Zhurbenkoa
| Zhurbenkoa | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Malmideaceae |
| Genus: | Zhurbenkoa Flakus, Etayo, Pérez-Ortega & Rodr.Flakus (2019) |
| Type species | |
| Zhurbenkoa epicladonia (Nyl.) Flakus, Etayo, Pérez-Ortega & Rodr.Flakus (2019)
| |
| Species | |
|
Z. cladoniarum | |
Zhurbenkoa is a genus of lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) fungi in the family Malmideaceae. It comprises three species. Zhurbenkoa fungi grow on the thalli of species in the widespread lichen genus Cladonia. The genus was established in 2019 and named after the Russian scientist Mikhail Zhurbenko for his work studying fungi that live on lichens. These tiny parasites produce minute dark spots less than half a millimetre wide on their host lichens, and the three species can be distinguished by differences in their ascospore shapes and sizes.