Neolecta
Encyclopedia
Neolecta is a genus of ascomycetous fungi
that have fruiting bodies in the shape of unbranched to lobed bright yellowish, orangish to pale yellow-green colored, club-shaped, smooth, fleshy columns up to about 7 cm tall. The species share the English designation "Earth tongues" along with some better-known fungi (e.g. Geoglossum, Microglossum) with a similar general form, but in fact they are only distantly related.
Neolecta is the only genus belonging to the family Neolectaceae, which is the only family belonging to the order Neolectales. Neolectales, in turn, is the only order belonging to the class Neolectomycetes, which belongs to the subdivision Taphrinomycotina
of the Ascomycota
.
Neolecta is found in Asia, North America, Northern Europe and Argentina. The species all live in association with trees, and at least one, N. vitellina, grows from rootlets of its host, but it is not known whether the fungus is parasitic, saprotrophic, or mutualistic. It is said to be edible.
Neolecta does not have any close relatives. Phylogenetically, it weakly clusters with a bizarre group of basal Ascomycota
including Taphrina
, a dimorphic, half yeast
, half filamentous genus parasitic on leaves, branches, and catkins, Schizosaccharomyces
, a genus of fission yeasts (e.g. Schizosaccharomyces pombe
), and Pneumocystis, a yeast-like genus of parasites in mammalian lungs. Neolecta fruitbodies consist of hypha
e and a hymenium
. The hymenium lacks paraphyses
and the asci
lack croziers
, which makes the genus distinctive among other earth-tongues. Neolecta vitellina forms masses of conidia by budding, hinting at the possibility it also produces a yeast state. However, to date, the genus has been unculturable, suggesting it is either obligately parasitic or symbiotic. It provides important evidence for the evolutionary history of the Ascomycota and has been called a living fossil
.
Fungus
A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...
that have fruiting bodies in the shape of unbranched to lobed bright yellowish, orangish to pale yellow-green colored, club-shaped, smooth, fleshy columns up to about 7 cm tall. The species share the English designation "Earth tongues" along with some better-known fungi (e.g. Geoglossum, Microglossum) with a similar general form, but in fact they are only distantly related.
Neolecta is the only genus belonging to the family Neolectaceae, which is the only family belonging to the order Neolectales. Neolectales, in turn, is the only order belonging to the class Neolectomycetes, which belongs to the subdivision Taphrinomycotina
Taphrinomycotina
Taphrinomycotina is one of three subphyla constituting the Ascomycota and is more or less synonymous with the slightly older invalid name Archiascomycetes...
of the Ascomycota
Ascomycota
The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...
.
Neolecta is found in Asia, North America, Northern Europe and Argentina. The species all live in association with trees, and at least one, N. vitellina, grows from rootlets of its host, but it is not known whether the fungus is parasitic, saprotrophic, or mutualistic. It is said to be edible.
Neolecta does not have any close relatives. Phylogenetically, it weakly clusters with a bizarre group of basal Ascomycota
including Taphrina
Taphrina
Taphrina is a fungal genus within the Ascomycota that causes leaf and catkin curl diseases and witch's brooms of certain flowering plants. One of the more commonly observed species causes peach leaf curl...
, a dimorphic, half yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, half filamentous genus parasitic on leaves, branches, and catkins, Schizosaccharomyces
Schizosaccharomyces
Schizosaccharomyces is a genus of fission yeasts. The most well-studied species is S. pombe. At present four Schizosaccharomyces species have been described . Like the distantly related Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. pombe is a significant model organism in the study of eukaryotic cell biology...
, a genus of fission yeasts (e.g. Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Schizosaccharomyces pombe, also called "fission yeast", is a species of yeast. It is used as a model organism in molecular and cell biology. It is a unicellular eukaryote, whose cells are rod-shaped. Cells typically measure 3 to 4 micrometres in diameter and 7 to 14 micrometres in length...
), and Pneumocystis, a yeast-like genus of parasites in mammalian lungs. Neolecta fruitbodies consist of hypha
Hypha
A hypha is a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus, and also of unrelated Actinobacteria. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium; yeasts are unicellular fungi that do not grow as hyphae.-Structure:A hypha consists of one or...
e and a hymenium
Hymenium
The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia or...
. The hymenium lacks paraphyses
Paraphyses
Paraphyses are part of the fertile spore-bearing layer in certain fungi. More specifically, paraphyses are sterile filamentous hyphal end cells composing part of the hymenium of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota interspersed among either the asci or basidia respectively, and not sufficiently...
and the asci
Ascus
An ascus is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. On average, asci normally contain eight ascospores, produced by a meiotic cell division followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or species can number one , two, four, or multiples...
lack croziers
Crozier (mycology)
A crozier is an anatomical feature of many fungi in the phylum Ascomycota that form at the base of asci and look like hook-topped shepherd’s staffs or stylized religious crosiers...
, which makes the genus distinctive among other earth-tongues. Neolecta vitellina forms masses of conidia by budding, hinting at the possibility it also produces a yeast state. However, to date, the genus has been unculturable, suggesting it is either obligately parasitic or symbiotic. It provides important evidence for the evolutionary history of the Ascomycota and has been called a living fossil
Living fossil
Living fossil is an informal term for any living species which appears similar to a species otherwise only known from fossils and which has no close living relatives, or a group of organisms which have long fossil records...
.