Discomycetes

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Discomycetes

• General Mycology Pl P 421/521
• Lecture 10

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Discomycetes

• Filamentous ascomycetes that produce apothecia
  (sing. apothecium)
• Divided into two groups based on mode of ascus
  dehiscence
• Inoperculate
• Ascospores are discharged through an apical
  opening, either a pore or perforation
• Operculate
• A preformed, hinged lid is thrown back at
  ascospore discharge

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From Spatafora et al. 2006. A five-gene
phylogeny of Pezizomycotina. Mycologia 98
1018-1028
Inoperculate discomycetes
Operculate discomycetes
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Apothecium
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Rhytismatales

• Inoperculate asci lacking distinct apical
  apparatus
• Ascomata embedded in stroma, apothecia open up at
  maturity
• Almost all members of this order are parasitic on
  plants, often on conifer needles
• Needle blight, needle cast
• Twig blight
• Tar spot

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Coccomyces dentatus on Berberis photo by
Lorelei Norvell
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Lophodermium abietis
http//grzyby.strefa.pl/Lophodermium_abietis.html
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Lophodermium oxycocci
Photo from Frank Caruso, on APSNet
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Rhytisma acerinum
http//grzyby.strefa.pl/Rhytisma_acerinum.html
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Helotiales

• Largest order of inoperculate discomycetes
• Cup-shaped apothecia
• Asci with slightly thickened apices
• Eleven families now recognized, two will be
  covered
• Sclerotiniaceae
• Geoglossaceae

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Sclerotiniaceae

• Small to medium-sized, stalked brown apothecia
  that develop from stromata or sclerotia
• Sclerotiniaproduces sclerotia no anamorph
• S. sclerotiorumon vegetables and field crops
• Moniliniaproduces mummies in fruit (stromata)
  Monilia anamorph
• M. fructicolabrown rot of stone fruit

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Hanlin, 1990
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Sclerotinia
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Monilinia
Monilia stage on peach
Hanlin, 1990
Chains of conidiaphoto by George Barron
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Geoglossaceae

• Stalked ascocarps with fan-, club-, or
  tongue-shaped apothecia
• Commonly called earth tongues
• Examples
• Geoglossum dark, club-shaped apothecia
• Spathularia spoon-shaped apothecia

Geoglossum fallax from MycoWeb
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Spathularia
From Breitenbach and Kranzlin, 1984. Fungi of
Switzerland. Vol. 1
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Class Pezizomycets

• Discomycetes with operculate asci
• Apical or subapical (suboperculate)
• Apical slit in some taxa
• Ascus tip in some taxa are amyloid
• Large, conspicuous apothecia
• Fourteen families recognized, seven will be
  covered

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Pezizaceae

• Single-nucleate, thin-walled ascospores
• Amyloid reaction (bluing) in ascus tip
• Example Peziza, Sarcosphaera

http//popgen0146uns50.unimaas.nl/jlindsey/comman
ster/Mushrooms/SuMushrooms/Peziza.badia.html
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Tuberaceae

• Hypogeous (underground) fruiting bodies
  (truffles)
• Asci do not forcibly discharge ascospores
• Mycorrhizal with trees
• Tuber melanosporum black Perigord truffle
• Tuber magnatum white truffle of Italy

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Truffles
Tuber melanosporum
Tuber magnatum
http//www.truffle.org/tuber_directory/
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Audubon Jan-Feb. 2005
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Only three of the 30 truffles that occur in the
Pacific Northwest are harvested commercially
they occur west of the Cascade Mountains in
association with Douglas Fir trees. Pacific
Northwest truffles fetch four times the value of
other commercially harvested wild fungi (up to
100/lb)
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Caloscyphaceae

• Fruiting bodies are often brightly colored
  (orange, yellow)
• Asci non-amyloid
• Examples
• Caloscypha fulgens Snowbank Orange Peel
  Funguscommon in this area in the spring
• Scutellina spp.Eyelash Fungi

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Caloscypha fulgens
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Sarcoscyphaceae

• Brightly colored apothecia
• One-celled, multinucleate, ornamented ascospores
• Suboperculate asci
• Example
• Pithya cuppressina orange apothecia on dead
  cedar branches

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Pithya
http//www.cegep-sept-iles.qc.ca/raymondboyer/cham
pignons/Images/Pithya_vulgaris.JPG
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Ascobolaceae

• Thick-walled, one-celled, uninucleate ascospores
  that often turn dark gray or purple before
  discharge
• Commonly found on dung
• Common genera
• Ascobolus ornamented, dark purple spores
• Saccobolus spores adhere and are discharged as a
  unit

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Ascobolus from George Barrons website
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Sarcosomataceae

• Typically with dark, tough or gelatinous fruiting
  bodies
• Asci thick-walled, not bluing at tip

Plectania
Sarcosoma mexicana
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Morchellaceae

• Large, stalked ascomata
• Hymenium on surface of convoluted or sponge-like
  pileus (cap)
• One-celled, multinucleate, hyaline ascospores
  with numerous lipid drops at ends
• Common taxa
• Morchella true morels
• Verpa false morels

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Morchella elata--Black Morel
Morchella esculentaCommon or Yellow Morel
Morchella esculenta courtesy of George Barron
Morchella deliciosaWhite Morel
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False Morels
Verpa conica
Verpa bohemica
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Asci and Ascospores
Verpa
Morchella
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Helvellaceae Discinaceae

• Stalked ascocarps with hymenium on convoluted or
  saddle-like pileus (cap)
• Ascospores four-nucleate with several large,
  conspicuous lipid droplets
• Common taxa
• Helvella saddle fungi
• Gyromitra false morels or brain fungi
  (convoluted pileus)

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http//www.myco-vaud.ch/albums
Helvella lacunosa
Helvella elastica
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Gyromitra gigas
Gyromitra infula
Gyromitra esculenta Photo by Hiroshi Takahashi
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