THE ORDER

ONYGENALES

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THE ONYGENALES
Is an order of Ascomycota, belonging to the class
Eurotiomycetes, which is characterized by formation of
gymnothecial or cleistothecial ascomata, evanescent
asci, unicellular ascospores and aleurio- or
arthroconidial
MYXOTRICHACEAE anamorphs.
ONYGENALES
ONYGENACEAE
GYMNOASCACEAE
ARTHRODERMATACEAE

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Ecology of onygenalean fungi
I. Family Arthrodermataceae
consists of the infamous dermatophytes which have
keratinophilic nature and are responsible for one of
the most common human fungal infectious diseases
in the world (dermatophytoses).
The dermatophytes have been divided into three
ecological groups: geophiles, zoophiles and
anthropophiles.
Dermatophytes

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II. Family Onygenaceae
contains an ecologically important group of fungi
(keratinophilic fungi) that can cycle keratin, which is
one of the most abundant and highly stable animal
proteins on the earth.
keratinophilic fungi usually inhabit soil of a variety
of sites frequented by animals and man such as
playgrounds, recreation centers, lake side, beaches,
poultry farms, breeding farms, zoological parks,
animal cages, forest and cultivated fields.
The important dimorphic pathogenic fungi which
cause systemic mycoses, Histoplasma capsulatum,
Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides immitis and
Paracoccidioides brasiliensis are also members of
this family.
The dimorphic pathogenic fungi are a soil-inhabitig
organism & consequently soil represents the main
reservoir for their spores.
The geographical distribution of these pathogens is
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III. Family Gymnoascaceae

This family is a heterogeneous assemblage

of taxa with unknown or poorly defined
substrate, and usually inhabit soil rich in
organic matter and decaying vegetations
including dead grass, nests, dung, ect.
Several species of gymnoascaceous fungi
had isolated from soil enriched with
keratinaceous materials by hair-baiting
technique, i.e., they are able to degrade
keratin.

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IV. Family Myxotrichaceae

This family differs from the other onygenalean

families because it is cellulolytic rather than
keratinolytic. This family was placed in the
Onygenales but now recognized to be better
disposed among the inoperculate discomycetes

This hypothesis was supported by recent

molecular studies

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Environmental importance of the
onygenalean fungi

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Identification of onygenalean
fungi
Identification of Onygenalean fungi primarily requires
the study of ascomatal structure, peridial hyphae and
appendages, ascospore shape, size and ornamentation
anamorphic stages and substrate preferences.
However, members of this order can not always be
easily separated employing these features.
The major difficulty in identification of these fungi
comes when a fungus exists in two stages (sexual and
asexual) as both the stages can be morphologically
quite dissimilar. It becomes more difficult in fungi that
are heterothallic, as they form sexual stages only
when opposite mating types cross.
Due to the difficulties of the classical (morphological)
methods in the distinction of taxa in this poorly-
differentiated fungal group, molecular techniques have
been used as a complementary tool to confirm their
identification.
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Phylogeny of onygenalean
fungi
In classification of the Onygenales: ascoma
structure, morphological differences of
ascospore and conidia in addition to
physiological characteristics were
traditionally used to establish the
relationships among taxa.
Recently, molecular approaches, mainly
based on analysis of different ribosomal
DNA gene regions, have been introduced
for the systematic of Onygenales and have
proved to be a reliable tool for clarifying
the phylogenetic relationships among this
order.

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Phylogenetic structure of the Onygenales
based on recent molecular approaches:
Species placed in the Onygenales are currently divided
among the families Arthrodermataceae, Gymnoascaceae
and Onygenaceae.
The Arthrodermataceae, which encompasses taxa
anamorphs assigned to Chrysosporium, Epidermophyton,
Microsporum and Trichophyton, is represented as a well-
supported lineage.
The Gymnoascaceae forms a monophyletic group in
phylogenies. However, The phylogenetic relationships
within the Gymnoascaceae are still unclear so further
sequencing studies including many gymnoascaceous
species is required.
The phylogenetic structure of the Onygenaceae is
resolved less clearly. Recent DNA sequence-based
phylogenies indicate that the family is polyphyletic.
Placement of species within the Onygenaceae is
problematic in the absence of one or more definitive
characters. 10
Further phylogenetic studies of the order
Onygenales are required in order to:

1. establish a new classification system in

the Onygenales through:
examination of further new species
phylogenetic studies based on analysis of greater
number of gene regions
re-evaluation of the phenotypic characters

2. clarify the actual phylogenetic position of

some taxa of Onygenales which remains
uncertain. Thus, study of more
representatives of these taxa using recent
molecular techniques is needed.

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