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Title: AN OVERVIEW OF MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY OF THE SORDARIOMYCETES

Author
item ZHANG, NING - CORNELL U, ITHICA,NY
item SUNG, GI-HO - OREGON ST U,CORVALLIS,OR
item Castlebury, Lisa
item SEIFERT, KEITH - OTTAWA, CANADA
item Rossman, Amy
item ROGERS, JACK - WASH ST U, PULLMAN,WA

Submitted to: Mycologia
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/27/2006
Publication Date: 4/19/2007
Citation: Zhang, N., Sung, G., Castlebury, L.A., Seifert, K.A., Rossman, A.Y., Rogers, J.D.,Miller, N.,Huhndorf, S.M., Schoch, C.L., Kohlmeyer, J., Volkmann-Kohlmeyer, B., 2007. An overview of Molecular Phylogeny of the Sordariomycetes. Mycologia. 98:1076-1087.

Interpretive Summary: Fungi cause billions of dollars damage to agricultural crops each year. In addition, they can greatly hinder the export of agriculturally commodities from the U.S. to other counties. In order to control diseases caused by fungi both in the U.S. and abroad it is necessary to identify and characterize fungal species that cause diseases of crops. In this paper a number of fungi that cause diseases of plants are characterized and compared in order to determine how closely related they are to each other. These comparisons are made using portions of the genome that are sequenced. It was determined that most groups of fungi that cause diseases of plants are related to fungi that do not cause diseases of plants. Knowledge of the characteristics and relationships of these plant-associated fungi is important. These results will be used by plant pathologists who breed for resistance to the diseases caused by the disease-causing fungi.

Technical Abstract: The Sordariomycetes is one of the largest classes in Ascomycota and the majority of its species are characterized by perithecial ascomata and unitunicate asci. It includes more than xxx genera with over 3,000 species and represents a wide of range of ecologies including pathogens and endophytes of plant, animal pathogens, and mycoparasites. To test and refine the classification of the Sordariomycetes sensu Erikkson (2005), the phylogenetic relationship among 106 taxa from 12 orders of the Sordariomycetes based on four nuclear loci (nSSU and nLSU rDNA, TEF, and RPB2), were investigated, using three taxa of the Leotiomycetes as outgroups. Three subclasses (i.e., Hypocreomycetidae, Sordariomycetidae, and Xylariomycetidae) currently recognized in the classification are well supported with the placement of the Lulworthiales in a basal group of either the Sordariomycetes or the Hypocreomycetidae. Except for the Microascales, our results recognize most of the orders as monophyletic groups. Melanospora species form a clade outside of the Hypocreales and are upgraded as a distinct order in the Hypocreomycetidae. Glomerellaceae is excluded from the Phyllachorales treated as Hypocreomycetidae inc. sed. In the Sordariomycetidae, the Sordariales is strongly supported with a well-supported clade containing the Boliniales and Chaetosphaeriales. Aspects of morphology, ecology, and evolution are discussed.