Savoryella lignicola
Savoryella lignicola is a species of marine and freshwater based fungi in the Savoryellaceae family of the order Savoryellales. They are saprobic on submerged wood.
Taxonomy
The genus name of Savoryella is derived from John George Savory, who was a mycologist, born in Sacriston, Co Durham, England. In 1969, a completely new genus of fungi was discovered by researchers at Portsmouth Polytechnic to cause soft rot in the marine environment, its identifier, botanist Evan Benjamin Gareth Jones, gave the new genus of fungi, the name of Savoryella in tribute to Savory.The Latin epithet "lignicola" means "living on wood".
Taxonomically, Savoryella had been referred to several orders. In 2011, Savoryella together with genus Ascotaiwania, Canalisporium formed a distinct clade in the Hypocreomycetidae subclass, based on phylogenetic analyses of the SSU and LSU rRNA, RPB2, and TEF-1-alpha genes. It can also occur early in the colonization of timber test panels and also on well-decayed wood, and also causes active soft-rot decay of wood.
History
Savoryella lignicola was initially described from test panels of Fagus sylvestris and Pinus sylvestris, exposed in a water cooling tower run with brackish water, at Connah's Quay in Wales.It was later reported as a cosmopolitan species. This is the sole Savoryella taxon detailed from both marine and freshwater environments. Though the marine and freshwater isolates of Savoryella lignicola are morphologically alike, it is doubtful whether they are same species. Molecular data are available only for two Savoryella lignicola strains described from mangrove wood from Malaysia and submerged Nypa fruticans fronds from Thailand, with no molecular data for the freshwater strain of Savoryella lignicola. Therefore, molecular data should be obtained from collections from freshwater habitats to establish whether they are the same species or not. Savoryella lignicola morphologically resembles Savoryella fusiformis and Savoryella longispora. However, these taxa can easily be distinguished by measurements of length/width ratio of ascospores and molecular data.
Description
Savoryella lignicola has;The sexual morph, ascomata that is 170-350 μm high, 120-250 μm in diameter. They are globose, subglobose or ellipsoidal. They are immersed, partly immersed or superficial, ostiolate, papillate, membranous, and pale to dark brown.
They have long necks, 80-165 μm long, up to 72 μm in diameter, brown, with periphyses. The peridium is brown, one-layered and composed of several layers of thick-walled angular cells forming a textura angularis. The paraphyses is present, but sparse.
The asci ascus is 100--180 × 16-24 μm. It is eight-spored, cylindrical or clavate in shape. It is short-stalked, unitunicate, persistent, with an apical truncate non-amyloid apical thickening containing a pore.
The ascospores are 24-36 × 8-12 μm, uni-orbiseriate, ellipsoidal, tri-septate, not markedly constricted at the septa. The central cells are brown with apical cells smaller and hyaline and.
The anamorph or asexual morph is undetermined. Undetermined.
Distribution
Savoryella lignicola has a cosmopolitan distribution, although they are mostly common in tropical and subtropical ecosystems. They are found in places such as; America Andaman Islands, Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, England, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Wales.They are found in brackish water habitats, as well as marine water habitats. On submerged wood, within water cooling towers, and in rivers and streams. They also can be found in mangrove swamps, in Asia including Malaysia.