Gigasporaceae

Gigasporaceae
Gigaspora margarita
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Glomeromycota
Class:	Glomeromycetes
Order:	Diversisporales
Family:	Gigasporaceae J.B. Morton & Benny
Type genus
Gigaspora Gerd. & Trappe
Genera [1]
Cetraspora Cetraspora helvetica Dentiscutata Gigaspora Gigaspora albida Gigaspora decipiens Gigaspora gigantea Gigaspora margarita Gigaspora rosea Quatunica Racocetra Racocetra castanea Racocetra coralloidea Racocetra fulgida Racocetra gregaria Racocetra persica Racocetra verrucosa Racocetra weresubiae Scutellospora [2] Scutellospora biornata Scutellospora calospora Scutellospora cerradensis Scutellospora dipurpurascens Scutellospora erythropus Scutellospora gilmorei Scutellospora heterogama Scutellospora nigra Scutellospora nodosa Scutellospora pellucida Scutellospora reticulata Scutellospora rubra Scutellospora scutata

The Gigasporaceae are a family of fungi in the order Diversisporales. Species in this family are widespread in distribution, and form arbuscular mycorrhiza in roots. ^[3]

A species under Gigasporaceae is Gigaspora gigantea. The spores of G. gigantea, found in specific sand dunes, commence in a healthy state of newly formed spores to dead and blackened in seven months through four identifiable steps: they begin as healthy greenish-yellow spores, turn into yellow with brown spots, then reddish-orange-brown, and ultimately dead. A cause of the symptoms of death in spores are soil organisms such as bacteria, protists, and microfauna. ^[4]

References

1. International Culture Collection of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Archived 2012-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
2. The genus Scutellospora is not monophyletic. Several species have been proposed to belong to Cetraspora, Dentiscutata, or Quatunica. See Oehl F, de Souza FA, Sieverding E. 2008. Revision of Scutellospora and description of five new genera and three new families in the arbuscular mycorrhiza-forming Glomeromycetes. Mycotaxon106: 311–360.
3. Cannon PF, Kirk PM (2007). Fungal Families of the World (1st ed.). Wallingford: CABI. p. 135. ISBN   978-0-85199-827-5.
4. Lee, Pau-Ju; Koske, R.E. (1994). "Gigaspora gigantea: seasonal abundance and ageing of spores in a sand dune" . Mycological Research. 98 (4): 453–457. doi:10.1016/S0953-7562(09)81203-3.