Tulasnellaceae
Encyclopedia
The Tulasnellaceae are a family
of fungi in the order
Cantharellales
. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the "jelly fungi
" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, but many are also endomycorrhizal
associates of orchids and some have also been thought to form ectomycorrhizal associations with trees and other plants.
: Tulasnella
itself and the poroid
genus Muciporus (the latter subsequently found to be no more than Tulasnella species growing over the surface of old polypores). In 1900, the French mycologist Narcisse Patouillard
included the Tulasnellaceae within the heterobasidiomycetes or "jelly fungi
" and in 1922 British mycologist Carleton Rea
placed the family in its own order, the Tulasnellales, within the heterobasidiomycetes.
, close to the Ceratobasidiaceae
. A standard 2008 reference work estimated that the family contains three genera and over 50 species.
basidiocarps that are distinguished microscopically by their distinctive "tulasnelloid" basidia. The monotypic genus Stilbotulasnella
forms basidiocarps with similar basidia, but with an erect, "stilboid" anamorph. The latter genus has not been sequenced, but was originally described as belonging within the Tulasnellaceae.
.
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...
of fungi in the order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Cantharellales
Cantharellales
The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles , but also some of the tooth fungi , clavarioid fungi , and corticioid fungi...
. The family comprises mainly effused (patch-forming) fungi formerly referred to the "jelly fungi
Jelly fungi
The class Heterobasidiomycetes or jelly fungi is a paraphyletic group of several fungal orders: Tremellales, Auriculariales, Dacrymycetales. These fungi are so named because their foliose to irregularly branched fruiting body is, or appears to be, the consistency of jelly. Actually, many are...
" or heterobasidiomycetes. Species are wood- or litter-rotting saprotrophs, but many are also endomycorrhizal
Mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....
associates of orchids and some have also been thought to form ectomycorrhizal associations with trees and other plants.
History
The family was described in 1897 by the Swedish botanist and mycologist Hans Oscar Juel to accommodate species of fungi producing basidiocarps (fruit bodies) having distinctive basidia with grossly swollen sterigmata. He included two generaGenera
Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...
: Tulasnella
Tulasnella
Tulasnella is a genus of effused fungi in the Tulasnellaceae family. The widespread genus is estimated to contain around 50 species...
itself and the poroid
Polypore
Polypores are a group of tough, leathery poroid mushrooms similar to boletes, but typically lacking a distinct stalk. The technical distinction between the two types of mushrooms is that polypores do not have the spore-bearing tissue continuous along the entire underside of the mushroom. Many...
genus Muciporus (the latter subsequently found to be no more than Tulasnella species growing over the surface of old polypores). In 1900, the French mycologist Narcisse Patouillard
Narcisse Théophile Patouillard
Narcisse Théophile Patouillard was a French pharmacist and mycologist.He was born in Macornay, a town in the department of Jura...
included the Tulasnellaceae within the heterobasidiomycetes or "jelly fungi
Jelly fungi
The class Heterobasidiomycetes or jelly fungi is a paraphyletic group of several fungal orders: Tremellales, Auriculariales, Dacrymycetales. These fungi are so named because their foliose to irregularly branched fruiting body is, or appears to be, the consistency of jelly. Actually, many are...
" and in 1922 British mycologist Carleton Rea
Carleton Rea
Carleton Rea was an English mycologist, botanist, and naturalist.-Background and education:Carleton Rea was born in Worcester, the son of the City Coroner. He was educated at The King's School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied law...
placed the family in its own order, the Tulasnellales, within the heterobasidiomycetes.
Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has confirmed the Tulasnellaceae as distinct, but has placed the family within the CantharellalesCantharellales
The Cantharellales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order includes not only the chanterelles , but also some of the tooth fungi , clavarioid fungi , and corticioid fungi...
, close to the Ceratobasidiaceae
Ceratobasidiaceae
The Ceratobasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. All species within the family have basidiocarps that are thin and effused. They have sometimes been included within the corticioid fungi or alternatively within the "heterobasidiomycetes". Species are saprotrophic, but some...
. A standard 2008 reference work estimated that the family contains three genera and over 50 species.
Description
All but one of the species within the family form smooth, effused, corticioidCorticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
basidiocarps that are distinguished microscopically by their distinctive "tulasnelloid" basidia. The monotypic genus Stilbotulasnella
Stilbotulasnella
Stilbotulasnella is a fungal genus in the Tulasnellaceae family. The genus is monotypic, containing the single species Stilbotulasnella conidiophora, found in Hawaii....
forms basidiocarps with similar basidia, but with an erect, "stilboid" anamorph. The latter genus has not been sequenced, but was originally described as belonging within the Tulasnellaceae.
Habitat and distribution
Basidiocarps of the Tulasnellaceae are typically found in woodland, on the underside of fallen wood or in leaf litter. They are believed to be soil fungi and many species have also been isolated from the roots of terrestrial and epiphytic orchids. They may also form ectomycorrhizal associations with trees and other plants. Their distribution is cosmopolitanCosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
.