Under Construction

Delitschiaceae

Asa Kruys
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
taxon links Monophyly UncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertainPhylogenetic position of group is uncertain[down<--]Pleosporales Interpreting the tree
close box

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

close box
Containing group: Pleosporales

Introduction

Members of Delitschiaceae can be found on old dung or exposed wood, and they are widely distributed around the world (Barr 2000). The family includes three genera and ca. 80 described species, of which a majority belongs to the genus Delitschia.

Characteristics

Delitschiaceae is characterized by periphysate ostioles, wide endotunica in the ascus, and ocular chamber containing refractive rods and often a dome (Barr 2000). The ascospores are one-celled or septated and dark brown in colour. A gelatinous coating surrounds each spore and every cell contains a germ-slit (Barr 2000).

Discussion of Phylogenetic Relationships

Members of Delitschiaceae have often been included in Sporormiaceae (Arx & Müller 1975, Kirk et al. 2001), but molecular analyses support that the two families should be separated (Winka 2000, Kruys et al. 2006). Sister-taxon to Delitschia spp. is Zopfia rhizophila, although this relationship has no significant support (Kruys et al. 2006). The two genera Semidelitschia and Ohleriella have not been included in any molecular studies.

References

Arx von, J. A., and E. Müller. 1975. A re-evaluation of the bitunicate ascomycetes with keys to families and genera. Studies in Mycology 9: 1-159.

Barr, M. E. 2000. Notes on coprophilous bitunicate Ascomycetes. Mycotaxon 76:105- 112.

Bell, A. 2005. An illustrated guide to the coprophilous Ascomycetes of Australia. CBS Biodiversity Series, vol. 3. CBS, Utrecht.

Bell, A., and D. P. Mahoney. 2001. Semidelitschia nannostellata (Fungi: Dothideales: Sporormiaceae), a new species from Australia. Muelleria 15: 3-6.

Breton, A., and L. Faurel. 1970. Un Delitschia à asques multispores, Delitschia myriaspora nov. sp. Revue de Mycologie 35: 41-46.

Cain, R. F. 1934. Studies of coprophilous Sphaeriales in Ontario. Univ. of Toronto Studies 38, Toronto.

Cain, R. F., and E. R. Luck-Allen. 1969. Semidelitschia, a new genus of the Sporormiaceae. Mycologia 61: 580-585.

Doveri, F. 2004. Fungi Fimicoli Italici: A guide to the recognition of basidiomycetes and ascomycetes living on faecal material. Associazione Micologica Bresadola, Trento.

Hyde, K. D., and T. S. Steinke. 1996. Two new species of Delitschia from submerged wood. Mycoscience 37: 99-102.

Jeng, R. S., E. R. Luck-Allen, and R. F. Cain. 1977. New species and new records of Delitschia from Venezuela. Canadian Journal of Botany 55: 383-392.

Kirk, P. M., P. F. Cannon, J. C. David, and J. A Stalpers. 2001. Ainsworth and Bisby´s Dictionary of the Fungi. CAB International.

Kruys, Å., O. E. Eriksson, and M. Wedin. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships of coprophilous Pleosporales (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota), and the classification of some bitunicate taxa of unknown position. Mycological Research 110: 527-536.

Luck-Allen, E. R., and R. F. Cain. 1975. Additions to the genus Delitschia. Canadian Journal of Botany 53: 1827-1887.

Mirza, J. H., and R. S. Khan. 1979. Studies on coprophilous Ascomycetes of Pakistan III: Semidelitschia tetraspora sp. nov. Pakistan Journal of Botany 11: 99-101.

Richardson, M. J. 1998. Coniochaeta polymegasperma and Delitschia trichodelitschioides, two new coprophilous ascomycetes. Mycological Research 102: 1038-1040.

Winka, K. 2000. Phylogenetic relationship within the Ascomycota based on 18S rDNA sequences. PhD Thesis, Umeå University.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Delitschia marchalii
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Identified By Å. Kruys
Body Part Ascospore
Copyright © 2006
About This Page


Uppsala Universitet, Sweden

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Asa Kruys at

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Kruys, Asa. 2007. Delitschiaceae. Version 19 March 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Delitschiaceae/60142/2007.03.19 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Delitschiaceae

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top