Multi-locus phylogeny of Pleosporales: a taxonomic, ecological and evolutionary re-evaluation

Abstract

Five loci, nucSSU, nucLSU rDNA, TEF1, RPB1 and RPB2, are used for analysing 129 pleosporalean taxa representing 59 genera and 15 families in the current classification of Pleosporales. The suborder Pleosporineae is emended to include four families, viz. Didymellaceae, Leptosphaeriaceae, Phaeosphaeriaceae and Pleosporaceae. In addition, two new families are introduced, i.e. Amniculicolaceae and Lentitheciaceae. Pleomassariaceae is treated as a synonym of Melanommataceae, and new circumscriptions of Lophiostomataceae s. str., Massarinaceae and Lophiotrema are proposed. Familial positions of Entodesmium and Setomelanomma in Phaeosphaeriaceae, Neophaeosphaeria in Leptosphaeriaceae, Leptosphaerulina, Macroventuria and Platychora in Didymellaceae, Pleomassaria in Melanommataceae and Bimuria, Didymocrea, Karstenula and Paraphaeosphaeria in Montagnulaceae are clarified. Both ecological and morphological characters show varying degrees of phylogenetic significance. Pleosporales is most likely derived from a saprobic ancestor with fissitunicate asci containing conspicuous ocular chambers and apical rings. Nutritional shifts in Pleosporales likely occured from saprotrophic to hemibiotrophic or biotrophic.

Diversity and Biological Activities of Endophytic Fungi Associated with Micropropagated Medicinal Plant <i>Echinacea purpurea</i> (L.) Moench

“…Species belonging to Glomerella are distributed worldwide and frequently identified as endophytic fungi [28]. The order Pleosporales is the largest in the class Dothideomycetes, and according to Zhang et al [29] the Pleosporales species can be endo-or epiphytes as parasites on green leaves or stems, saprophytic on dead leaves and stems.…”

Phylogeny and morphology of Premilcurensis gen. nov. (Pleosporales) from stems of Senecio in Italy

“…Pleosporales is the largest order in the class Dothideomycetes comprising one fourth of all the described species of Dothideomycetes (Kirk et al 2008) and species in this order have various lifestyles, such as epiphytes, endophytes or parasites of living plant leaves or stems (Wang et al 2005, Sánchez Márquez et al 2007, Lawrey et al 2012, hyperparasites on fungi or insects, or are lichenized (Schatz 1984, Barr 1987, Zhang et al 2012, or saprobes of dead plant stems, leaves or bark (Shoemaker 1984, Shoemaker & Babcock 1989, Schoch et al 2006, Zhang et al 2009b, De Gruyter et al 2010, Hyde et al 2013, Quaedvlieg et al 2013. Twenty families have been accepted in the order Pleosporales based on molecular data (Boehm et al 2009a, b, Mugambi & Huhndorf 2009, Schoch et al 2009, Zhang et al 2009a, but lately based on morphological and molecular analyses Hyde et al (2013) placed 41 families under Pleosporales.…”

Keissleriella dactylidis, sp. nov., from Dactylis glomerata and its phylogenetic placement

“…Most members in this family are saprobic on stems and twigs of herbaceous and woody plants in terrestrial or aquatic habitats 12,13 . The family is characterized by the lenticular ascomata, ostioles with or without brown setae, and hyaline, sometimes light yellow and 1-septate to multi-septate ascospores 1,9 .…”