Sarcoscypha dudleyi
Encyclopedia
Sarcoscypha dudleyi, commonly known as the crimson cup or the scarlet cup, is a species of fungus
in the Sarcoscyphaceae
family of the Pezizales
order. In addition to its main distribution in the central to eastern United States, the fungus has also been recorded once in Bulgaria. It has been frequently confused with Sarcoscypha coccinea
, but can be distinguished from this and other related species in Sarcoscypha
by differences in microscopic characteristics, such as the presence and number of oil droplets in the spores
. The species Molliardiomyces dudleyi is an imperfect form of the fungus that lacks a sexually reproductive
stage in its life cycle
.
in October 1888, in Tompkins County, New York
. American mycologist Charles Horton Peck
, who described it in the 1894 Annual Report of the New York State Botanist, named it Peziza Dudleyi after its discoverer. Peck noted a physical resemblance to P. aurantia (now known as Aleuria aurantia) and P. inaequalis, and said that it could be distinguished from those species by its yellow hymenium
and larger spores. Several mycologists have considered the species to be synonymous
with S. coccinea. However, as was later pointed out by Harrington (1990), "the importance of fresh material for species diagnosis, especially for noting ascospore guttulation, cannot be overstated. Although I had examined material (dried herbarium specimens) from western North America I was not prepared to recognize that group as a species distinct from the two, large eastern North American species until I saw fresh (living) material." As is the case with many fungi, microscopic differences between similar species can only be accurately determined by examining fresh material. Harrington analyzed herbarium
specimens and fresh material of North American specimens of "S. coccinea", and found that both S. dudleyi and S. austriaca
were commonly misidentified. These results echoed a similar 1984 analysis of European specimens, performed by Hans-Otto Baral.
The phylogenetic relationships in the genus Sarcoscypha were analyzed by Francis Harrington in the late 1990s. The cladistic
analysis combined comparison of sequences
from the internal transcribed spacer
in the non-functional RNA
with fifteen traditional morphological
characters, such as spore
features, fruit body shape, and degree of hair curliness. Based on this analysis, S. dudleyi is part of a clade
of evolutionarily related taxa that includes the species S. occidentalis
, S. emarginata, S. hosoyae, S. korfiana and S. mesocyatha. All of these species contain large oil droplets in their spores, in contrast to the other major clade of Sarcoscypha (containing the type species
S. coccinea), characterized by having smaller, more numerous droplets.
Sarcoscypha dudleyi is commonly
known as the "crimson cup" or the "scarlet cup", although it shares this latter name with S. coccinea.
) is scarlet- to orange-red. The edge of the cup (or margin) is curved inwards in young fruit bodies. The stem
, if present at all, is short.
The asci
are 400–500 by 12–14 µm
, cylindrical, and operculate. The ascospores are elliptical to cylindrical with rounded ends, uniseriate, hyaline, and measure 26–40 by 10–12 µm. They contain two large oil drops at either end; the oil drops are useful taxonomic characters that may be used to help distinguish S. dudleyi from some other Sarcoscypha species. The spores are covered with a sheath of mucilage, which typically causes the eight spores of the ascus to be ejected together. The paraphyses
(sterile filamentous hyphal end cells in the hymenium
) are slender, slightly enlarged above, and contain numerous red granules. The granules contain carotenoid
pigments such as plectaniaxanthine or beta carotene, and give the fruit body its color.
are those that seem to lack a sexual stage in their life cycle
, and typically reproduce by the process of mitosis
in structures called conidia
. In some cases, the sexual stage—or teleomorph
stage—is later identified, and a teleomorph-anamorph relationship is established between the species. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permits the recognition of two (or more) names for one and the same organisms, one based on the teleomorph, the other(s) restricted to the anamorph. The anamorphic state of S. coccinea is Molliardiomyces dudleyi.
s found in woody material, such as cellulose
and lignin
. Fruit bodies are found growing singly or in very small groups, and are attached to buried or partially buried sticks in forests. Basswood has been noted to be a preferred wood type for the species. Fruit bodies typically appear during early spring, but may occasionally also in late fall. Although the distribution appears to be largely restricted to the eastern United States, it was once reported in Bulgaria in 1994, representing the first European collection.
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
in the Sarcoscyphaceae
Sarcoscyphaceae
The Sarcoscyphaceae are a family of cup fungi in the Pezizales order. There are 13 genera and 102 species in the family. Members of this family are cosmopolitan in distribution, being found in both tropical and temperate regions.-External links:...
family of the Pezizales
Pezizales
The Pezizales are an order of the subphylum Pezizomycotina within the phylum Ascomycota. The order contains 16 families, 199 genera, and 1683 species. It contains a number of species of economic importance, such as morels, the black and white truffles, and the desert truffles. The Pezizales are...
order. In addition to its main distribution in the central to eastern United States, the fungus has also been recorded once in Bulgaria. It has been frequently confused with Sarcoscypha coccinea
Sarcoscypha coccinea
Sarcoscypha coccinea, commonly known as the scarlet elf cup, or the scarlet cup, is a species of fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family of the Pezizales order. The fungus, widely distributed in the northern hemisphere, has been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia...
, but can be distinguished from this and other related species in Sarcoscypha
Sarcoscypha
Sarcoscypha is a genus of ascomycete fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae. Species of Sarcoscypha are present in Europe, North America and tropical Asia. They are characterised by a cup-shaped apothecium which is often brightly coloured. Some members of the family such as S. coccinea and the -...
by differences in microscopic characteristics, such as the presence and number of oil droplets in the spores
Ascospore
An ascospore is a spore contained in an ascus or that was produced inside an ascus. This kind of spore is specific to fungi classified as ascomycetes ....
. The species Molliardiomyces dudleyi is an imperfect form of the fungus that lacks a sexually reproductive
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is the creation of a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms. There are two main processes during sexual reproduction; they are: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the...
stage in its 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...
.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
The species was first collected by the botanist William Russell DudleyWilliam Russell Dudley
William Russell Dudley was a botanist, born in Guilford, Connecticut. He graduated from Cornell University in 1874, and subsequently studied natural history under Louis Agassiz on Penikese Island in 1875, and in the Harvard Summer School in 1876...
in October 1888, in Tompkins County, New York
Tompkins County, New York
Tompkins County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and comprises the whole of the Ithaca metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 101,564. The county seat is Ithaca, and the county is home to Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community...
. American mycologist Charles Horton Peck
Charles Horton Peck
Charles Horton Peck, born March 30, 1833 in Sand Lake, New York, died 1917 in Albany, New York, was an American mycologist of the 19th and early 20th centuries...
, who described it in the 1894 Annual Report of the New York State Botanist, named it Peziza Dudleyi after its discoverer. Peck noted a physical resemblance to P. aurantia (now known as Aleuria aurantia) and P. inaequalis, and said that it could be distinguished from those species by its yellow hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
and larger spores. Several mycologists have considered the species to be synonymous
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
with S. coccinea. However, as was later pointed out by Harrington (1990), "the importance of fresh material for species diagnosis, especially for noting ascospore guttulation, cannot be overstated. Although I had examined material (dried herbarium specimens) from western North America I was not prepared to recognize that group as a species distinct from the two, large eastern North American species until I saw fresh (living) material." As is the case with many fungi, microscopic differences between similar species can only be accurately determined by examining fresh material. Harrington analyzed herbarium
Herbarium
In botany, a herbarium – sometimes known by the Anglicized term herbar – is a collection of preserved plant specimens. These specimens may be whole plants or plant parts: these will usually be in a dried form, mounted on a sheet, but depending upon the material may also be kept in...
specimens and fresh material of North American specimens of "S. coccinea", and found that both S. dudleyi and S. austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca
Sarcoscypha austriaca is a saprobic fungus in the Sarcoscyphaceae family in the Pezizales order of Ascomycota. It is commonly known as the scarlet elfcup, pézize écarlate and scharlachroter kelchbecherling...
were commonly misidentified. These results echoed a similar 1984 analysis of European specimens, performed by Hans-Otto Baral.
The phylogenetic relationships in the genus Sarcoscypha were analyzed by Francis Harrington in the late 1990s. The cladistic
Cladistics
Cladistics is a method of classifying species of organisms into groups called clades, which consist of an ancestor organism and all its descendants . For example, birds, dinosaurs, crocodiles, and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor form a clade...
analysis combined comparison of sequences
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
from the internal transcribed spacer
Internal transcribed spacer
ITS refers to a piece of non-functional RNA situated between structural ribosomal RNAs on a common precursor transcript. Read from 5' to 3', this polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript contains the 5' external transcribed sequence , 18S rRNA, ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, ITS2, 28S rRNA and finally the 3'ETS...
in the non-functional RNA
RNA
Ribonucleic acid , or RNA, is one of the three major macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life....
with fifteen traditional morphological
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
characters, such as 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...
features, fruit body shape, and degree of hair curliness. Based on this analysis, S. dudleyi is part of a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of evolutionarily related taxa that includes the species S. occidentalis
Sarcoscypha occidentalis
Sarcoscypha occidentalis, commonly known as the stalked scarlet cup or the western scarlet cup, is a species of fungus in the family Sarcoscyphaceae of the Pezizales order. Fruit bodies have small, bright red cups up to wide atop a slender whitish stem that is between long...
, S. emarginata, S. hosoyae, S. korfiana and S. mesocyatha. All of these species contain large oil droplets in their spores, in contrast to the other major clade of Sarcoscypha (containing the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
S. coccinea), characterized by having smaller, more numerous droplets.
Sarcoscypha dudleyi is commonly
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...
known as the "crimson cup" or the "scarlet cup", although it shares this latter name with S. coccinea.
Description
The fruit body is 2 – broad and shallowly to deeply cup-shaped. The exterior surface of the fruit body is covered with whitish, matted "hairs", while the interior fertile surface of the cup (the hymeniumHymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
) is scarlet- to orange-red. The edge of the cup (or margin) is curved inwards in young fruit bodies. The stem
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
, if present at all, is short.
The asci
Ascus
An ascus is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. On average, asci normally contain eight ascospores, produced by a meiotic cell division followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or species can number one , two, four, or multiples...
are 400–500 by 12–14 µm
Micrometre
A 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...
, cylindrical, and operculate. The ascospores are elliptical to cylindrical with rounded ends, uniseriate, hyaline, and measure 26–40 by 10–12 µm. They contain two large oil drops at either end; the oil drops are useful taxonomic characters that may be used to help distinguish S. dudleyi from some other Sarcoscypha species. The spores are covered with a sheath of mucilage, which typically causes the eight spores of the ascus to be ejected together. The paraphyses
Paraphyses
Paraphyses are part of the fertile spore-bearing layer in certain fungi. More specifically, paraphyses are sterile filamentous hyphal end cells composing part of the hymenium of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota interspersed among either the asci or basidia respectively, and not sufficiently...
(sterile filamentous hyphal end cells in the hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
) are slender, slightly enlarged above, and contain numerous red granules. The granules contain carotenoid
Carotenoid
Carotenoids are tetraterpenoid organic pigments that are naturally occurring in the chloroplasts and chromoplasts of plants and some other photosynthetic organisms like algae, some bacteria, and some types of fungus. Carotenoids can be synthesized fats and other basic organic metabolic building...
pigments such as plectaniaxanthine or beta carotene, and give the fruit body its color.
Anamorph form
Anamorphic or imperfect fungiFungi imperfecti
The Fungi imperfecti or imperfect fungi, also known as Deuteromycota, are fungi which do not fit into the commonly established taxonomic classifications of fungi that are based on biological species concepts or morphological characteristics of sexual structures because their sexual form of...
are those that seem to lack a sexual stage in their 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...
, and typically reproduce by the process of mitosis
Mitosis
Mitosis is the process by which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus into two identical sets, in two separate nuclei. It is generally followed immediately by cytokinesis, which divides the nuclei, cytoplasm, organelles and cell membrane into two cells containing roughly...
in structures called conidia
Conidium
Conidia, sometimes termed conidiospores, are asexual, non-motile spores of a fungus and are named after the greek word for dust, konia. They are also called mitospores due to the way they are generated through the cellular process of mitosis...
. In some cases, the sexual stage—or teleomorph
Teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph
The terms teleomorph, anamorph, and holomorph apply to portions of the life cycles of fungi in the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota.*Teleomorph: the sexual reproductive stage , typically a fruiting body....
stage—is later identified, and a teleomorph-anamorph relationship is established between the species. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permits the recognition of two (or more) names for one and the same organisms, one based on the teleomorph, the other(s) restricted to the anamorph. The anamorphic state of S. coccinea is Molliardiomyces dudleyi.
Habitat and distribution
Sarcoscypha dudleyi is a saprobic species, and derives nutrients by breaking down the complex insoluble polysaccharidePolysaccharide
Polysaccharides are long carbohydrate molecules, of repeated monomer units joined together by glycosidic bonds. They range in structure from linear to highly branched. Polysaccharides are often quite heterogeneous, containing slight modifications of the repeating unit. Depending on the structure,...
s found in woody material, such as cellulose
Cellulose
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
and lignin
Lignin
Lignin or lignen is a complex chemical compound most commonly derived from wood, and an integral part of the secondary cell walls of plants and some algae. The term was introduced in 1819 by de Candolle and is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood...
. Fruit bodies are found growing singly or in very small groups, and are attached to buried or partially buried sticks in forests. Basswood has been noted to be a preferred wood type for the species. Fruit bodies typically appear during early spring, but may occasionally also in late fall. Although the distribution appears to be largely restricted to the eastern United States, it was once reported in Bulgaria in 1994, representing the first European collection.