With the recent changes concerning pleomorphic fungi in the new International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), it is necessary to propose the acceptance or protection of sexual morph-typified or asexual morph-typified generic names that do not have priority, or to propose the rejection or suppression1 of competing names. In addition, sexual morph-typified generic names, where widely used, must be proposed for rejection or suppression in favour of asexual morph-typified names that have priority, or the latter must be proposed for conservation or protection. Some pragmatic criteria used for deciding the acceptance or rejection of generic names include: the number of name changes required when one generic name is used over another, the clarity of the generic concept, their relative frequencies of use in the scientific literature, and a vote of interested mycologists. Here, twelve widely used generic names in three families of Hypocreales are proposed for acceptance, either by conservation or protection, despite their lack of priority of publication, or because they are widely used asexual morph-typified names. Each pair of generic names is evaluated, with a recommendation as to the generic name to be used, and safeguarded, either through conservation or protection. Four generic names typified by a species with a sexual morph as type that are younger than competing generic names typified by a species with an asexual morph type, are proposed for use. Eight older generic names typified by species with an asexual morph as type are proposed for use over younger competing generic names typified by a species with a sexual morph as type. Within Bionectriaceae, Clonostachys is recommended over Bionectria; in Hypocreaceae, Hypomyces is recommended over Cladobotryum, Sphaerostilbella over Gliocladium, and Trichoderma over Hypocrea; and in Nectriaceae, Actinostilbe is recommended over Lanatonectria, Cylindrocladiella over Nectricladiella, Fusarium over Gibberella, Gliocephalotrichum over Leuconectria, Gliocladiopsis over Glionectria, Nalanthamala over Rubrinectria, Nectria over Tubercularia, and Neonectria over Cylindrocarpon.

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Trichoderma harzianum is known as a cosmopolitan, ubiquitous species associated with a wide variety of substrates. It is possibly the most commonly used name in agricultural applications involving Trichoderma, including biological control of plant diseases. While various studies have suggested that T. harzianum is a species complex, only a few cryptic species are named. In the present study the taxonomy of the T. harzianum species complex is revised to include at least 14 species.

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A chronology is presented that charts the development of a genus and species concept in Trichoderma. Eighty-nine species of Trichoderma have been named, and several species of Hypocrea have been linked to unnamed Trichoderma anamorphs. Eighty-three taxa of Trichoderma and their teleomorphs, Hypocrea spp., have been included in phylogenetic analyses, including 11 species of Hypocrea with unnamed Trichoderma anamorphs. Phylogenetic analyses show that Trichoderma and Hypocrea are congeneric. Trichoderma species not linked to Hypocrea teleomorphs are derived from among species that are linked to teleomorphs, indicating sexual and asexual lineages are not independent of each other. Many more species remain to be discovered and described. Molecular phylogenetic analyses have revealed the existence of more species than have been recognized on the basis of morphology alone. A suggestion is made to modify the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature to enable adoption of a single generic name for Trichoderma/Hypocrea, with Trichoderma being the older and more utilitarian name. As increasing numbers of species are studied, the few morphological characters of anamorph and teleomorph have reached their limit for defining species. DNA-based characters have assumed an indispensable role. Exploration of new niches, such as within tree trunks and new geographic locations, have resulted in a substantial increase in the number of species of Trichoderma. Trichoderma is usually considered a genus of free-living soil fungi but evidence suggests that Trichoderma species may be opportunistic, avirulent plant symbionts as well as parasites of other fungi. Members of the genus Trichoderma are universally present in soils, although individual species may be either cosmopolitan (e.g., T. harzianum) or limited (e.g., T. viride) in their geographic distribution. To facilitate identification of species, a list of correctly identified strains of Trichoderma and their GenBank numbers for sequences of translation-elongation factor EF-1alpha and internal transcribed spacer rDNA is provided.

Neonectria is a cosmopolitan genus and it is, in part, defined by its link to the anamorph genus Cylindrocarpon. Neonectria has been divided into informal groups on the basis of combined morphology of anamorph and teleomorph. Previously, Cylindrocarpon was divided into four groups defined by presence or absence of microconidia and chlamydospores. Molecular phylogenetic analyses have indicated that Neonectria sensu stricto and Cylindrocarpon sensu stricto are phylogenetically congeneric. In addition, morphological and molecular data accumulated over several years have indicated that Neonectria sensu lato and Cylindrocarpon sensu lato do not form a monophyletic group and that the respective informal groups may represent distinct genera. In the present work, a multilocus analysis (act, ITS, LSU, rpb1, tef1, tub) was applied to representatives of the informal groups to determine their level of phylogenetic support as a first step towards taxonomic revision of Neonectria sensu lato. Results show five distinct highly supported clades that correspond to some extent with the informal Neonectria and Cylindrocarpon groups that are here recognised as genera: (1) N. coccinea-group and Cylindrocarpon groups 1 & 4 (Neonectria/Cylindrocarpon sensu stricto); (2) N. rugulosa-group (Rugonectria gen. nov.); (3) N. mammoidea/N. veuillotiana-groups and Cylindrocarpon group 2 (Thelonectria gen. nov.); (4) N. radicicola-group and Cylindrocarpon group 3 (Ilyonectria gen. nov.); and (5) anamorph genus Campylocarpon. Characteristics of the anamorphs and teleomorphs correlate with the five genera, three of which are newly described. New combinations are made for species where their classification is confirmed by phylogenetic data.

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Colletotrichum interacts with numerous plant species overtly as symptomatic pathogens and cryptically as asymptomatic endophytes. It is not known whether these contrasting ecological modes are optional strategies expressed by individual Colletotrichum species or whether a species' ecology is explicitly pathogenic or endophytic. We explored this question by inferring relationships among 77 C. gloeosporioides s.l. strains isolated from asymptomatic leaves and from anthracnose lesions on leaves and fruits of Theobroma cacao (cacao) and other plants from Panamá.ITS and 5′-tef1 were used to assess diversity and to delineate operational taxonomic units for multilocus phylogenetic analysis. The ITS and 5′-tef1 screens concordantly resolved four strongly supported lineages, clades A-D: Clade A includes the ex type of C.gloeosporioides, clade B includes the ex type ITS sequence of C. boninense, and clades C and D are unidentified. The ITS yielded limited resolution and support within all clades, in particular the C. gloeosporioides clade (A), the focal lineage dealt with in this study.In contrast the 5′-tef1 screen differentiated nine distinctive haplotype subgroups within the C. gloeosporioides clade that were concordant with phylogenetic terminals resolved in a five-locus nuclear phylogeny. Among these were two phylogenetic species associated with symptomatic infections specific to either cacao or mango and five phylogenetic species isolated principally as asymptomatic infections from cacao and other plant hosts. We formally describe two new species, C. tropicale and C. ignotum, that are frequent asymptomatic associates of cacao and other Neotropical plant species, and epitypify C. theobromicola, which is associated with foliar and fruit anthracnose lesions of cacao. Asymptomatic Colletotrichum strains isolated from cacao plants grown in China included six distinct C. gloeosporioides clade taxa, only one of which is known to occur in the Neotropics. (Bailey and Jeger 1992). The genus is the subject of numerous studies that deal primarily with its role as a plant pathogen as summarized in Bailey and Jeger (1992) and Cannon et al. (2008). In addition to its conspicuous ecology as a plant pathogen Colletotrichum is also a ubiquitous asymptomatic foliar endophyte of a diverse spectrum of plant hosts (e.g. Lodge et al. 1996, Cannon and Simmons 2002, Gamboa and Bayman 2001, Lu et al. 2004, Duran et al. 2005, Morakotkarn et al. 2007, Osono 2008. The ecological significance of endophytism is unclear. Although it has been suggested that endophytic fungi might be quiescent saprobes (Petrini et al. 1995, Whalley 1996, latent pathogens (Stone et al. 2000) or mutualists (Herre et al. 2007, specific examples detailing these hypotheses remain scant.It has been shown that particular Colletotrichum endophytes confer protective benefits to cacao hosts by reducing disease incidence and damage caused by other plant pathogens (Arnold et al. 2003, Herre et al. 2007. Mejía et al. (2008) reported the frequent isolation of C. gloeo...