Metuloidea murashkinskyi

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***Metuloidea murashkinskyi*** is a species of tooth fungus in the family Steccherinaceae. It is found in Europe and Asia, where it causes a white rot on the wood of deciduous trees.

## Taxonomy

The fungus was first described in 1931 by American mycologist Edward Angus Burt as *Hydnum murashkinskyi*. He named it after professor K.E. Murashkinsky of the Siberian Agricultural Academy, who collected the type specimens in 1928 and sent them to Burt for identification. The species was later transferred to the genera *Mycoleptodon* by Albert Pilát in 1934, *Steccherinum* by Rudolph Arnold Maas Geesteranus in 1962, and *Irpex* by Heikki Kotiranda & Reima Saarenoksa in 2002. Miettinen & Spirin transferred it to the newly-circumscribed genus *Metuloidea* in 2016.

## Description

The fruit bodies of *Metuloidea murashkinskyi* are somewhat cap-like but adhere firmly to the substrate without a stipe, and measure Template:Convert by Template:Convert by 1–5 mm thick. They have a leathery texture when fresh, but become fragile when dry. The cap surface is initially tomentose, later becoming smooth and zonate with an uneven surface and a cinnamon-brown colour. The spore-bearing surface, or hymenium, is hydnoid—that is, bearing structures resembling small conical spines measuring 0.5–5 mm long. These spines are packed together quite densely, about 4 to 6 per millimetre, and have a smoke-brown colour. In some instances, the spines fuse together to form irregular pores numbering 4–5 per millimetre. Fruit bodies have a distinctive spicy odour that lingers even in dried herbarium specimens. This odour is characteristic of the genus *Metuloidea*.

*Metuloidea murashkinskyi* has a dimitic hyphal structure with thick-walled sclerified generative hyphae that are 5–7 μm. The spores are shaped like short cylinders, and typically measure 3.6–4.5 by 2.8–2.3 μm.

## Habitat and distribution

*Metuloidea murashkinskyi* is a white rot fungus that feeds on the dead wood of deciduous trees. It is known to occur in the Russian Far East, Slovakia, China, and Korea.

## Research

A 2016 study reported that *Metuloidea murashkinskyi* has a strong ability to grow on oil-contaminated substrates, particularly oil-aliphatic hydrocarbons, and may have potential as a bioremediant of oil-contaminated peat soil.

## References

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Burt 1931`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Pilát 1934`
3. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Maas Geesteranus 1962`
4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Kotiranta 2002`
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Miettinen 2016`
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Spirin 2007`
7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Adamčík 2007`
8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Wan 2013`
9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Lee 2008`
10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Kulikova 2016`

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