Coccospora Agricola Goddard, Its Specific Status, Relationships, and Cellulolytic Activity

Abstract

Three living cultures are identified as Coccospora agricola, a species described by H. N. Goddard in 1913, but which has remained an unknown entity since that time. Goddard's species is considered to be re-established. It is a soil-inhabiting species, strongly cellulolytic, and marked especially by its large, globose, hyaline spores whose walls are unusually thick. Its cultural characters, morphology, strong cellulolytic activity and soil habitat are strongly suggestive of the genus Humicola Traaen, which contains just two species, H. fuscoatra (type) and H. grisea. Nomenclatural readjustment is deferred pending a thorough study of a wide range of similar or related fungi.