Diatrypasimilis australiensis, a novel xylarialean fungus from mangrove.

A marine xylarialean fungus, isolated from roots of Rhizophora (mangrove) in Australia, displays morphology of eight ellipsoidal dark brown ascospores in a cylindrical ascus having a refractive apical apparatus. Each ascospore has a longitudinal germ slit. The fungus grew very slowly and produced dark brown water-soluble pigment(s) on various media.

The Ascomycota tree of life: a phylum-wide phylogeny clarifies the origin and evolution of fundamental reproductive and ecological traits.

We present a 6-gene, 420-species maximum-likelihood phylogeny of Ascomycota, the largest phylum of Fungi. This analysis is the most taxonomically complete to date with species sampled from all 15 currently circumscribed classes. A number of superclass-level nodes that have previously evaded resolution and were unnamed in classifications of the Fungi are resolved for the first time.

Koralionastetales, a new order of marine Ascomycota in the Sordariomycetes.

Based on molecular studies using 1760 bp of the nuSSU and 604 bp of the nuLSU rRNA genes and using morphological characters, the genera Koralionastes and Pontogeneia are assigned to the new order Koralionastetales, family Koralionastetaceae, class Sordariomycetes. Koralionastetales is a sister group to Lulworthiales; differences in morphological characters are expressed in the ascospores and the presence/absence of periphyses and paraphyses. A new species of Pontogeneia, P.

Exploring the diversity of marine-derived fungal polyketide synthases.

Using an approach based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we examined the diversity of polyketide synthase (PKS) genes present in 160 marine fungal isolates, representing 142 species. We obtained ketosynthase (KS) domain PCR products from 99 fungal isolates, representing Dothideomycetes, Sordariomycetes, Eurotiomycetes, and incertae sedis. Sequence similarity searches and phylogenetic analysis of 29 marine partial-KS-encoding sequences revealed domains predicted to encode reducing, nonreducing, and 6-methylsalicylic acid PKSs.

An overview of the systematics of the Sordariomycetes based on a four-gene phylogeny.

The Sordariomycetes is one of the largest classes in the Ascomycota, and the majority of its species are characterized by perithecial ascomata and inoperculate unitunicate asci. It includes more than 600 genera with over 3000 species and represents a wide range of ecologies including pathogens and endophytes of plants, animal pathogens and mycoparasites. To test and refine the classification of the Sordariomycetes sensu Eriksson (2006), the phylogenetic relationship among 106 taxa from 12 orders out of 16 in the Sordariomycetes was investigated based on four nuclear loci (nSSU and nLSU rDNA, TEF and RPB2), using three species of the Leotiomycetes as outgroups.

Marine fungal lineages in the Hypocreomycetidae.

Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences from protein coding and ribosomal nuclear loci support the placement of a number of marine fungal species associated with a well-supported clade containing fungicolous species of Melanospora and wood inhabiting Coronophorales. Three subclades containing marine species were recovered including Torpedospora radiata plus T. ambispinosa, Swampomyces species plus Juncigena adarca, and two Etheirophora species plus additional Swampomyces species.

Reconstructing the early evolution of Fungi using a six-gene phylogeny.

The ancestors of fungi are believed to be simple aquatic forms with flagellated spores, similar to members of the extant phylum Chytridiomycota (chytrids). Current classifications assume that chytrids form an early-diverging clade within the kingdom Fungi and imply a single loss of the spore flagellum, leading to the diversification of terrestrial fungi. Here we develop phylogenetic hypotheses for Fungi using data from six gene regions and nearly 200 species.

The halotolerant fungus Glomerobolus gelineus is a member of the Ostropales.

Glomerobolus gelineus is a halotolerant species with a unique method of ballistic propagation. The absence of both sexual and asexual spores made reliable placement of this species, based on morphology alone, within the current fungal classification problematical. A phylogenetic analysis of the large and small nuclear ribosomal subunit and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II placed this fungus within the Ostropales, an order comprising lichenized and saprobic species, with good statistical support.

A re-evaluation of Lulworthiales: relationships based on 18S and 28S rDNA.

The Lulworthiales consists of four genera: three that were removed from the Halosphaeriales, namely Lulworthia, Lindra, and Kohlmeyeriella; and Spathulospora, reassigned from the Spathulosporales. However, studies have shown that neither Lulworthia nor Lindra are monophyletic genera. This study was therefore undertaken to re-evaluate the genera of the Lulworthiales based on the SSU and LSU rDNA genes.

The phylogenetic position of Spathulospora based on DNA sequences from dried herbarium material.

The phylogenetic position of the marine ascomycete genus Spathulospora was investigated using partial SSU and LSU DNA sequences obtained from dried herbarium specimens. Spathulospora was represented by the two species S. adelpha and S.

Octopodotus stupendus gen. & sp. nov. and Phyllachora paludicola sp. nov., two marine fungi from Spartina alterniflora.

The coelomycete Octopodotus stupendus and the ascomycete Phyllachora paludicola are described as obligate marine fungi from the decomposing salt-marsh plant, Spartina alterniflora. Both species fruit only on the leaf blades, not on the leaf sheaths. Whereas O.

Decorospora, a new genus for the marine ascomycete Pleospora gaudefroyi.

In this paper, we investigate the phylogenetic placement of Pleospora gaudefroyi using partial SSU as well as ITS ribosomal DNA sequences. Both SSU and ITS data sets agreed in the placement of P. gaudefroyi.