Ash dieback
| Hymenoscyphus fraxineus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Leotiomycetes |
| Order: | Helotiales |
| Family: | Helotiaceae |
| Genus: | Hymenoscyphus |
| Species: | H. fraxineus |
| Binomial name | |
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Hymenoscyphus fraxineus Baral et al. (2014) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is an Ascomycete fungus that causes ash dieback, a chronic fungal disease of ash trees in Europe characterised by leaf loss and crown dieback in infected trees. The fungus was first scientifically described in 2006 under the name Chalara fraxinea. Four years later it was discovered that Chalara fraxinea was only the asexual (anamorphic) stage of a fungus that was subsequently named Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus and then renamed as Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.
Trees now believed to have been infected with this pathogen were first reported dying in Poland in 1992. It is now entrenched in Europe. It is closely related to a native fungus Hymenoscyphus albidus, which is saprotrophic and grows on the dead leaves of ash trees. According to a report published in the Journal of Ecology a combination of the disease and emerald ash borer attacks could wipe out European ash trees.
The fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus was first identified and described in 2006 under the name Chalara fraxinea. In 2009, based on morphological and DNA sequence comparisons, Chalara fraxinea was suggested to be the asexual stage (anamorph) of the ascomycete fungus Hymenoscyphus albidus. However, Hymenoscyphus albidus has been known from Europe since 1851 and is not regarded as pathogenic. In 2010, through molecular genetic methods, the sexual stage (teleomorph) of the fungus was recognized as a new species and named Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus. Four years later it was determined that "under the rules for the naming of fungi with pleomorphic life-cycles", the correct name should be Hymenoscyphus fraxineus.Hymenoscyphus fraxineus is "morphologically virtually identical" to Hymenoscyphus albidus, but there are substantial genetic differences between the two species.
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