Mycosphere Essays 12. Progress in the classification of the watercooling tower ascomycete Savoryella and a tribute to John Savory: a review

Abstract

Jones EBG, To-anun C, Suetrong S, Boonyuen N 2016 -Mycosphere Essays 12. Progress in the classification of the water-cooling tower ascomycete Savoryella and a tribute to John Savory: a review. Mycosphere 7(5), 570-581, Doi 10.5943/mycosphere/7/5/4 AbstractThe genus Savoryella belongs in the family Savoryellaceae (Savoryellales, Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetes) and its species have a worldwide distribution. A natural classification was not possible when the genus was introduced, since it predated molecular phylogenetic studies; therefore morphology-based descriptions only were provided. In this review we discuss the history and significance of the genus, illustrate its morphology and discuss its role in the colonization and biodeterioration of lignocellulosic materials. Molecular analyses of SSU, LSU and RPB2 sequence data placed the genus in the Hypocreomycetidae with high support and resulted in the introduction of the order Savoryellales. The role of Savoryella in the soft rot decay of wood is also discussed.

Phylogenetic Revision of Savoryellaceae and Evidence for Its Ranking as a Subclass

“…Savoryella is a widespread genus of lignicolous ascomycetes in aquatic habitats. All species in the genus comprise ellipsoidal, three septate ascospores whose central cells are brown, and end cells are hyaline, with or without polar appendages (Jones et al, 2016). Savoryella was variously assigned to higher orders based on morphological observations: the order Sphaeriales family incertae sedis by Kohlmeyer and Kohlmeyer (1979); ascomycetes incertae sedis by Kohlmeyer (1986); Eriksson and Hawksworth (1986); Amphisphaeriaceae (Eriksson and Hawksworth, 1987) and Sordariales (Jones and Hyde, 1992).…”

“…Savoryella was variously assigned to higher orders based on morphological observations: the order Sphaeriales family incertae sedis by Kohlmeyer and Kohlmeyer (1979); ascomycetes incertae sedis by Kohlmeyer (1986); Eriksson and Hawksworth (1986); Amphisphaeriaceae (Eriksson and Hawksworth, 1987) and Sordariales (Jones and Hyde, 1992). Barr (1990) established this genus within the order Halosphaeriales based on morphology (the catenophyses-like paraphyses) and ultrastructural observations, but these placements have all been rejected (Jones et al, 2016). Savoryella elongata and S. longispora referred to the order Hypocreales, subclass Hypocreomycetidae by Cai et al (2006) and Vijaykrishna et al (2006), based on a phylogenetic analysis of large subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA sequence data with low statistical support.…”

“…Sequence data are available only for S. aquatica, S. fusiformis, S. lignicola, S. longispora, S. verrucosa , and S. paucispora . Phylogenetic analyses showed Savoryella members formed a well-defined (ML 100%, 1.00 PP) clade within order Savoryellales (Boonyuen et al, 2011; Jones et al, 2016; Hernández-Restrepo et al, 2017).…”

“…Note : Savoryella lignicola was initially isolated from a water-cooling tower in Great Britain and has now been reported as a cosmopolitan species (Jones and Eaton, 1969; Ho et al, 1997; Jones et al, 2016). This is the sole Savoryella taxon detailed from both marine and freshwater environments (Ho et al, 1997; Luo et al, 2004).…”

“…Canalisporium species have been recorded from Cuba, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Uganda (Holubová-Jechová and Sierra, 1984; Kirk, 1985; Rao and de Hoog, 1986; Matsushima, 1987; Nawawi and Kuthubutheen, 1989; Sri-indrasutdhi et al, 2010). Though Savoryella species are cosmopolitan in distribution, mostly they are common in tropical and subtropical ecosystems (Jones et al, 2016) (Figure 1). Neoascotaiwania species have been documented from forest soil in Spain and decaying wood collected in streams in Taiwan (Chang et al, 1998; Hernández-Restrepo et al, 2017) (Figure 1 and Table 2).…”