Asterina

Asterina is a large genus of fungi in the Asterinaceae family. It was then placed in Asterinales order later. The genus was circumscribed by French mycologist Joseph-Henri Léveillé in 1845. The genus was originally introduced as a member of the Sphaeriaceae family (a former family with parasitic fungi having globose and sometimes necked or beaked perithecia) with four species; Asterina azarae, Asterina compacta, Asterina pulla and the type Asterina melastomatis. It is currently the largest genus in Asterinaceae family, but only nine species have DNA sequence data available in GenBank due to its unculturable character. Species in the genus generally have circular thyriothecia (an inverted ascocarp) with stellate dehiscence (division), lateral appressoria (infecting cell), globose asci (sexual spore), and dark brown, 1-septate (wall) ascospores. The generally have cosmopolitan distribution, worldwide. Including China, New Zealand, Kenya, India, and Panama (South America)....read more on Wikipedia.