Calicioid fungi are a heterogeneous assemblage of fungi sharing the presence of a
mazaedium, a structure in which loose masses of
ascospores accumulate and which then are passively disseminated. Before 1970, the presence of a mazaedium was considered to be the defining trait of the order Caliciales, historically considered to be a
monophyletic group.[2] Mycocaliciaceae was
circumscribed in 1970 by the lichenologist
Alexander Schmidt. He showed that some of the genera that had been traditionally classified in the Caliciales had active spore dispersal rather than a mazaedium. He resurrected Chaenothecopsis, Mycocalicium and Strongyleuma, accepted Stenocybe and described the new genus Phaeocalicium.[3] The Mycocaliciaceae and the Sphinctrinaceae are the families in the order
Mycocaliciales, which was created in 2000 by
Leif Tibell and Mats Weden.[4] Mycocaliciaceae was shown in several studies to belong to the class
Eurotiomycetes.[5][6][7]
In 2005,
molecular phylogenetic analysis of
internal transcribed spacer DNA sequences suggested that the Sphinctrinaceae nested in the Mycocaliciaceae, and further, that some of the morphological features traditionally used to classify Mycocaliciales genera were found to be
homoplasious.[8] The 2022 "Outline of Fungi", a multi-authored compilation of fungal classification, places the Sphinctrinaceae in
synonymy with the Mycocaliciaceae.[1]
Description
The
thallus of Mycocaliciaceae species are immersed in the
substrate, and often absent.
Ascomata are stalked, brown or black, and topped by a head that is disc-like to somewhat spherical. Interascal tissue is absent in the
hymenium. The
asci are small, cylindrical, thick-walled at least in the apex, and not evanescent at an early stage.
Ascospores are
ellipsoidal to cylindrical in shape, pale to mid brown in colour, with walls that are smooth and thin. The ascospores are not released in a mazaedial mass.[9]
Genera
The list of the genera in the Mycocaliciaceae includes
taxa formerly classified in the Sphinctrinaceae. Following the genus name is the
taxonomic authority, year of publication, and the number of species:[1]
The first
fossil record of a member of the Mycocaliciaceae was reported in 2000. The species, Chaenothecopsis bitterfeldensis, was described and illustrated from
Bitterfeld amber dating back to at least 20 million years ago. The similarity in
morphology to some extant East Asian species suggests that the genus had an ancient
Laurasian distribution.[16] Since then, several new calicioid fossil specimens have been discovered from
Baltic amber (50–35 million years ago).[17][18] For example, in 2020, nine new fossils were reported. Of all reported calicioid fossils, six are assigned to Chaenothecopsis and one to Phaeocalicium.[19]
^Tibell, Leif; Wedin, Mats (2000). "Mycocaliciales, a new order for nonlichenized calicioid fungi". Mycologia. 92 (3): 577–581.
doi:
10.2307/3761518.
^Gargas, A.; DePriest, P.; Grube, M.; Tehler, A. (1995). "Multiple origins of lichen symbioses in fungi suggested by SSU rDNA phylogeny". Science. 268 (5216): 1492–1495.
doi:
10.1126/science.7770775.
PMID7770775.
^Wedin, Mats; Tibell, Leif (1997). "Phytogeny and evolution of Caliciaceae, Mycocaliciaceae, and Sphinctrinaceae (Ascomycota), with notes on the evolution of the prototunicate ascus". Canadian Journal of Botany. 75 (8): 1236–1242.
doi:
10.1139/b97-837.
^Wedin, Mats; Wiklund, Elisabeth; Crewe, Anna; Döring, Heidi; Ekman, Stefan; Nyberg, Åsa; Schmitt, Imke; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2005). "Phylogenetic relationships of Lecanoromycetes (Ascomycota) as revealed by analyses of mtSSU and nLSU rDNA sequence data". Mycological Research. 109 (2): 159–172.
doi:
10.1017/S0953756204002102.
^Tibell, Leif; Vinuesa, Maria (2005). "Chaenothecopsis in a molecular phylogeny based on nuclear rDNA ITS and LSU sequences". Taxon. 54 (2): 427–442.
doi:
10.2307/25065370.
^Cannon, P.F.; Kirk, P.M. (2007). Fungal Families of the World. CAB International. pp. 227–228.
ISBN978-0851998275.
^Vainio, Edvard A. (1927). "Lichenographia Fennica III". Acta Societatis Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica. 57 (1): 1–138 (see p. 70).
^Vainio, Edvard A. (1890). "Étude sur la classification naturelle et la morphologie des Lichens du Brésil. Pars prima". Acta Societatis Pro Fauna et Flora Fennica. 7 (1): 1–247.
^Fries, E.M. (1825).
Systema Orbis Vegetabilis (in Latin). Vol. 1. Lundin: Typographia Academica. p. 120.
^Körber, G.W. (1855). Systema lichenum Germaniae (in Latin). p. 306.
^Rikkinen, Jouko; Poinar, George (2000). "A new species of resinicolous Chaenothecopsis (Mycocaliciaceae, Ascomycota) from 20 million year old Bitterfeld amber, with remarks on the biology of resinicolous fungi". Mycological Research. 104 (1): 7–15.
doi:
10.1017/S0953756299001884.
^Kettunen, Elina; Sadowski, Eva-Maria; Seyfullah, Leyla J.; Dörfelt, Heinrich; Rikkinen, Jouko; Schmidt, Alexander R.; Lomax, Barry (2019). "Caspary's fungi from Baltic amber: historic specimens and new evidence". Papers in Palaeontology. 5 (3): 365–389.
doi:
10.1002/spp2.1238.
hdl:10138/309518.
^Rikkinen, Jouko; Meinke, S. Kristin L.; Grabenhorst, Heinrich; Gröhn, Carsten; Kobbert, Max; Wunderlich, Jörg; Schmidt, Alexander R. (2018). "Calicioid lichens and fungi in amber – Tracing extant lineages back to the Paleogene". Geobios. 51 (5): 469–479.
doi:
10.1016/j.geobios.2018.08.009.
hdl:10138/308761.