Serpula (fungus)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Serpula
Serpula lacrymans
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Boletales
Family: Serpulaceae
Genus: Serpula
(
Pers.) Gray
(1821)
Type species
Serpula destruens
(Pers.) Gray (1821)
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Merulius sect. Serpula Pers. (1801)
  • Xylophagous Link (1809)
  • Xylomyzon Pers. (1825)
  • Gyrophora Pat. (1874)
  • Gyrophana Pat. (1897)

Serpula is a

fungi in the family Serpulaceae
.

Taxonomy and evolution

The term was originally defined by

Christian Hendrik Persoon's 1825 Xylomyzon, Narcisse Théophile Patouillard's 1874 Gyrophora, and Patouillard's 1897 Gyrophana.[1]

Serpula forms a

mya, roughly coinciding with the separation of South America and Australia from Antarctica.[5]

The number of species is uncertain – the two species S. lacrymans and S. himantioides have been considered to be a single species, or the latter species has possibly five

cryptic species within its complex.[5]

Description

The members of the genus Serpula form flat brown fruit bodies that cover the surface they are growing on (known as the substrate). The hymenophore, or spore-forming surface, generally has a wrinkled appearance.[5]

Ecology

The species grow on, and digest, mainly coniferous wood, causing a process known as brown rot. One species, dry rot (S. lacrymans), is a highly destructive agent of houses.[5] Damp structural timber is an ideal substrate for the germination of Serpula spores. The fungal hyphae penetrate the wood and release enzymes that break down structural polysaccharides such as cellulose. There may be no external indications that the fungus is present until the rot is far advanced and fruit bodies are formed. The strand mycelium of Serpula, which can be up to 8 mm thick, are invasive and can spread over non-nutritive surfaces[6] to find new food sources, even spreading through pores in stone, brickwork, and cement. After its initial growth period, the fungus can produce the water it needs and can continue growth into dry timber, eventually degrading it to powder—hence the term "dry rot". S. lacrymans is the most serious cause of building timber decay in the UK and northern Europe.[7]

Species

The Dictionary of the Fungi (10th edition, 2008), suggests that the genus contains two species.[8] As of December 2014, the nomenclatural database Index Fungorum indicates 11 species:[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Serpula (Pers.) Gray". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2013-06-01.
  2. ^ Persoon CH. (1801). Synopsis methodica fungorum (in Latin). Göttingen: Apud Henricum Dieterich. p. 496.
  3. ^ Gray SF. (1821). A Natural Arrangement of British Plants. Vol. 1. London: Baldwin, Cradock and Joy. p. 637.
  4. .
  5. ^
  6. ^ "Hausschwamm erkennen" (in German). 2 January 2021.
  7. .
  8. .
  9. ^ Kirk PM. "Species Fungorum (version 24th November 2014). In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life". Retrieved 2014-12-03.

External links