often distinctly ornamented.[3]

Polycoccaceae comprises two genera: Clypeococcum with 12 species, and Polycoccum with 60 species. All members of this family are lichenicolous, with a collectively wide range of lichen hosts. Among the six families exclusively made up of lichenicolous fungi – including Abrothallaceae, Adelococcaceae, Sarcopyreniaceae, Obryzaceae, and Cyphobasidiaceae – Polycoccaceae is the most species-rich.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference CoL was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wijayawardene et al. 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Ertz et al. 2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Diederich et al. 2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).