• Source: Megalospora

Megalospora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Megalosporaceae.




Taxonomy


The genus was circumscribed in 1843 by Prussian botanist Franz Meyen, with Megalospora sulphurata assigned as the type, and at that time, only species. The genus was then largely defined on the basis of the structure of the apothecia.
In 2012, Gintaras Kantvilas and H. Thorsten Lumbsch synonymized the genus Austroblastenia (which contained two species) with Megalospora, based on both morphology and molecular phylogeny.




Description


Megalospora is characterised by its large, bicellar ascospores. Other features include the crustose thallus, the lecideine apothecia, and the presence of oil droplets in the hymenium. The photobiont partner is a member of the green algal genus Dictyochloropsis. Megalospora species are usually distinguished based on the type of ascospore, thallus chemistry, and the presence or absence of reproductive propagules such as isidia and soralia.




Species


As of December 2021, Species Fungorum accepts 22 species of Megalospora.

Megalospora albomarginata Untari (2006) – Java
Megalospora atrorubricans (Nyl.) Zahlbr. (1926)
Megalospora australiensis (Müll.Arg.) Sipman (1983)
Megalospora austropacifica Lumbsch, Naikatini & Lücking (2011) – Fiji
Megalospora caraibica Lücking (2007) – Jamaica
Megalospora clandestina Kantvilas (2018) – Tasmania
Megalospora disjuncta Sipman (1986) – New Zealand
Megalospora flavoexcipulata Untari (2006) – Java
Megalospora galactocarpa (Zahlbr.) Elix (2009)
Megalospora galapagoensis Bungartz, Ziemmeck & Lücking (2011)
Megalospora imshaugii Lücking (2007) – Jamaica
Megalospora javanica Untari (2006) – Java
Megalospora lopadioides Sipman (1983) – Tasmania
Megalospora melanodermia (Müll.Arg.) Zahlbr. (1926)
Megalospora occidentalis Kantvilas (1994) – Western Australia
Megalospora pauciseptata (Shirley) Kantvilas & Lumbsch (2012)
Megalospora porphyritis (Tuck.) R.C.Harris (1984)
Megalospora pulverata Kantvilas (1994) – Tasmania
Megalospora pupa (Sipman) Kantvilas & Lumbsch (2012)
Megalospora queenslandica Sipman (1983)
Megalospora reniformis (C.Knight ex Shirley) Zahlbr. (1926)
Megalospora subtuberculosa (C.Knight) Sipman (1983)
Megalospora sulphurata Meyen (1843) – widespread
Megalospora tuberculosa (Fée) Sipman (1983)




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Megalospora
• Megalospora austropacifica
• Acanthothecis megalospora
• Carbacanthographis megalospora
• Megalospora occidentalis
• Megalospora galapagoensis
• Xerula megalospora
• Menegazzia megalospora
• Xerotrema
• Xerula