Serpula himantioides

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***Serpula himantioides*** is a species of fungus that causes damage to timber referred to as dry rot. It is a basidiomycete in the order Boletales. It has been found on all continents except for Antarctica. Recent molecular work demonstrates that *S. himantioides* is a species complex including multiple cryptic lineages.

## Taxonomy

The fungus was first described in 1818 by Elias Magnus Fries as *Merulius himantioides*. Petter Karsten transferred it to the genus *Serpula* in 1884.

## Host and symptoms

*Serpula himantioides* is a fungal pathogen within the division Basidiomycota. It produces thin, resupinate (inverted), membranous fan-like basidiocarps that are brownish in color and appear as distinctive fruiting bodies on the exterior of the host. *S. himantioides* prefers the moist wood of coniferous hosts such as fir, larch, spruce, and pine. It is the causal agent of butt rot disease, the symptoms of which include rotting the heartwood at base of tree, as well as damage to the tap root and cores of lateral roots, but standing trees show no signs of infection. It also a common cause of timber rotting in buildings, which has made this pathogen difficult to differentiate from *S. lacrymans* because of their similarities. This disease often goes unnoticed initially due to a lack of any above ground symptoms of disease. Signs of the pathogen include basidiospores, and fungal masses that are generally dark brown and membranous in the center but become thin white mycelium towards edges of the mass. The brown cubical rot caused by *S. himantioides* resembles the rots of *Phaeolus schweinitzii* and *S. lacrymans*.

## Importance

*Serpula himantiodes* is a pre-harvest pathogen that exerts economic impact on lumber supply. It is considered the wild sister species of *S. lacrymans*, the pathogen that causes dry rot in wooden building structures. *S. himantioides* is studied most frequently in the context of its relation to *S. lacrymans.*

## Disease cycle

*Serpula himantioides* has a heterothallic tetrapolar mating system. This means it requires the growth and conjugation of two mating types, determined by the expression of one or more alleles of two unlinked mating loci, for sexual reproduction.

## Environment

*Serpula himantioides* is commonly found in the wild, while *S. lacrymans* is rarely found in the wild and is generally found on lumber in buildings and construction.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Carlsen 2011`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Fries 1838`
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Karsten 1885`
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Seehann 1986`
5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `White 1997`
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `White 2001`
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Kauserud 2004`
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Kauserud 2012`
9. ↑ Template:Cite book
10. ↑ Palfreyman, John. The Domestic Dry Rot Fungus, Serpula lacrymans, its natural origins and biological control.

## External links

* Template:IndexFungorum

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