Melaniellaceae

The Melaniellaceae are a family of fungi in the division Basidiomycota and order of Doassansiales. The family contains 1 genera and 2 species. They have a distribution in south and south-east Asia.

==History== In 1999, mycologists using rRNA gene sequencing and morphology analysis on two known smut species on Selaginella plants, Melanotaenium oreophilum and Melanotaenium selaginellae, and the host-parasite interaction with the Doassansiales. They found the new species were different and created a new genus Melaniella and 2 new species to place them. They are highly unusual, as there are only five out of the 1200 estimated known species of smut fungus that are found on hosts that are not flowering plants. They are biotrophic (living in symbiosis) in leaves and stems of (fern-like) Selaginella species. They are also found on the genus Lycopsida plants.