Protomycena

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Protomycena
Temporal range: Burdigalian
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Protomycena electra.JPG
Artist's reconstruction
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Mycenaceae
Genus:† Protomycena
Hibbett, Grimaldi & Donoghue
Species:
†P. electra
Binomial name
†Protomycena electra
Hibbett, Grimaldi & Donoghue
Caribbean - Hispaniola.PNG
Protomycena is known only from amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola, north of South America

Protomycena is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the family Mycenaceae, of order Agaricales. [1] At present it contains the single species Protomycena electra, known from a single specimen collected in an amber mine in the Cordillera Septentrional area of the Dominican Republic. The fruit body of the fungus has a convex cap that is 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter, with distantly spaced gills on the underside. The curved stipe is smooth and cylindrical, measuring 0.75 mm (0.030 in) thick by 10 mm (0.39 in) long, and lacks a ring. It resembles extant (currently living) species of the genus Mycena . Protomycena is one of only five known agaric fungus species known in the fossil record and the second to be described from Dominican amber. [1] [2]

Contents

Discovery and classification

The genus is known only from the holotype specimen, a single fruit body (mushroom) currently residing in the private collection owned by Ettore Morone of Turin, Italy. [1] [3] The specimen was collected in one of the amber mines in the Cordillera Septentrional area of the island of Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic. The amber is believed to date from the Miocene Burdigalian stage, about 20 to 16 million years before the present. [4] It was first studied by a group of researchers consisting of David Hibbett and Michael Donoghue from Harvard University, with David Grimaldi of the American Museum of Natural History. Hibbett and colleagues published their 1997 type description in the American Journal of Botany . [1] The generic name Protomycena is noted as "first", and " Mycena ", a modern genus that it resembles. The specific epithet electra was coined by the authors from the Latin or Greek word for "amber", in reference to the mode of preservation. [1]

When it was reported, Protomycena electra was the third species of fossil agaric fungus to be described. The two species Coprinites dominicana and Aureofungus yaniguaensis are also known from the amber mines of the Dominican Republic, while the fourth species Archaeomarasmius leggeti is from the older, Cretaceous age New Jersey Amber. [1] [2] With the 2007 publication of a fifth extinct agaric species, Palaeoagaracites antiquus , the minimum age for the order Agaricales was pushed back to the Albian (approximately 100 Ma). [5]

Description

Protomycena is similar in appearance to modern Mycena species, such as M. adscendens shown here. Mycena adscendens 79019.jpg
Protomycena is similar in appearance to modern Mycena species, such as M. adscendens shown here.

The holotype of Protomycena is a single fruit body without any associated structures, preserved in a piece of clear light yellow polished amber approximately 4.5–2.5 cm (1.77–0.98 in) wide. The pileus is 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter and has a convex shape, sporting a raised central region (an umbo). The pale flesh appears yellowish in the amber, and is smooth and glossy, changing to striate and slightly translucent towards the margin. The pileus margin is striated and slightly flared. The gills on the underside of the pileus are broadly attached (adnate) to the top of the stipe, and distantly spaced—between six and eight gills extend completely from the pileus margin to the stipe. These full-length gills are anastomosed with lamellulae (short gills which do not reach the edge of the stipe from the pileus margin) of varying lengths. [2] The pileus is centered on the curved stipe, which is smooth and cylindrical, measuring 0.75 mm (0.030 in) thick by 10 mm (0.39 in) long. The stipe lacks a ring and rhizoids. The mushroom is preserved with a small liquid and gas-filled bubble, possibly originating from the mushroom itself, which indicates the amber to be very solid and well-sealed. [1]

In Hibbett and colleagues' 1997 publication, Protomycena was placed in the subfamily Myceneae, which at the time was considered part of the family Tricholomataceae; [6] Mycena is currently classified in the family Mycenaceae. [7] [8] The placement was based solely on the visible structures, or macromorphology of the fruit body. Many of the features which are typically used to classify species into fungal families and subfamilies are based on microscopic features not visible or preserved in the amber specimen. Consequently, the assignment to Mycena is provisional (the authors also note certain similarities with extant members of Marasmius ), and the describing authors leave open the option of treating the genus placement as incertae sedis (uncertain placement) within the Agaricales. Protomycena is distinct from other amber-preserved mushroom taxa such as Coprinites , in the grooved surface of its pileus and its anastomosing gills. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaricales</span> Order of mushrooms

The Agaricales are an order of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. As originally conceived, the order contained all the agarics, but subsequent research has shown that not all agarics are closely related and some belong in other orders, such as the Russulales and Boletales. Conversely, DNA research has also shown that many non-agarics, including some of the clavarioid fungi and gasteroid fungi belong within the Agaricales. The order has 46 extant families, more than 400 genera, and over 25,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. Species in the Agaricales range from the familiar Agaricus bisporus and the deadly Amanita virosa to the coral-like Clavaria zollingeri and bracket-like Fistulina hepatica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaricaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus Agaricus, as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basidiocarp</span> Fungal structure

In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma (pl. basidiomata) is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures. As with other sporocarps, epigeous (above-ground) basidiocarps that are visible to the naked eye are commonly referred to as mushrooms, while hypogeous (underground) basidiocarps are usually called false truffles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaric</span> Fungal fruiting body

An agaric is a type of fungus fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. In the UK, agarics are called "mushrooms" or "toadstools". In North America they are typically called "gilled mushrooms". "Agaric" can also refer to a basidiomycete species characterized by an agaric-type fruiting body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tricholomataceae</span> Family of fungi

The Tricholomataceae are a large family of fungi within the order Agaricales. Originally a classic "wastebasket taxon", the family included any white-, yellow-, or pink-spored genera in the Agaricales not already classified as belonging to e.g. the Amanitaceae, Lepiotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Pluteaceae, or Entolomataceae.

<i>Mycena leaiana</i> Species of fungus

Mycena leaiana, commonly known as the orange mycena or Lea's mycena, is a species of saprobic fungi in the genus Mycena, family Mycenaceae. Characterized by their bright orange caps and stalks and reddish-orange gill edges, they usually grow in dense clusters on deciduous logs. The pigment responsible for the orange color in this species has antibiotic properties. A variety of the species, Mycena leaiana var. australis, can be found in Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mycenaceae</span> Family of fungi

The Mycenaceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. According to the Dictionary of the Fungi, the family contains 10 genera and 705 species. This is one of several families that were separated from the Tricholomataceae as a result of phylogenetic analyses. Taxa in the Mycenaceae are saprobic, have a cosmopolitan distribution, and are found in almost all ecological zones. The family was circumscribed by Caspar van Overeem in 1926.

<i>Coprinites</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Coprinites is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the Agaricales family Agaricaceae. At present it contains the single species Coprinites dominicana.

<i>Archaeomarasmius</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Archaeomarasmius is an extinct genus of gilled fungus in the Agaricales family Tricholomataceae, containing the single species Archaeomarasmius leggetti. It is known from two fruit bodies recovered from amber, one consisting of a complete cap with a broken stem, the other consisting of a fragment of a cap. The cap has a diameter ranging from 3.2 to 6 mm, while the stem is 0.5 mm (0.02 in) thick. Spores were also recovered from the amber, and are broadly ellipsoid to egg-shaped, measuring roughly 7.3 by 4.7 μm. The species, which resembles the extant genera Marasmius and Marasmiellus, is inferred to have been saprobic on plant litter or other forest debris.

Aureofungus is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales. At present it contains the single species Aureofungus yaniguaensis.

<i>Palaeoagaracites</i> Extinct genus of fungi

Palaeoagaracites is an extinct monotypic genus of gilled fungus in the order Agaricales. It contains the single species Palaeoagaracites antiquus.

<i>Mycena cystidiosa</i> Species of fungus

Mycena cystidiosa is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1964, it is known only from New Zealand and Australia. The fruit bodies have a broadly conical small white cap up to 12 mm (0.5 in) wide, with distantly spaced cream-coloured gills on the underside. The stipe is particularly long, up to 20 cm (8 in), with an abundant covering of white hairs at the base. The species is known for its abundant rhizomorphs—long, root-like extensions of mycelia.

Mycetophagites is an extinct fungal genus of mycoparasitic in the order Hypocreales. A monotypic genus, it contains the single species Mycetophagites atrebora.

Entropezites is an extinct monotypic genus of [hypermycoparasitic] fungus in the order Hypocreales. At present it contains the single species Entropezites patricii.

Mycena semivestipes is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is found in eastern North America.

<i>Mycena manipularis</i> Species of fungus

Mycena manipularis is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. Found in Australasia, Malaysia, and the Pacific islands, the mycelium and fruit bodies of the fungus grow in forests and can be bioluminescent. The fruiting bodies also display a variety of morphologies that have no current genetic attributions. References to Mycena manipularis can be found in Japanese folklore and Indonesian food culture.

<i>Roridomyces austrororidus</i> Species of fungus

Roridomyces austrororidus, commonly known as the austro dripping bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1962 by American mycologist Rolf Singer, it is found in South America, New Zealand, and Australia, where it grows on rotting wood.

<i>Mycena purpureofusca</i> Species of fungus

Mycena purpureofusca, commonly known as the purple edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First described by Charles Horton Peck in 1885, the species is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on the decaying wood and debris of conifers, including cones. Fruit bodies have conical to bell-shaped purple caps up to 2.5 cm (1 in) set atop slender stipes up to 10 cm (4 in) long. The mushroom is named for the characteristic dark greyish-purple color of its gill edges. In the field, M. purpureofusca mushrooms can usually be distinguished from similar species by characteristics such as the dark purple gill edges, the deep purple cap center, and its cartilagineous consistency. The fungus contains a laccase enzyme that has been investigated scientifically for its potential to detoxify recalcitrant industrial dyes used in textile dyeing and printing processes.

<i>Mycena alphitophora</i> Species of fungus

Mycena alphitophora is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. Its small, white, delicate fruit bodies are characterized by the powdery coatings on the surfaces of both the cap and stipe. The stipe base is not swollen or disk-like. The stipe surface is more hairy than Mycena adscendens.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hibbett DS, Grimaldi DS, Donoghue MJ (1997). "Fossil mushrooms from Miocene and Cretaceous ambers and the evolution of Homobasidiomycetes". American Journal of Botany. 84 (8): 981–991. doi: 10.2307/2446289 . JSTOR   2446289.
  2. 1 2 3 Hibbett DS, Grimaldi D, Donoghue MJ (2003). "Another fossil agaric from Dominican Amber". Mycologia. 95 (4): 685–687. doi:10.2307/3761943. JSTOR   3761943. PMID   21148976.
  3. ↑ Engel MS. (1995). "New Augochlorine bees (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) in Dominican Amber, with a brief review of fossil Halictidae". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 69 (4): 334–349. JSTOR   25085728.(subscription required)
  4. ↑ Iturralde-Vinent MA, MacPhee RDE (1996). "Age and paleogeographical origin of Dominican Amber". Science. 273 (5283): 1850–1852. Bibcode:1996Sci...273.1850I. doi:10.1126/science.273.5283.1850. S2CID   129754021.
  5. ↑ Poinar GO, Buckley R (2007). "Evidence of mycoparasitism and hypermycoparasitism in Early Cretaceous amber". Mycological Research. 111 (4): 503–506. doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.02.004. PMID   17512712.
  6. ↑ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, David JC, Stalpers JA (2001). Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi (9th ed.). Oxon, UK: CABI Bioscience. p. 337. ISBN   0-85199-377-X.
  7. ↑ Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA (2008). Dictionary of the Fungi (10th ed.). Wallingford, UK: CABI. p.  445. ISBN   978-0-85199-826-8.
  8. ↑ "Mycena (Pers.) Roussel 1806". MycoBank. International Mycological Association. Retrieved 2010-11-10.

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