Phyllactinia guttata is a species of powdery mildew fungus in the family Erysiphaceae. A plant parasite, it infects the undersides of leaves of Corylus species (hazels).

Phyllactinia guttata
Various stages in the life cycle of Phyllactinia guttata. Fig 1. Natural size, on chestnut leaf. 2. Perithecium enlarged. 3. Two asci. 4.Three sporidia. 5.Conidia-bearing hyphae. 6.Conidium germinating.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Leotiomycetes
Order: Helotiales
Family: Erysiphaceae
Genus: Phyllactinia
Species:
P. guttata
Binomial name
Phyllactinia guttata
(Wallr.) Lév.[1]
Synonyms[2]
List
    • Alphitomorpha guttata Wallr., Verh. Ges. nat. Freunde Berlin 1(1): 42 (1819)
    • Erysibe coryli (DC.) Mussat, in Saccardo, Syll. fung. (Abellini) 15: 137 (1901)
    • Erysibe guttata var. coryli (DC.) Link, Fl. lusit.: 484 (1833)
    • Erysibe suffulta (Rebent.) Mussat, in Saccardo, Syll. fung. (Abellini) 15: 138 (1901)
    • Erysiphe betulae DC., Fl. franç., Edn 3 (Paris) 5/6: 107 (1815)
    • Erysiphe coryli DC., in Lamarck & de Candolle, Fl. franç., Edn 3 (Paris) 2: 272 (1805)
    • Erysiphe guttata (Wallr.) Link, in Willdenow, Sp. pl., Edn 4 6(1): 116 (1824)
    • Erysiphe guttata f. corylea (DC.) Fr., Syst. mycol. (Lundae) 3(1): 246 (1829)
    • Erysiphe guttata var. coryli Link, in Willdenow, Sp. pl., Edn 4 6(1): 116 (1824)
    • Erysiphe suffultum (Rebent.) Nees, Syst. Pilze (Würzburg): 148, tab. 14, fig. 134 (1816)
    • Erysiphe varium var. suffultum (Rebent.) Fr., Observ. mycol. (Havniae) 1: 206 (1815)
    • Microsphaera betulae (DC.) Magnus, Ber. dt. bot. Ges. 16: 67 (1898)
    • Phyllactinia betulae (DC.) Fuss, Archiv des Vereins für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde, Neue Folge 14(2): 463 (1878)
    • Phyllactinia berberidis Palla, Ber. dt. bot. Ges. 17: 64 (1899)
    • Phyllactinia corylea (Pers.) P. Karst., in Salmon, Monograph of Erysiphaceae (Berlin-Stuttgart): 224 (1900)
    • Phyllactinia suffulta (Rebent.) Sacc., Michelia 2(no. 6): 50 (1880)
    • Sclerotium erysiphe ß corylea Pers., Observ. mycol. (Lipsiae) 1: 13 (1796)
    • Sclerotium suffultum Rebent., Prodr. fl. neomarch. (Berolini): 360 (1804)

Taxonomy

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Originally named in 1801 as Sclerotium erysiphe by Christian Hendrik Persoon, the species went through a number of name changes in the 1800s. Salmon's 1900 monograph on the Erysiphaceae[3] established the name as Phyllactinia corylea for roughly half a century, until the starting date for the naming of fungi was moved, and the name was established as Phyllactinia guttata.[4]

Description

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The mycelium may be abundant and persistent, or scant and short-lived (evanescent).[5] The cleistothecia can become large (216245 μm), with soft wall tissue, and obscure cellular structure and cracks and wrinkles (reticulations).

Microscopic view of cleistothecium showing appendages with bulbous base

The cleistothecia typically develop 812 easily detachable hyaline appendages that vary in length from 191290 μm long. The asci are 4 to 5 to 20 or more, ovate, supported by small stalk-like structures (pedicellate), with dimensions of 7283 by 3240 μm. There are typically two spores per ascus, sometimes three or four, and they are 3136 by 2125 μm.[6]

The cells attached to the upper part of the ascomata that resemble hairs are known as penicillate cells; they are made of foots and filaments. The filaments can gelatinize by absorbing water and are thought to function in helping the ascomata adhere to the surface on which they grow, like the underside of leaves.[7] In P. guttata, the foots are cylindrical, irregular in width, 3272 by 7.525 μm, and divided into 210 branchlets in the upper part. Each branchlet is short, bulbous, with filaments being 2042 μm, somewhat shorter than the foots, which are 24 μm wide. The short, bulbous branchlets on the multi-branched upper part of the foots are unique among the Phyllactinia and are a distinguishing taxonomic characteristic of this species.

Habitat and distribution

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Phyllactinia guttula is distributed throughout temperate regions of the world.

P. guttata is a host for the fungicolous hyphomycete Cladosporium uredinicola.[8]

References

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  1. (Wallr.) Lév., Annls Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 3 15: 144 (1851)
  2. "Species Fungorum - GSD Species". www.speciesfungorum.org. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  3. Salmon ES. (1907). "A monograph on the Erysiphaceae". Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club. 9: 1–292.
  4. Cooke WB. (1952). "Nomenclatural notes on the Erysiphaceae". Mycologia. 44 (4): 570–74. doi:10.1080/00275514.1952.12024218. JSTOR 4547628.
  5. Ellis JB, Everhart JM. (1892). North American Pyrenomycetes. New Jersey: Newfield. pp. 20–21.
  6. Eslyn WE. (1960). "New Records of Forest Fungi in the Southwest". Mycologia. 52 (3). Mycologia, Vol. 52, No. 3: 381–387. doi:10.2307/3755953. JSTOR 3755953.
  7. Yarwood CE. (1958). "Powdery mildews". Botanical Review. 23 (4): 235–301. doi:10.1007/bf02872581. S2CID 34913772.
  8. Dugan F. (2006). "Phyllactinia guttata is a host for Cladosporium uredinicola in Washington state". North American Fungi: 1–5. doi:10.2509/pnwf.2006.001.001 (inactive 30 September 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)[dead link]