Wilcoxina
Encyclopedia
Wilcoxina is a genus
of fungi in the family Pyronemataceae
. Species are cosmopolitan
in distribution, and have been found growing with host plants in a wide variety on environments, such as nursery soils with high pH
, mining sites with low pH and heavy metal contamination, natural forests and plantations, urban areas and peat soils. Wilcoxina species are mycorrhizal, and commonly infect a variety of conifers and deciduous
trees such as Pinus, Betula, and Quercus. Some species have been shown to produce the siderophore
compound ferricrocin.
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 Pyronemataceae
Pyronemataceae
The Pyronemataceae are a family of fungi in the order Pezizales. It is the largest family of the Pezizales, encompassing 75 genera and approximately 500 species...
. Species are cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan 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...
in distribution, and have been found growing with host plants in a wide variety on environments, such as nursery soils with high pH
PH
In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...
, mining sites with low pH and heavy metal contamination, natural forests and plantations, urban areas and peat soils. Wilcoxina species are mycorrhizal, and commonly infect a variety of conifers and deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
trees such as Pinus, Betula, and Quercus. Some species have been shown to produce the siderophore
Siderophore
Siderophores are small, high-affinity iron chelating compounds secreted by grasses and microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi...
compound ferricrocin.