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The vegetative and sporulating structures of Linderina pennispora are described using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The vegetative hyphae and sporangiophores were regularly septate, possessed a two-layered wall, and coated with rod-shaped, 0.2–0.7 μm long, 0.15–0.25 μm wide ornamentations. The sporangiophore was erect, cylindrical, and narrower (4–8 μm) than the vegetative mycelium (8–12 μm). The mature sporocladium was ovoid to dome-shaped, sessile, non-septate, 18–24 μm diam, possessed a two-layered wall, and coated with rod-shaped ornamentations. Mature pseudophialides were ellipsoid, 2.0–2.5 μm wide, 4–7 μm long, possessed a two-layered wall, and formed in a series of concentric groups radiating from the “apex” of the sporocladium. The pseudophialides had a round, ca. 1.5 μm diam, base with a narrower, 0.7–0.8 μm diam lobed, cylindrical neck structure in the distal region which extended to the pseudophialide neck. The merosporangia were obovate, 3–4 μm wide near the base, and narrowed distally to 2.0–2.5 μm wide, 18–23 μm long, possessed a three-layered wall, with regular surface annulation with interconnecting ridges, but lacked rod-shaped ornamentations. The merosporangia contained a single, obovate, 2.3–2.5 μm diam merosporangiospore, with a ca. 1 μm diam papilla-like base, that possessed a four-layered wall. Detached merosporangia had a single, acicular, unbranched, 3–5 μm long, ca. 0.1 μm diam “appendage” that was attached to the merosporangiospore inner cell wall layer and passed through the septum plug to the pseudophialide.

During an investigation of Taiwan Zygomycetes, Coemansia asiatica and C. pectinata (Kickxellaceae, Kickxellales, Kickxellomycotina) were isolated respectively from dung and soil sources and are reported as new records from Taiwan. Identification was based on morphological characters and ribosomal DNA sequence data. In this paper these two species are described, illustrated and compared with their related species.

Four species belonging to Kickxellales (Kickxellomycotina) isolated from soil of Indonesia are described and illustrated. Two new species of Coemansia, C. asiatica and C. javaensis, were discovered in South Sulawesi and West Java, and two known species of Linderina, L. pennispora and L. macrospora, were discovered in East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi, respectively. These four species are newly added to the Indonesian mycobiota. A technique for inducing sporulation of C. javaensis and L. macrospora by adding substances derived from invertebrates such as aphids, nereids, or cladocerans to culture media is described.

The methods that Dr. Richard K. Benjamin used to isolate Zygomycetes are discussed. These processes involved the following five steps: (1) collection, (2) plating, (3) isolation, (4) culture, and (5) maintenance. Additional methods, materials and modifications used to isolate Zygomycetes are summarized. The author considers the flattening of the aerial hyphae onto the substrate of the faster- and higher-growing Mucorales for several consecutive days to be the critical step in isolating species of Coemansia, Piptocephalis, Syncephalis, and Dimargaritales. The methods used by other scholars to isolate, culture, and study many taxa in Zygomycetes also are discussed.

The fatty acid profiles of zygomycetes from the family Kickxellaceae of the order Kickxellales were studied with reference to the species Kicksella alabastrina of the key genus Kicksella of the family and the species Linderina pennispora. When synthesized de novo, the lipids of these species show the prevalence of cis-9-hexadecenoic acid. This trait is stable and does not depend on cultivation conditions and can, therefore, be considered as a specific chemotaxonomic characteristic of fungi from the order Kickxellales. The fatty acid profiles of the two fungi under study are similar to that of sea buckthorn oil.

This article is a revision of the previous edition article by P.M. Kirk, volume 2, pp 882–887, © 1999, Elsevier Ltd.

Myconymphaea yatsukahoi gen. sp. nov. is described in the Kickxellaceae (Kickxellales, Zygomycetes). The fungus is characterised by unicellular sporocladia formed on apical vesicles of sporangiophores, conspicuously long sporangiospores and peculiar septal plugs with prominent protuberances. In addition, a key to all known genera of the Kickxellales is provided.

Ramicandelaber, a new genus of Zygomycetes is erected to accommodateRamicandelaber longisporus sp. nov. The fungus has hyphal septa with median plugs and forms homologous structures to sporocladia and pseudophialides. These characteristics suggest that it belongs to the Kickxellales, Zygomycetes.

Coemansia furcata, isolated from forest soils of Japan and Taiwan, is described and illustrated. This species is characterised by its sporangiophore branching and relatively large sporocladia. Its distribution in soils of Japan and Taiwan is discussed.

The presence of zygospores in the genus Orphella is newly described. We found zygospores in three species of the genus, O. catalaunica, O. coronata and O. helicospora, which are all the species of the genus known from the Iberian territory. Zygospores are associated with a heterothallic conjugating sexual process in O. coronata, whereas in O. catalaunica and O. helicospora, they form homothallically. In all instances, zygospores are consistently associated with an organized pattern of sterile cells, forming structures comparable to those present with asexual trichospores. We compare the ontogeny of Orphella zygospores with that found in the harpellid Genistellospora homothallica and discuss the possible close relationship of Orphella with Kickxellales (Zygomycetes). We report O. coronata in Spain for the first time, replacing all previous records of O. haysii. Results are supported with line drawings and photographs.

Mycoemilia scoparia gen. sp. nov. is described as a new member of Kickxellales. It is characterized by lageniform sporocladia produced acrogenously in mass and bears wet and fusiform spores on the sporocladia. Ramicandelaber brevisporus sp. nov. is distinguished from the type species of the genus, R. longisporus, by producing much shorter asexual spores, (3-)8(-13) long fertile branches arising from a globose body, and lateral branches.

Septal ontogeny in Linderina pennispora Raper & Fennell is initiated by the ingrowth of material from the inner of the two layers of the cell wall. The growing point of the septum bifurcates and continues growth, forming a lenticular cavity into which the septal plug is deposited. This type of septal development occurs in all septa except those produced between the pseudophialides and the merosporangia and spores. The latter septal type initially is formed as previously described, but then additional wall material is produced both above and below the septum. In the merosporangiospore three layers of wall material are produced, the inner two layers give rise to the spore spines, and at maturity all wall layers coalesce and form a single, thick spore wall. Extra wall material in the apex of the pseudophialide gives rise to a multilobed and mottled vacuole that shrivels just before spore liberation. Mature merosporangiospores are the only structures with spore spines. Aerial spines are produced on all structures except the merosporangiospores, although a relatively larger number of the aerial spines are produced on the aerial hyphae than on the pseudophialides and the sporocladia. The possible functions of the spore spines and the aerial spines are discussed.

The Harpellales, Asellariales (Trichomycetes) and Kickxellaceae (Zygomycetes) share several characters which separate them from the other trichomycete orders, Amoebidiales and Eccrinales, as well a...