Microthecium japonicum
Species of fungus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Microthecium japonicum is a species of fungus in the family Ceratostomataceae.[2] It was first described as a new species in 1986, as Persiciospora japonica. The species epithet refers to Japan, where the type specimen was collected in 1975.[3] It was reclassified in Microthecium in 2018.[4]
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| Microthecium japonicum | |
|---|---|
| |
| scanning electron microscopy of ascospore; scale bar: 5 μm | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Sordariomycetes |
| Order: | Coronophorales |
| Family: | Ceratostomataceae |
| Genus: | Microthecium |
| Species: | M. japonicum |
| Binomial name | |
| Microthecium japonicum (Y.Horie, Udagawa & P.F.Cannon) Y.Marín, Stchigel, Guarro & Cano (2018) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
It is distinguished by its ostiolate ascomata (fruiting bodies with a small pore-like opening) and ellipsoid to spindle-shaped (fusiform) ascospores with a pitted, net-like surface pattern. It resembles M. moureai in these general features, but differs in producing a phialidic asexual form and small bulbil-like propagules, which are absent in M. moureai. The spore surface in M. japonicum is also more finely reticulate, whereas M. moureai has a coarser reticulation.[4]
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