Nidula
Encyclopedia
Nidula is a genus
of fungi in the family
Nidulariaceae
. Like other members of the Nidulariaceae, their fruit bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests, from which they derive their common name
"bird's nest fungi". Originally described in 1902, the genus differs from the related genera Cyathus
and Crucibulum
by the absence of a cord that attaches the eggs to the inside of the fruit body. The life cycle
of this genus allows it to reproduce both sexually, with meiosis
, and asexually via spore
s. Species in this genus produce a number of bioactive compounds
, including 4-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone, a major component of raspberry
flavor and insect attractor used in pesticide
s.
on the North American species of the Nidulariaceae
, and included the species N. candida and N. microcarpa. The genus name is derived from the Latin nidula, meaning "little nest".
-shaped—having almost vertical sides with the lip flared outwards. Depending on the species, the color may range from white, grey, buff, or tawny
. The peridia are covered on the external surface with closely matted, shaggy hairs, technically called a tomentum
. Immature peridia have a membrane covering the mouth (an epiphragm
), which later ruptures into 4–7 lobes when mature. The "eggs", or peridioles, are numerous, grey-brown or reddish-brown in color, and embedded in a gelatinous matrix when young and fresh. In contrast to other genera of the Nidulariaceae
, such as Cyathus
or Crucibulum
, the peridioles of the Nidula are not attached to the peridia by a cord of mycelia known as a funiculus
. Spore
s are ovoid to elliptical in shape, thick-walled, light brown, and have dimensions of 8–10 by 4–6 µm.
, the Himalayas
, and mountains in Japan
. N. niveo-tomentosa has been collected at an elevation of 5000 feet (1,524 m) on Blue Mountains
in Jamaica.
of the genus Nidula, which contains both haploid and diploid stages, is typical of taxa in the basidiomycetes that can reproduce both asexually (via vegetative
spores), or sexually (with meiosis
). Basidiospore
s produced in the peridioles each contain a single haploid nucleus. After dispersal, the spores germinate and grow into homokaryotic
hyphae, with a single nucleus in each compartment. When two homokaryotic hypha
e of different mating compatibility groups
fuse with one another, they form a dikaryotic
mycelia in a process called plasmogamy
. Like other members of the Nidulariaceae, species in Nidula have a heterothallic (bifactorial) mating system. After a period of time and under the appropriate environmental conditions, fruit bodies may be formed from the dikaryotic mycelia. These fruit bodies produce peridioles containing the basidia upon which new basidiospores are made. Young basidia contain a pair of haploid sexually compatible nuclei which fuse, and the resulting diploid fusion nucleus undergoes meiosis to produce haploid basidiospores.
", one of the major chemicals contributing to the flavour of raspberries. This chemical is used (in its acetate
form) as an insect attractor in the pesticide Cue-lure, structurally related to the sex pheromone that female melon flies (sp. Bactrocera cucurbitae) use to attract males for mating.
Nidula candida contains the sesquiterpene
compounds nidulal and niduloic acid, both of which have weak cytotoxic and antibiotic
activities.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of fungi in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Nidulariaceae
Nidulariaceae
The Nidulariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Nidulariales. Commonly known as the bird's nest fungi, their fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests...
. Like other members of the Nidulariaceae, their fruit bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests, from which they derive their common name
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
"bird's nest fungi". Originally described in 1902, the genus differs from the related genera Cyathus
Cyathus
Cyathus is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, a family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name since they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs", structures large enough to have been mistaken in the past for seeds. However, these are now known to be...
and Crucibulum
Crucibulum
Crucibulum is a genus in the Nidulariaceae, a family of fungi whose fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled bird's nests. Often called "splash cups", the fruiting bodies are adapted for spore dispersal by using the kinetic energy of falling drops of rain...
by the absence of a cord that attaches the eggs to the inside of the fruit body. The life cycle
Biological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
of this genus allows it to reproduce both sexually, with meiosis
Meiosis
Meiosis is a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. The cells produced by meiosis are gametes or spores. The animals' gametes are called sperm and egg cells....
, and asexually via spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s. Species in this genus produce a number of bioactive compounds
Biological activity
In pharmacology, biological activity or pharmacological activity describes the beneficial or adverse effects of a drug on living matter. When a drug is a complex chemical mixture, this activity is exerted by the substance's active ingredient or pharmacophore but can be modified by the other...
, including 4-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone, a major component of raspberry
Raspberry
The raspberry or hindberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves...
flavor and insect attractor used in pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s.
History
The genus Nidula was originally proposed by Violet S. White in her monographMonograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
on the North American species of the Nidulariaceae
Nidulariaceae
The Nidulariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Nidulariales. Commonly known as the bird's nest fungi, their fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests...
, and included the species N. candida and N. microcarpa. The genus name is derived from the Latin nidula, meaning "little nest".
Description
The fruit bodies (peridia) of species in Nidula are typically between 3–8 mm in diameter, 5–15 mm tall, and cup- or urnUrn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
-shaped—having almost vertical sides with the lip flared outwards. Depending on the species, the color may range from white, grey, buff, or tawny
Tawny (color)
Tawny is a yellowish brown color. The word means "tan-colored," from Anglo-Norman tauné "associated with the brownish-yellow of tanned leather," from Old French tané "to tan hides," from Medieval Latin tannare, from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source...
. The peridia are covered on the external surface with closely matted, shaggy hairs, technically called a tomentum
Tomentum
Tomentum may refer to the following:*In botany, a covering of closely matted or fine hairs on plant leaves. *A network of minute blood vessels in the brain.* Tomentum in zoology are a short, soft pubescence...
. Immature peridia have a membrane covering the mouth (an epiphragm
Epiphragm
An epiphragm is a temporary structure which can be created by many species of shelled, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks. It can also be created by freshwater snails when temporary pools dry up....
), which later ruptures into 4–7 lobes when mature. The "eggs", or peridioles, are numerous, grey-brown or reddish-brown in color, and embedded in a gelatinous matrix when young and fresh. In contrast to other genera of the Nidulariaceae
Nidulariaceae
The Nidulariaceae are a family of fungi in the order Nidulariales. Commonly known as the bird's nest fungi, their fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled birds' nests...
, such as Cyathus
Cyathus
Cyathus is a genus of fungi in the Nidulariaceae, a family collectively known as the bird's nest fungi. They are given this name since they resemble tiny bird's nests filled with "eggs", structures large enough to have been mistaken in the past for seeds. However, these are now known to be...
or Crucibulum
Crucibulum
Crucibulum is a genus in the Nidulariaceae, a family of fungi whose fruiting bodies resemble tiny egg-filled bird's nests. Often called "splash cups", the fruiting bodies are adapted for spore dispersal by using the kinetic energy of falling drops of rain...
, the peridioles of the Nidula are not attached to the peridia by a cord of mycelia known as a funiculus
Funiculus
The cerebrospinal fibers consist of numerous nerve fibers collected together and enclosed in membranous sheaths. A small bundle of fibers, enclosed in a tubular sheath, is called a funiculus; if the nerve is of small size, it may consist only of a single funiculus; but if large, the funiculi are...
. Spore
Spore
In biology, a spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted for dispersal and surviving for extended periods of time in unfavorable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many bacteria, plants, algae, fungi and some protozoa. According to scientist Dr...
s are ovoid to elliptical in shape, thick-walled, light brown, and have dimensions of 8–10 by 4–6 µm.
Habitat and distribution
Species in Nidula have been found in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, and mountains in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. N. niveo-tomentosa has been collected at an elevation of 5000 feet (1,524 m) on Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains (Jamaica)
The Blue Mountains form the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at 2256 m . From the summit, accessible via a walking track, both the North and South coasts of the island can be seen...
in Jamaica.
Life cycle
The life cycleBiological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
of the genus Nidula, which contains both haploid and diploid stages, is typical of taxa in the basidiomycetes that can reproduce both asexually (via vegetative
Vegetative reproduction
Vegetative reproduction is a form of asexual reproduction in plants. It is a process by which new individuals arise without production of seeds or spores...
spores), or sexually (with meiosis
Meiosis
Meiosis is a special type of cell division necessary for sexual reproduction. The cells produced by meiosis are gametes or spores. The animals' gametes are called sperm and egg cells....
). Basidiospore
Basidiospore
A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia. In grills under a cap of one common species in the phylum of...
s produced in the peridioles each contain a single haploid nucleus. After dispersal, the spores germinate and grow into homokaryotic
Homokaryotic
Homokaryotic refers to multinucleate cells where all nuclei are genetically identical. It is the antonym of heterokaryotic....
hyphae, with a single nucleus in each compartment. When two homokaryotic hypha
Hypha
A hypha is a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus, and also of unrelated Actinobacteria. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium; yeasts are unicellular fungi that do not grow as hyphae.-Structure:A hypha consists of one or...
e of different mating compatibility groups
Mating type
Mating types occur in eukaryotes that undergo sexual reproduction via isogamy. Since the gametes of different mating types look alike, they are often referred to by numbers, letters, or simply "+" and "-" instead of "male" and "female." Mating can only take place between different mating...
fuse with one another, they form a dikaryotic
Dikaryon
Dikaryon is from Greek, di meaning 2 and karyon meaning nut, referring to the cell nucleus.The dikaryon is a nuclear feature which is unique to some fungi, in which after plasmogamy the two compatible nuclei of two cells pair off and cohabit without karyogamy within the cells of the hyphae,...
mycelia in a process called plasmogamy
Plasmogamy
Plasmogamy is a stage in the sexual reproduction of fungi. In this stage, the cytoplasm of two parent mycelia fuse together without the fusion of nuclei, as occurs in higher terrestrial fungi. After plasmogamy occurs, the secondary mycelium forms. The secondary mycelium consists of dikaryotic...
. Like other members of the Nidulariaceae, species in Nidula have a heterothallic (bifactorial) mating system. After a period of time and under the appropriate environmental conditions, fruit bodies may be formed from the dikaryotic mycelia. These fruit bodies produce peridioles containing the basidia upon which new basidiospores are made. Young basidia contain a pair of haploid sexually compatible nuclei which fuse, and the resulting diploid fusion nucleus undergoes meiosis to produce haploid basidiospores.
Species
There are four species of Nidula:- N. candida
- Peridia are 10 to 15 mm tall, grey to dark buff, with a recurved rim at maturity. The peridioles are 1.5–2 mm wide, and light grey-brown, and smooth. The spores are elliptical, with dimensions of 4–6 by 8–10 µmMicrometreA micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
.
- N. macrocarpa
- Peridia are 5 to 10 m tall, and white to yellowish in color; the rim is either straight or slightly recurved. Peridioles are 0.5 to 1 mm wide, wrinkled, and colored red-brown. Spores are elliptical or roughly spherical, with dimensions of 6–9 by 5–6 µm.
- N. niveo-tomentosa
- Peridia are 4–6 mm tall with rims that have a fringe of white hairs. Peridioles are mahoganyMahoganyThe name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
-brown and 0.5–1 mm wide. Spores have an elliptical or roughly spherical shape, and are 6–9 by 5–6 µm.
- N. emodensis
- Peridia are 4–6 mm tall by 4–5 mm wide at the mouth. The exterior surface is a grey color, the interior smooth and whitish. Peridioles are reddish-brown to black, have minute wrinkles, and dimensions of 0.5–1 mm. The spores are somewhat elliptical, obovate, or pyriform.
Bioactive compounds
The Nidula are known to produce a number of bioactive compounds. N. niveo-tomentosa grown in liquid culture makes niduloic acid (3-hydroxy-5-(p-hydroxyphenol)pentanoic acid), 4-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanol, trans-4-p-hydroxyphenylbut-3-en-2-one, 4-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-butanol, 4-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone, zingerone, 3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-1,2-propanediol, and 4-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butanone. The latter compound is commonly known as "raspberry ketoneRaspberry ketone
Raspberry ketone is a natural phenolic compound that is the primary aroma compound of red raspberries. It is used in perfumery, in cosmetics, and as a food additive to impart a fruity odor. It is one of the most expensive natural flavor components used in the food industry. The natural compound...
", one of the major chemicals contributing to the flavour of raspberries. This chemical is used (in its acetate
Acetate
An acetate is a derivative of acetic acid. This term includes salts and esters, as well as the anion found in solution. Most of the approximately 5 billion kilograms of acetic acid produced annually in industry are used in the production of acetates, which usually take the form of polymers. In...
form) as an insect attractor in the pesticide Cue-lure, structurally related to the sex pheromone that female melon flies (sp. Bactrocera cucurbitae) use to attract males for mating.
Nidula candida contains the sesquiterpene
Sesquiterpene
Sesquiterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units and have the molecular formula C15H24. Like monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes may be acyclic or contain rings, including many unique combinations...
compounds nidulal and niduloic acid, both of which have weak cytotoxic and antibiotic
Antibiotic
An antibacterial is a compound or substance that kills or slows down the growth of bacteria.The term is often used synonymously with the term antibiotic; today, however, with increased knowledge of the causative agents of various infectious diseases, antibiotic has come to denote a broader range of...
activities.