Mycologia, 94(6), 2002, pp. 1017–1031.
q 2002 by The Mycological Society of America, Lawrence, KS 66044-8897
A preliminary overview of the Diaporthales based on large subunit nuclear
ribosomal DNA sequences
Lisa A. Castlebury1
Amy Y. Rossman
eastern North America (Anagnostakis 1987). Other
diseases caused by members of this order include
stem canker of soybeans (Diaporthe phaseolorum
(Cooke & Ellis) Sacc. and its varieties), stem-end rot
of citrus fruits (Diaporthe citri F.A. Wolf), and peach
canker disease (Phomopsis amygdali (Del.) J.J. Tuset
& T. Portilla) (Farr et al 1999). Some species produce
secondary metabolites that result in toxicoses of animals such as lupinosis of sheep (Diaporthe toxica P.M.
Will. et al) (Williamson et al 1994). A number of
asexually reproducing plant pathogenic fungi also
belong in the Diaporthales, such Greeneria uvicola
(Berk. & Curt.) Punith., cause of bitter rot of grape,
and Discula destructiva Redlin, cause of dogwood anthracnose, both of which are mitotic diaporthalean
species with no known sexual state (Farr et al 2001,
Zhang and Blackwell 2001).
As an order the Diaporthales is well-defined morphologically based on brown to black perithecial ascomata immersed in stromata or substrata, lack of
true paraphyses at maturity, and unitunicate asci that
often float free within the centrum at maturity and
have a refractive ring in the apex (Barr 1978, Samuels and Blackwell 2001). The known asexual states
of members of the Diaporthales are generally coelomycetous bearing their phialidic, rarely annellidic,
conidiogenous cells and conidia in acervuli or pycnidia with or without well-developed stromata. Molecular data have supported the Diaporthales as a distinct order within the Sordariomycetes, the class of
ascomycetous fungi that generally produce their asci
in perithecial ascomata (Farr et al 2001, Zhang and
Blackwell 2001).
Within the Diaporthales eight families have been
recognized by various authors over the past 25 yr.
However, no single author has ever recognized all
eight and the configuration of each family has varied
considerably. Most recently, Eriksson et al (2001),
presenting a synthesis of data from the literature with
input from the mycological community, recognize
three families in the Diaporthales, namely the Melanconidaceae G. Winter, Valsaceae Tul. & C. Tul., and
Vialaeaceae P.F. Cannon. The familial classifications
of the Diaporthales as recognized by Barr (1978,
1990), Hawksworth et al (1995), and Wehmeyer
(1975) were summarized by Zhang and Blackwell
(2001). They included the Gnomoniaceae G. Winter,
Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, USDAARS, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, Maryland,
USA 20705
Walter J. Jaklitsch
Van den langen Lüssen 31/2, A-1190 Vienna,
Austria
Larissa N. Vasilyeva
Institute of Biology & Soil Science, Far East Branch of
the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok,
690022, Russia
Abstract: The ascomycete order Diaporthales includes a number of plant pathogenic fungi such as
Cryphonectria parasitica, the chestnut blight fungus,
as well as many asexually reproducing fungi without
known sexual states. Relationships among genera in
the Diaporthales were evaluated as a basis for the recognition of families and to provide a taxonomic
framework for the asexually reproducing diaporthalean fungi. Phylogenetic relationships were determined based on analyses of large subunit (LSU) nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) sequences. Within the
Diaporthales 82 sequences representing 69 taxa were
analyzed. Results suggest the presence of at least six
major lineages within the Diaporthales recognized as
the Gnomoniaceae sensu stricto, Melanconidaceae
sensu stricto, Schizoparme complex including the anamorph genera Coniella and Pilidiella, CryphonectriaEndothia complex, Valsaceae sensu stricto, and Diaporthaceae sensu stricto. In addition, six teleomorphic and anamorphic taxa fell within the Diaporthales
but were not allied with any of the six lineages.
Key Words: canker fungi, Cryphonectria, Diaporthe, Discula, phylogeny, Valsa
INTRODUCTION
The ascomycete order Diaporthales includes a number of plant pathogenic fungi, the most notorious of
which is Cryphonectria parasitica (Murrill) Barr, the
chestnut blight fungus that altered the landscape of
Accepted for publication April 28, 2002.
1 Corresponding author, Email: lisa@nt.ars-grin.gov
1017
1018
MYCOLOGIA
Diaporthaceae Höhn. ex Wehm. and Pseudovalsaceae M.E. Barr as well as the Melanconidaceae and
Valsaceae. Two additional families have been included in the Diaporthales. The Magnaporthaceae P.F.
Cannon was shown to be extralimital to the Diaporthales (Berbee 2001, Farr et al 2001, Zhang and
Blackwell 2001) as had been suggested by Vasilyeva
(1993). The Sydowiellaceae Lar.N. Vassiljeva was established for the genus Sydowiella Petr. (Vasilyeva
1987). Of the 98 genera of plant-associated fungi in
the Diaporthales 13 to 15 genera have not been referred to families (Eriksson et al 2001, Kirk et al
2001).
Generic concepts within the Diaporthales are
based primarily on characteristics of the stromata,
perithecia and ascospores. Stromatal characteristics
used in defining genera in the Diaporthales are the
extent and type of development, tissue type forming
the stromata, and the relationship of the stromata to
the host. The position of the perithecia relative to
the host surface has been used to distinguish genera,
as has the arrangement of the perithecia in the stromata and convergence or not of perithecial necks
within the stromata. In addition to stromatal and
perithecial characteristics, variations in the ascospore
shape and septation have been used to define genera
(Petrak 1966, Kobayashi 1970, Barr 1978, 1990, Monod 1983, Vasilyeva 1993). In some genera these distinctions are difficult to determine and the generic
concepts have been unstable with many species transferred from one genus to another depending on the
author.
Approximately 60% of the described species of
plant-associated fungi reproduce asexually and lack
any known sexual state (Rossman 1993). Although
most are mitotic ascomycetes, their relationships to
teleomorph taxa are generally unknown. Because
these fungi include many serious plant pathogens,
knowledge of their taxonomic affinities is crucial for
developing measures to control the diseases they
cause. With increased use of molecular sequence
data for reconstructing fungal evolutionary relationships at all levels (Kohn 1992), the affinities of mitotic fungi with their sexually reproducing relatives
can be determined. Recently Greeneria uvicola, a mitotic species with no known sexual affinities, was
found to belong in the Diaporthales (Farr et al
2001). Since its emergence in the late 1970s, a sexual state for Discula destructiva, the cause of dogwood anthracnose, has been sought. Redlin (1991)
suggested that it might have a teleomorph belonging to Apiognomonia Höhn. or Gnomonia Ces. & De
Not. Zhang and Blackwell (2001) used molecular sequence data to infer the sexual state of Discula destructiva but were unable to come to any definitive
conclusion except that it belonged in the Gnomoniaceae.
Knowledge of the relationships among genera
within the Diaporthales is needed to serve as a basis
for the recognition of families. In addition such
knowledge will provide a taxonomic framework for
determining relationships of teleomorph genera to
asexually reproducing diaporthalean fungi. Thus, a
study was undertaken to determine the major lineages within the Diaporthales based on a sequence
analysis of the LSU nrDNA.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Isolation, maintenance, and deposition of cultures and voucher
specimens. Newly sequenced isolates used in this study are
listed in TABLE I. GenBank accession numbers for previously sequenced isolates are included with the species name
in FIGS. 1–3. Fresh specimens were sent as air-dried collections primarily by the third and fourth authors to the second author. Isolates obtained from these specimens were
grown from single ascospores or conidia that had been plated on 1.7% Difco Corn Meal Agar (CM) supplemented with
0.2% dextrose and antibiotics. Germinated spores were
transferred to both 3.9% Difco Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA)
and CM plates for observation. All isolates were maintained
on CM agar slants and as plugs in 20% glycerol-water at 4
C (Burdsall and Dorworth 1994). Living cultures were deposited in the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures
(CBS), Utrecht, The Netherlands, and the original specimens from which isolates were obtained were deposited in
the U.S. National Fungus Collections (BPI) as listed in TABLE I. For living cultures obtained from repositories such as
ATCC (American Type Culture Collection), CBS and IMI
(International Mycological Institute, now CABI), dried culture specimens were deposited in BPI if the culture sporulated.
Nucleic acid extraction and PCR amplification. Mycelium
for DNA extraction was grown in shaker flasks at 125 rpm
for 5–10 d in 100 mL liquid CYM (Raper and Raper 1972)
at room temperature under ambient light conditions. Mycelium was harvested by vacuum filtration on Whatman No.
1 filter paper and freeze-dried prior to DNA extraction. Alternatively, DNA was extracted directly from actively growing surface mycelium scraped from PDA plates. DNA was
extracted with the Plant DNeasy Mini kit (Qiagen Inc.,
Chatsworth, California, USA) according to the manufacturer’s instructions using approximately 15 mg dried tissue or
50 mg fresh mycelium.
The LSU nrDNA was amplified in 50 mL reactions on a
GeneAmp 9700 thermal cycler (Applied Biosystems, Foster
City, California, USA) under the following reaction conditions: 10–15 ng of genomic DNA, 200 mM each dNTP, 2.5
units Amplitaq Gold (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California, USA), 25 pmoles each of primers LR0R and LR7
(Vilgalys and Hester 1990, Rehner and Samuels 1994) and
the supplied 103 PCR buffer with 15 mM MgCl2. The thermal cycler program was as follows: 10 min at 95 C followed
TABLE I.
Newly sequenced taxa included in phylogenetic analyses
Specimen
No.b
Russia
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 747935
South Africa
Quercus mongolica
Fisch. ex Ledeb.
Leaf litter
K.T. van Warmelo
India
Soil
?Africa
Cameroon
—
AR 2813 (5 CBS
109747)
AF408334
AF408335
BPI 748425
AR 3446 (5 CBS
109758)
IMI 261318
AF408336
V.V. Bhatt
BPI 841767
IMI 081599
AF408391
Hibiscus sp.
R.R. Cervantes
BPI 748426
AR 3534 (5 CBS
109757)
AF408337
I.A.S. Gibson
BPI 841768
CBS 101281
AF408338
Zaire
Eucalyptus urophylla
S.T. Blake
Eucalyptus saligna Sm.
Unknown
BPI 748427
CBS 505.63
AF408339
Russia
Quercus mongolica
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 748428
AR 3444 (5 CBS
109764)
AF408340
Russia
Quercus mongolica
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 748429
AR 3433 (5 CBS
109776)
AF408341
Austria
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748430
S. Redlin
BPI 747916
Austria
Acer pseudoplatanus L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748431
Austria
Salix sp.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 747938
Austria
Ulmus minor Mill.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748432
AR 3580 ex WJ 1695
(5 CBS 109765)
AR 2814 (5 CBS
245.90)
AR 3565 ex WJ 1491
(5 CBS 109759)
AR 3455 ex WJ 1463
(5 CBS 109775)
AR 3552 ex WJ 1694
AF408342
USA: Maine
Aesculus hippocastanum
L.
Cornus alternifolia L.f.
Austria
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748433
Austria
Ulmus minor/laevis
Pall.
Corylus avellana L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 747942
Austria
Berberis vulgaris L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748434
Austria
Acer campestre L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748435
AR 3566 ex WJ 1497
(5 CBS 109753)
AR 3459 ex WJ 1473
(5 CBS 109772)
AR 3424 ex WJ 1445
(5 CBS 109770)
AR 3538 ex WJ 1643
(5 CBS 109767)
AF408343
AF408344
AF408345
AF408346
AF408347
AF408348
AF408349
AF408350
1019
M. Monod
GenBank
No.
DIAPORTHALES
Fagus sylvatica L.
Sourcec
OF THE
Switzerland
Collector
OVERVIEW
Apiognomnia errabunda
(Roberge) Höhn.
(anam. Discula umbrinella (Berk. &
Broome) M. Morelet)
Chromendothia citrina
Lar. N. Vasiljeva
Coniella australiensis
Petr.
Coniella fragariae
(Oudem.) B. Sutton
Coniella musaiensis B.
Sutton var. hibisci B.
Sutton
Cryphonectria cubensis
(Bruner) Hodges
Cryphonectria havanensis (Bruner) M.E.
Barr
Cryphonectria macrospora (Tak. Kobay. &
Kaz. Itô) M.E. Barr
Cryphonectria nitschkei
(G.H. Otth) M.E.
Barr
Cryptodiaporthe aesculi
(Fuckel) Petr.
Cryptodiaporthe corni
(Wehm.) Petr.
Cryptodiaporthe hystrix
(Tode) Petr.
Cryptodiaporthe salicella
(Fr.) Petr.
Cryptosporella hypodermia (Fr.) Sacc.
Cryptosporella hypodermia
Diaporthe decedens (Fr.)
Fuckel
Diaporthe detrusa (Fr.)
Fuckel
Diaporthe eres Nitschke
Host
ET AL:
Locality
CASTLEBURY
Speciesa
1020
TABLE I.
Continued
Speciesa
Diaporthe fibrosa (Pers. :
Fr.) Nitschke
Diaporthe oncostoma
(Duby) Fuckel
Diaporthe padi
G.H. Otth
Diaporthe pardalota
(Mont.) Fuckel
Diaporthe perjuncta
Niessl
Diaporthe pustulata
(Desm.) Sacc.
Diaporthe pustulata
Locality
Host
Collector
Specimen
No.b
Rhamnus cathartica L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 747929
Russia
Robinia pseudoacacia L.
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 747934
Austria
Prunus padus L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748436
Canada: British Columbia
M. Barr
BPI 747946
Austria
Epilobium angustifolium L.
Ulmus glabra Huds.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748437
Austria
Acer pseudoplatanus
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 747928
Austria
Acer pseudoplatanus
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748438
Discula destructiva Redlin
Ditopella ditopa (Fr. :
Fr.) J. Schröt.
Gnomonia gnomon
(Tode : Fr.) J. Schröt.
Gnomonia leptostyla
(Fr. : Fr.) Ces. & De
Not. (anam. Marssonina juglandis (Lib.)
Magnus)
Harknessia eucalypti
Cooke
Harknessia lythri D.F.
Farr & Rossman
Hercospora tiliae
(Pers. : Fr.) Fr.
Leucostoma auerswaldii
Nitschke
Leucostoma cincta (Fr. :
Fr.) Höhn.
Leucostoma nivea
(Hoffm. : Fr.) Höhn.
Mazzantia napelli
(Ces.) Sacc.
Melanconis alni Tul.
USA: Washington
M. Daughtrey
BPI 1107757
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748439
Italy
Cornus nuttallii Audubon
Alnus glutinosa (L.)
Gaertn.
Corylus avellana
M. Ribaldi
—
USA: Illinois
Juglans nigra L.
D. Neely
BPI 747976
Australia
Eucalyptus regnans F.
Muell.
Lythrum salicaria L.
Z-q. Yuan
—
Melanconis desmazierii
Petr.
Austria
Austria
USA: Minnesota
Austria
E. Katovich
BPI 747560
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748440
Austria
Tilia tomentosa
Moench
Frangula alnus Mill.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748456
Russia
Padus maackii Rupr.
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 748441
Austria
Salix purpurea L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748442
Austria
Aconitum vulparia
Rchb.
Alnus viridis (Vill.)
Lam. & DC.
Tilia sp.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748443
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748444
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748445
Austria
GenBank
Number
AR 3425 ex WJ 1417
(5 CBS 109751)
AR 3445
(5 CBS 109741)
AR 3419 ex WJ 1458
(5 CBS 109784)
AR 3478 ex MBB 10220
(5 CBS 109768)
AR 3461 ex WJ 1480
(5 CBS 109745)
AR 3430 ex WJ 1428
(5 CBS 109742)
AR 3535 ex WJ 1628
(5 CBS 109760)
AR 2596 (5 CBS
109771)
AR 3423 ex WJ 1443
(5 CBS 109748)
CBS 199.53
AF408351
AF408361
FAU 543
AF408362
CBS 342.97
AF408363
AR 3383
(5 ATCC PTA-2756)
AR 3526 ex WJ 1600
(5 CBS 109746)
AR 3428 ex WJ 1424
(5 CBS 109774)
AR 3415 (5 CBS
109766)
AR 3512 ex WJ 1555
(5 CBS 109743)
AR 3498 ex WJ 1531
(5 CBS 109769)
AR 3500 ex WJ 1542
(5 CBS 109773)
AR 3525 ex WJ 1588
(5 CBS 109780)
AF408364
AF408353
AF408354
AF408355
AF408356
AF408357
AF408358
AF408359
AF408360
AF408365
AF408384
AF408366
AF408367
AF408368
AF408371
AF408372
MYCOLOGIA
Austria
Sourcec
TABLE I.
Continued
Speciesa
Locality
Host
Collector
Specimen
No.b
Sourcec
Canada: British Columbia
Alnus rubra Bong.
M. Barr
BPI 748446
Melanconis stilbostoma
(Fr.) Tul.
Ophiovalsa betulae (Tul.
& C. Tul.) Petr.
(anam. Disculina betulina (Sacc.) Hohn.)
Ophiovalsa suffusa (Fr.)
Petr. (anam. Disculina vulgaris (Fr.) B.
Sutton)
Phragmoporthe conformis (Berk. &
Broome) Petr.
Pilidiella castaneicola
(Ellis & Everh.) Arx
Pilidiella granati (Sacc.)
Aa
Pilidiella granati
Plagiostoma conradii
(Ellis) M.E. Barr
Plagiostoma euphorbiae
(Fuckel) Fuckel
Schizoparme botrytidis
Samuels
Valsa cenisia De Not.
Austria
Betula pendula Roth
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748447
Austria
Betula pendula
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748448
Austria
Alnus incana (L.)
Moench
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748449
AR 3496 ex WJ 1556
(5 CBS 109750)
AF408376
Canada: British Columbia
Alnus rubra
M. Barr
BPI 748450
AR 3632 ex MBB 10338
(5 CBS 109783)
AF408377
ET AL:
Korea
Unknown
K. S. Bae
BPI 748451
CBS 143.97
AF408378
Cyprus
Punica granatum L.
R.M. Nattrass
BPI 748452
CBS 152.33
AF408379
Turkey
USA: New Jersey
N. Kaskalöglu
G. Bills
BPI 748453
BPI 746482
Unknown
CBS 814.71
AR 3488
(5 CBS 109761)
CBS 340.78
AF408380
AF408381
Netherlands
Punica granatum
Hudsonia tomentosa
Nutt.
Euphorbia palustris L.
OVERVIEW
AF408373
Melanconis marginalis
(Peck) Wehm.
Puerto Rico
Dead wood
S. Huhndorf
BPI 748454
Austria
Juniperus communis L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748457
Valsa ceratosperma
(Tode : Fr.) Maire
Valsa ceratosperma
Russia
Quercus mongolica
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 748458
Austria
Quercus robur L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748459
Valsella adherens Fuckel
Russia
Betula sp.
L. Vasilyeva
BPI 748460
Valsella salicis Fuckel
Italy
Salix fragilis L.
W. Jaklitsch
BPI 748461
Wuestneia molokaiensis
Crous & J.D. Rogers
USA: Hawaii
Eucalyptus robusta Sm.
J. Rogers
BPI 748462
AF408375
AF408382
AF408385
AF408386
DIAPORTHALES
AF408383
OF THE
SMH 1354
(5 AR 3504)
AR 3522 ex WJ 1583
(5 CBS 109752)
AR 3416
(5 CBS 109756)
AR 3426 ex WJ 1425
(5 CBS 109777)
AR 3549
(5 CBS 109782)
AR 3514 ex WJ 1580
(5 CBS 109754)
AR 3578
(5 CBS 109779)
AF408374
CASTLEBURY
—
AR 3442 ex MBB
1021A
(5 CBS 109744)
AR 3501 ex WJ 1543
(5 CBS 109778)
AR 3524 ex WJ 1610
(5 CBS 109763)
GenBank
No.
AF408387
AF408388
AF408389
AF408390
a
1021
Type species of the genus in bold.
BPI 5 U.S. National Fungus Collections.
c AR 5 Amy Rossman, second author; ATCC 5 American Type Culture Collection; CBS 5 Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures; FAU 5 maintained by second
author; IMI 5 International Mycological Institute, now CABI, Inc.; MBB 5 Margaret Barr Bigelow, Sidney, British Columbia; SMH 5 Sabine M. Huhndorf, Field
Museum, Chicago, IL; WJ 5 Walter Jaklitsch, third author.
b
1022
MYCOLOGIA
by 35 cycles of 30 s at 94 C, 30 s at 55 C, 1 min at 72 C,
with a final extension period of 10 min at 72 C. Following
amplification, the PCR products were purified with QIAQuick columns (Qiagen Inc., Chatsworth, California, USA)
according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Amplified
products were sequenced with the BigDye dye terminator
kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, California, USA) on an
ABI 310 or ABI 377 automated DNA sequencer using the
following primers: LR0R, LR3R, LR5R, LR7, LR5, LR3 (Vilgalys and Hester 1990, Rehner and Samuels 1994).
Sequence analysis. Raw sequences were edited using Sequencher version 4.05 for Windows (Gene Codes Corporation, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA). Alignments were manually adjusted using GeneDoc 2.6.001 (http://www.psc.
edu/biomed/genedoc/). Two alignments were generated.
Alignment 1 included sequences from 55 newly sequenced
diaporthalean taxa, 27 diaporthalean sequences from
GenBank for which only approximately 600 bp are available
for some taxa with Magnaporthe grisea (T.T. Hebert) Yaegashi & Udagawa and Gauemannomyces graminis (Sacc.)
Arx & D. Olivier from the Magnaporthaceae as outgroup
taxa. Alignment 1 was truncated to 650 aligned positions to
minimize the effects of large amounts of missing data for
some of the taxa in the analyses. Alignment 2 included only
the 55 taxa newly sequenced for this study as well as 16
sequences recently reported in Farr et al (2001) for which
approximately 1350 bp of the 59 end of the LSU nrDNA
were sequenced. The sequence alignments were deposited
in TreeBASE as S815.
For both alignments, trees were inferred by the neighborjoining (NJ) method (Kimura 2-parameter distance calculation) and by maximum parsimony (MP) using the heuristic search option with the random addition sequence (1000
replications) and the branch swapping (tree bisection-reconnection, TBR) option of PAUP* 4.0b8 (Swofford 1998).
For both types of analyses, ambiguously aligned positions
were excluded. All characters were unordered and given
equal weight during the analysis. Gaps were treated as missing data in the parsimony analysis and the neighbor joining
analysis; missing or ambiguous sites were ignored for affected pairwise comparisons. Heuristic searches for most
parsimonious trees (MPT) with the MULTREES option in
effect resulted in large numbers of trees and did not search
to completion. Maximum likelihood analyses were not attempted due to the length of time required for a data set
of this size.
All resulting MPT were compared using the ShimodairaHasegawa (S-H) test (Shimodaira and Hasegawa 1999) as
implemented in PAUP* 4.0b8. The likelihood model was
determined by Modeltest version 3.06 (Posada and Crandall
1998). Relative support for branches was estimated with
1000 bootstrap replications (Felsenstein 1985) with MULTREES and TBR off and 10 random sequence additions for
the MP bootstraps.
Phylogenetic trees were also inferred for alignment 2 using Bayesian inference as implemented in MrBayes (http://
morphbank.ebc.uu.se/mrbayes/) with the following commands: (i) exclude positions 75, 76, 116, 117, 475–488, 504,
505, 862–1227; (ii) likelihood settings (lset) number of sub-
stitution types (nst) 5 6, a proportion of sites invariable and
the rest drawn from the gamma distribution (rate 5
invgamma), base frequencies 5 estimate, rate matrix 5
(1.7034, 6.7182, 3.8375, 0.9578, 15.0004, 1.0000); (iii) number of generations 5 500 000, sample frequency 5 100,
number of chains 5 4, temperature 5 0.5, save branch
lengths 5 yes, starting tree 5 random. The first 100 000
generations were discarded as the chains were converging
(burnin). Likelihood model assumptions were as determined with Modeltest version 3.06 (Posada and Crandall
1998): base frequencies A 5 0.2708, C 5 0.2196, G 5
0.2847, T 5 0.2249; number substitution types 5 6; proportion of invariable sites 5 0.719; gamma shape parameter
5 0.6023, number rate categories 5 4, mean average rate;
rate matrix 5 1.7034, 6.7182, 3.8375, 0.9578, 15.0004,
1.0000. Four independent analyses, each starting from a
random tree, were run under the same conditions.
Phylogenetic trees corresponding to the most recent classification schemes of Barr (1990) and Eriksson et al (2001)
were constructed by using taxa contained within each accepted family as a separate monophyletic constraint in MP
analyses of alignment 2 using the heuristic search option
(1000 random sequence additions, TBR and MULTREES
off). The tree with the best 2ln likelihood score resulting
from each constrained analysis and all trees resulting from
the unconstrained analysis were compared by the S-H test
as described above (TABLE II), including all characters in
the analysis except for ambiguously aligned positions and
intron sequences. The following topologies were tested with
the 372 equally parsimonious trees resulting from the unconstrained analysis: (i) Barr (1990) Gnomoniaceae, (ii)
Barr (1990) Melanconidaceae, (iii) Barr (1990) Valsaceae,
(iv) Eriksson et al (2001) Melanconidaceae, (v) Eriksson et
al (2001) Valsaceae, and (vi) Bayesian topology. The range
of 2ln likelihood scores of trees from each constraint topology is shown. However, only the topology with the best
2ln likelihood score from each constraint was tested against
the unconstrained trees.
RESULTS
Sequence alignments. Alignment 1 consisted of 650
total characters of which 20 ambiguously aligned positions were excluded. Of the remaining 630 characters, 132 were parsimony informative. Alignment 2
consisted of 1650 bases of which 366 positions were
excluded due to the presence of introns in two of the
sequences (Cryptodiaporthe corni AR 2814, Ditopella
ditopa AR 3423) and 20 positions were excluded because of potentially ambiguous alignments, leaving
1264 positions of which 189 were parsimony informative.
Sequence analyses. For MP analyses, heuristic searches resulted in excess of 5000 trees. When the MULTREES option was turned off, 210 and 372 equally
parsimonious trees were generated for alignment 1
and alignment 2, respectively. A strict consensus of
CASTLEBURY
ET AL:
OVERVIEW
trees generated with MULTREES on (MAXTREES 5
5000) was identical to the strict consensus of trees
generated from analyses with MULTREES off for
both analyses (trees not shown).
Parsimony tree scores for alignment 1 were CI 5
0.428, RI 5 0.879, RC 5 0.376, and length 5 428.
For alignment 2, tree scores were CI 5 0.487, RI 5
0.893, RC 5 0.435 and length 5 503. The MPT with
the best 2ln likelihood score for alignment 1 is
shown in FIG. 1 and one of two MPT with the best
2ln likelihood score is shown for the alignment 2
(FIG. 2), although neither tree was significantly better
than others generated in each analysis (P 5 0.05).
Bootstrap values greater than 70 percent are indicated on FIGS. 1 and 2 above (MP) and below (NJ) the
respective branches.
To determine if trees resulting from MP analyses
with the MULTREES option 5 off, in general, reflected a good approximation of relationships within this
group, Bayesian phylogenetic inference was used to
construct a tree and determine the probabilities of a
particular group existing in that tree (given the observed data). Bayesian analysis using Markov chain
Monte Carlo algorithms is computationally more
practical than bootstrapping and maximum likelihood. In addition, heuristic searches are not guaranteed to converge to the optimal tree (Larget and
Simon 1999), whereas the Markov chain explores
possible tree topologies and dimensions of other parameters of trees in proportion to their posterior
probabilities (Lewis 2001). [For detailed explanations of this method, see Larget and Simon 1999,
Huelsenbeck et al 2000, and Lewis 2001.]
FIGURE 3 shows the tree resulting from the Bayesian analysis with the highest 2ln likelihood score
with the numbers above the branches reflecting the
probability that each group exists expressed as a percentage. Four independent analyses were run with
each starting from a random tree and probabilities
and topologies were similar in all analyses. Topologies from the four analyses differed only in the placement of the Valsaceae and Diaporthaceae as sister
taxa in two of the four analyses. However, posterior
probabilities of that placement were not particularly
high (0.58 and 0.69).
Likelihood ratio tests. Phylogenetic analysis of the
diaporthalean taxa available for this study indicates
the presence of at least six lineages within the Diaporthales. Although elements of many of the previously described families are present, these lineages
do not entirely conform to taxonomic schemes that
have been proposed. The S-H test results for constrained tree topologies corresponding to recently
recognized families are presented in TABLE II.
OF THE
DIAPORTHALES
1023
Shimodaira-Hasegawa test results show that when
analyses are constrained to conform to the placement
of genera within the three families as recognized by
Barr (1990) and Eriksson et al (2001), resulting trees
from all of the constraints except for the Valsaceae
as recognized by Barr (1990) are significantly worse
than FIG. 2. Trees resulting from analyses constraining Valsa Fr., Leucostoma (Nitschke) Höhn., Valsella
Fuckel, Endothia Fr. and Chromendothia Lar.N. Vassiljeva to be a monophyletic group could not be rejected as significantly worse explanations of the data
than FIG. 2. These results suggest that two of the
three major families in the Diaporthales as currently
circumscribed (Eriksson et al 2001) are not monophyletic and that a greater number of families should
be recognized.
DISCUSSION
Phylogenetic analyses. Phylogenetic analysis of LSU
nrDNA sequences for available taxa within the Diaporthales shows the presence of at least six lineages
within this order. Likelihood ratio tests (Shimodaira
and Hasegawa 1999) comparing the topologies obtained by constraining monophyletic groups that correspond to recent classifications schemes do not recognize these families as equally good explanations of
the data when compared with FIG. 2, the result of an
unconstrained analysis, except in the case of Barr’s
(1990) Valsaceae. Recent papers have pointed out
that the Kishino-Hasegawa (K-H) test (Kishino and
Hasegawa 1989) is not appropriate for making multiple comparisons or for trees resulting from the analysis of the data set and designated a posteriori (Shimodaira and Hasegawa 1999, Goldman et al 2000,
Whelan et al 2001). However, there is some doubt
about whether or not it is appropriate to use the SH test for questions of monophyly (Goldman et al
2000, Whelan et al 2001). In light of these concerns,
although the S-H test was performed, it may be more
appropriate to compare only the 2ln likelihood
scores of each topology and not to evaluate their statistical significance.
The results of maximum parsimony, neighbor joining, and Bayesian inference analyses were all similar
in topology as well as levels of support. Bootstrap support for groups was generally higher in NJ analyses
than for MP analyses and support was higher in alignment 2 (1264 bp) than alignment 1 (630 bp). In order to determine if this observation might be a result
of either the more limited taxon sampling or the
larger number of analyzed characters in alignment 2,
the first 650 bp, excluding 20 ambiguously aligned
positions, of this alignment was analyzed by both MP
and NJ bootstrap analyses as described in the mate-
1024
MYCOLOGIA
FIG. 1. One of 210 equally parsimonious trees based on analysis of 630 bp of the 59 end of the LSU nrDNA (2ln likelihood
5 3328.6773, CI 5 0.428, RI 5 0.879, RC 5 0.376, length 5 428 steps) for 82 diaporthalean sequences. Bootstrap values
greater than 70% are shown above (MP) and below (NJ) each branch. Taxa in bold represent type species of their respective
genera. Thickened lines indicate that branch appeared in the strict consensus of the 210 trees.
CASTLEBURY
ET AL:
OVERVIEW
OF THE
DIAPORTHALES
1025
FIG. 2. One of two trees with the best 2ln likelihood score of 372 equally parsimonious trees based on analysis of 1264
bp of the 59 end of LSU nrDNA (2ln likelihood 5 4681.5015, CI 5 0.487, RI 5 0.893, RC 5 0.435, length 5 503 steps) for
71 diaporthalean taxa. Bootstrap values greater than 70% are shown above (MP) and below (NJ) each branch. Taxa in bold
represent type species of their respective genera. Thickened lines indicate that branch appeared in the strict consensus of
the 372 trees.
1026
MYCOLOGIA
FIG. 3. Phylogenetic tree resulting from Bayesian analysis of 1264 bp of the LSU nrDNA (2ln likelihood 5 4693.39844)
for 71 diaporthalean taxa. Numbers on branches indicate the posterior probability given the observed data that the group
exists, expressed as a percentage. Taxa in bold represent type species of their respective genera.
CASTLEBURY
TABLE II.
ET AL:
OVERVIEW
OF THE
DIAPORTHALES
1027
Shimodaira-Hasegawa likelihood test results
Topology
Trees
Length
2ln likelihood
Pa
Unconstrained
Barr 1990 Gnomoniaceae
Barr 1990 Melanconidaceae
Barr 1990 Valsaceae
Eriksson 2001 Melanconidaceae
Eriksson 2001 Valsaceae
Bayesian analysis
372
193b
118b
216b
117b
674b
4b
503
558
549
518
549
548
523–531
4681.50151–4697.26700
4783.96828–4801.5197
4815.91753–4834.40237
4709.20630–4728.20071
4825.80000–4837.33077
4825.65341–4846.68496
4693.39844–4711.49428
—
0.000*
0.000*
0.409
0.000*
0.000*
0.784
a
P-values only reported for the tree with best 2ln likelihood score.
Only the tree with the best 2ln likelihood score was tested.
* Indicates significant at P , 0.05 in a one-tailed test under the null hypothesis that all trees are equally good explanations
of the data.
b
rials and methods section. In both analyses, bootstrap
values were equivalent or slightly lower than those
from alignment 1 (trees not shown). This would indicate that better measures of support for groups
within this order are obtained when more than the
59 650 bp of the LSU nrDNA are sequenced. However, for determining basic affinities, 650 bp may be
sufficient.
The Bayesian topology was similar to the MP analysis and the probabilities obtained were similar to
bootstrap values for both NJ and MP analyses with
the exception of better support for the Diaporthaceae. When the Bayesian topology was compared to
the unconstrained MP topology, the S-H test found
the Bayesian tree not to be a significantly worse explanation of the data. The 2ln likelihood score of
the Bayesian topology shown in FIG. 3 is contained
within the range of scores for the 372 equally parsimonious trees obtained in the MP search.
Order and families of the Diaporthales. The Diaporthales has been recognized as a distinct order within
the perithecial ascomycetes for about half a century
following the description of the Diaporthe -type centrum by Luttrell (1951). With a few minor exceptions
the order has been well defined by previous mycologists as listed by Barr (1978, 1990) and Samuels and
Blackwell (2001). Analyses of molecular data have
confirmed the Diaporthales as a well-supported order
(Farr et al 2001, Zhang and Blackwell 2001). Thus,
the morphological characteristics used to define the
Diaporthales are considered reliable indicators of the
order.
The families of the Diaporthales as circumscribed
by Eriksson et al (2001) were not supported by this
study. Genera placed in the Melanconidaceae by Eriksson et al (2001) and included in this study are
Allantoporthe Petr. as Diaporthe decedens, Ditopella De
Not., Hercospora Fr., Melanconis Tul. & C. Tul., Phragmoporthe Petr., Schizoparme Shear, and Wuestneia
Auersw. In this study these genera group into several
different lineages within the order and do not constitute one or even several monophyletic groups
(FIGS. 1–3). Genera placed in the Valsaceae by Eriksson et al (2001) and included in this study are Apioplagiostoma M.E. Barr, Cryphonectria (Sacc.) Sacc. &
D. Sacc., Cryptodiaporthe Petr., Diaporthe, Endothia,
Gnomonia, Gnomoniella Sacc., Leucostoma, Linospora
Fuckel, Mazzantia, Ophiovalsa Petr. (listed as Winterella (Sacc.) Kuntze in Eriksson et al 2001), Plagiostoma Fuckel, Pleuroceras Riess, Valsa, and Valsella. Similarly, these genera group in different lineages within
the Diaporthales. Representatives of the Vialaeaceae
could not be located for this study. All three cultures
deposited as Vialaea insculpta (Fr. : Fr.) Sacc. at CBS
were sequenced, but none of these proved to belong
in the Sordariomycetidae. No cultures of the genus
Sydowiella were available to represent the Sydowiellaceae, but based on the morphology of the type species, S. fenestrans (Duby) Petr., it seems likely that this
family is a later synonym of the Gnomoniaceae.
Gnomoniaceae. One major lineage within the Diaporthales includes the genus Gnomonia and thus
should be regarded as the family Gnomoniaceae
(Hawksworth and Eriksson 1988). Twelve teleomorph genera representing 18 species and the anamorph taxa Discula campestris, D. destructiva, D. fraxinea, and D. quercina form this lineage that groups
together with 85% or greater support in all analyses
(FIGS. 1–3). Teleomorph genera in the Gnomoniaceae represented here include Apiognomonia Höhn,
Apioplagiostoma, Cryptodiaporthe, Cryptosporella Sacc.,
Ditopella, Gnomonia, Gnomoniella, Linospora, Ophiovalsa, Phragmoporthe Petr., Plagiostoma, and Pleuroceras. No well-supported subdivisions were found in this
group, although a number of taxa consistently
grouped together in the analyses.
These results generally agree with the concept of
the Gnomoniaceae as recognized by Monod (1983)
1028
MYCOLOGIA
and include taxa characterized by ascomata that are
immersed, solitary, without stromata or aggregated in
reduced, prosenchymatous stromata in herbaceous
plant material, especially in leaves or stems, but also
in wood. The ascomata are generally soft-textured,
thin-walled, and prosenchymatous with either central
or lateral beaks. The asci may or may not have a distinct ring and the ascospores are generally small, less
than 25 mm long, and range in septation from nonseptate, one-septate (median or eccentric) to multiseptate. The anamorphs of members of the Gnomoniaceae are acervular or pycnidial, often with a broad
opening, and phialidic, with pallid, non- or one-septate conidia.
One genus, Mazzantia, placed in the Gnomoniaceae by Monod (1983) and included in this study,
does not belong in the Gnomoniaceae, rather it falls
within the Diaporthaceae (see below). Another genus
placed in the Gnomoniaceae by Monod (1983),
Gaeumannomyces Arx & D.L. Olivier, has been shown
to belong in the Magnaporthaceae outside of the Diaporthales (Berbee 2001, Farr et al 2001, Zhang and
Blackwell 2001).
Melanconidaceae. Unlike the Melanconidaceae sensu Eriksson et al (2001) the results of this study suggest that all genera except the type genus Melanconis
should be excluded from the family. The type species
of Melanconis, M. stilbostoma, and two additional species, M. alni and M. marginalis, form a well-supported group with greater than 98% support in all analyses (FIGS. 1–3). These three species of Melanconis
produce well-developed stromata having a light-colored ectostromatic disc and a concolorous central
column with circinately arranged, immersed ascomata; hyaline, one-septate ascospores; and anamorphic
states placed in Melanconium Link. Pycnidia develop
in the stromata prior to formation of the ascomata
and produce unicellular, dark-brown conidia. One
species, Melanconis desmazierii, falls outside the Melanconidaceae. This species is a distantly related diaporthalean taxon that is allied with Hercospora tiliae
in this study (.90%) in all analyses (FIGS. 1–3). The
Melanconidaceae, herein restricted to Melanconis
sensu stricto, groups with the Gnomoniaceae with support of 99% or greater in all analyses (FIGS. 1–3) and
these two families could be combined and regarded
as the Gnomoniaceae. This result is somewhat surprising and suggests that morphological characteristics like thickness of ascospore wall and stromatal development are of less importance than suggested previously (Barr 1978, 1990).
Cryphonectria-Endothia complex. Representatives of
three genera, namely Chromendothia, Cryphonectria,
and Endothia, and one additional species, Cryptodia-
porthe corni, grouped together at greater than 80%
in all analyses except MP analysis of alignment 1
(FIGS. 1–3). Morphologically these taxa are united by
ascomata immersed in well-developed, yellow to orange or orange-red stromata. The pigments within
the stromatal wall turn purple in 3% KOH (KOH1)
and yellow in lactic acid and are produced in culture.
The ascomatal wall of members of the CryphonectriaEndothia complex is dark brown to black, often evident as darkened ostiolar papillae extending beyond
the stromata. Although a similar KOH reaction is also
characteristic of the Nectriaceae, Hypocreales, the
pigments occur in cell walls of the ascomatal wall and
are not often produced in culture. Anamorphs in the
Cryphonectria-Endothia complex produce small, hyaline, one-celled conidia enteroblastically in multiloculate pycnidia in well-developed stromata similar in
appearance to those producing ascomata. The close
relationship of these three genera was recognized by
Vasilyeva (1998) who placed them in tribe Endothiae
M.E. Barr.
Cryptodiaporthe corni, a species having the typical
KOH1 purple color reaction characteristic of this
group and occurring on the temperate host, Cornus
alternifolia (Redlin and Rossman 1991) falls in this
group rather than in the Gnomoniaceae with the
type species of Cryptodiaporthe, C. aesculi (FIGS. 1–3).
This species undoubtedly belongs in either Cryphonectria or Endothia. Three of the five species of Cryphonectria, namely C. macrospora, C. nitschkei, and C.
parasitica, and Chromendothia citrina and Endothiella
gyrosa occur primarily on temperate hardwood trees.
Two additional species of Cryphonectria, C. cubensis
and C. havanensis, appear to be more closely related
to each other than to the other three species of Cryphonectria. Venter et al (2001) have recently suggested that the latter two species belong in a separate
genus.
Schizoparme complex. Two species of Schizoparme
including the type species, S. straminea, and S. botrytidis grouped with seven strains of Coniella Höhn.
and Pilidiella Petr. & Syd. at 97% or greater in all
analyses (FIGS. 1–3). Although placed by Samuels et
al (1993) in the Melanconidaceae, the genus Schizoparme and its allied taxa do not fall within any established family in the Diaporthales and may eventually
be recognized as its own family. Unlike most members of the Diaporthales, species of Schizoparme are
often erumpent through the host epidermis, becoming superficial. The ascomatal wall often includes ‘‘an
epistromatic region of small, pale-colored cells
around the ostiolar opening’’ (Samuels et al 1993).
A similar, thickened outer wall was observed on species of Coniella and Pilidiella in culture. The ana-
CASTLEBURY
ET AL:
OVERVIEW
morph of S. straminea is P. castaneicola (Samuels et
al 1993 as C. castaneicola) while that of S. botrytidis
also belongs in Pilidiella (pers obs). Although Coniella is generally recognized in the broad sense to include the genus Pilidiella (Sutton 1980, Nag Raj
1993), the well-supported separation of these taxa in
all analyses suggests that Pilidiella may be distinct
from Coniella. These genera can be distinguished by
conidial pigmentation which in Coniella fragariae,
type of Coniella, and C. australiensis are dark brown
while in Pilidiella castaneicola, type of Pilidiella, and
related taxa including C. musaiensis, the conidia tend
to be pale brown.
Valsaceae. The genus Valsa and representatives of
two related genera, Leucostoma and Valsella, group
together with 98% or greater bootstrap values (FIGS.
1–3) in what is considered the family Valsaceae sensu
stricto. The close relationship of species of Valsa to
Leucostoma and Valsella has been recognized by a
number of authors (Spielman 1985, Vasilyeva 1993)
and is confirmed here.
Members of the Valsaceae occur on woody angiosperms in temperate regions throughout the world
(Barr 1978, Spielman 1985). The ascomata are aggregated in well-developed entostromata with beaks
emerging centrally through a white to black stromatic
disc. In Leucostoma and Valsella the entostromata are
delimited basally by a black stromatic zone, while in
Valsa such a zone is lacking. The genus Leucostoma
has eight-spored asci while Valsella is characterized by
multisporous asci. Although the type species of Leucostoma, L. massariana Höhn., was not available for
this study, three species of Leucostoma were included,
namely L. nivea, L. cincta and L. auerswaldii. The
type of the genus Valsella, V. salicis, was included
along with a second species, V. adherens. Neither the
species of Leucostoma nor those of Valsella grouped
together, exclusive of other taxa. Rather they were
interspersed with each other and Valsa ceratosperma
suggesting that neither the black stromatic disc nor
polysporous asci unite related species.
Within the Valsaceae, there were three well-supported subgroups in all analyses. The three species
of Leucostoma with Valsella salicis and Valsa ceratosperma represent a subdivision although there is not obvious correlation with any morphological or biological features. The genus Valsa is represented in this
study by the type species, V. ambiens, which grouped
closely with Valsa germanica and V. cenisia. Valsa mali
was basal to the V. ambiens group and the Leucostoma/Valsella group in all analyses.
Diaporthaceae. This lineage consists of eleven species of Diaporthe including representatives of the type
species, D. eres, and Mazzantia napelli which grouped
OF THE
DIAPORTHALES
1029
together at 75% or greater bootstrap support in all
analyses except MP analysis of alignment 1 (FIGS. 1–
3). The family Diaporthaceae is delimited here in a
much more restricted sense than by previous authors.
This family was established by Höhnel (1917) who
recognized this and only one other family, the Gnomoniaceae, in the Diaporthales. Wehmeyer (1975)
had a somewhat narrower concept of the Diaporthaceae, including Diaporthe and Mazzantia as well as
many more genera, some of which are included in
this study and excluded from this lineage. The Diaporthaceae was considered a synonym of the Valsaceae by Barr (1978) and other workers since then.
Based on the results presented here, the Diaporthaceae sensu stricto includes only Diaporthe and Mazzantia.
All species of Diaporthe included in this study
formed a well-supported group. Diaporthe is a large
genus that is well-defined morphologically and includes several hundred described species, many of
which have anamorphs belonging to the genus Phomopsis. Species occur on a wide range of substrates
ranging from woody dicotyledonous plants to herbaceous monocots (Wehmeyer 1933). In Diaporthe
each stroma covers and subtends several ascomata
usually forming a black line in the hardened host
tissue. The ascospores of species of Diaporthe are oneseptate, hyaline, and usually ellipsoidal. The Phomopsis anamorphic states are even more ubiquitous
forming uni- or multiloculate, pycnidial stromata in
which are produced hyaline, usually non-septate, primary conidia on elongate, phialidic conidiogenous
cells, and often producing filiform beta conidia.
The other member of the Diaporthaceae in this
study is the genus Mazzantia. Although not the type
species of the genus Mazzantia, M. napelli is similar
to the type, M. galii (Fr.) Mont., in stromatal and
ascomatal morphology, anamorph, and occurrence
on dicotyledonous herbaceous hosts. Diaporthe and
Mazzantia are similar in producing well-developed
stromata immersed in relatively newly killed wood or
stems. In Mazzantia the stromata are well-developed
covering only one or a few, immersed ascomata. Although placed in the genus Mazzantiella Höhn., the
anamorph of Mazzantia is similar to Phomopsis in
producing hyaline, one-celled, elongate conidia on
filiform, phialidic conidiogenous cells in a pycnidial
locule (Wehmeyer 1975).
Other taxa. The anamorph species, Greeneria uvicola, the cause of bitter rot of grapes, was recently determined to belong in the Diaporthales (Farr et al
2001). Despite its inclusion in this expanded account
of the Diaporthales, G. uvicola is not closely affiliated
with any of the taxa included in this study (FIGS. 1–
1030
MYCOLOGIA
3) and thus it is not possible to determine what its
teleomorph may be, if one exists.
One species of the genus Wuestneia having a Harknessia Cooke anamorph and the type species of Harknessia, H. eucalypti, grouped together in all analyses
(FIGS. 1–3). The connection between Wuestneia and
its anamorph Harknessia was established by Reid and
Booth (1989) and is confirmed by these data. Harknessia lythri did not group with Harknessia and Wuestneia. This species is unusual in having longitudinal
striations on the conidia (Farr and Rossman 2001)
and may not belong in that genus. Many additional
species of Harknessia have been described and most
of them lack a known sexual state.
Two species, Hercospora tiliae and Melanconis desmazierii, grouped together and may represent the
Pseudovalsaceae (FIGS. 1–3). Melanconis desmazierii
forms rudimentary stromata and produces a typical
Melanconium anamorph. The well-developed stromata of Hercospora tiliae developed in culture producing a distinctive Rabenhorstia anamoph (Sutton
1980). Both species occur on species of Tilia in temperate regions.
Our study suggests that four of the five major families previously established for members of the Diaporthales should be recognized, albeit circumscribed
differently, and that two additional major lineages exist within the order. The lineages discussed in this
paper were defined using a relatively high number
of diaporthalean taxa, certainly the greatest number
to date. Emphasis was placed on obtaining type species of key genera including those of anamorph genera where possible. Additionally, an attempt was
made to locate fresh, accurately identified material
from which single ascospore cultures could be isolated. Despite considerable effort, less than half of the
type species of the 98 genera in the Diaporthales
were obtained. With an increased number of taxa,
especially those representing type species, it is likely
that additional lineages will be defined. It is also expected that sequencing additional genes for taxa in
this order will make it possible to identify relationships of genera within families and to determine
morphological characters for reliable generic identifications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors express sincere appreciation to Margaret Barr
Bigelow, Sidney, British Columbia, for providing fresh specimens of diaporthalean fungi from which cultures were isolated as well as general expertise and advice on working
with the Diaporthales. In addition we thank Sabine Huhndorf and Fernando Fernandez, Field Museum, Chicago, for
sending the sequence and culture of Schizoparme botrytidis
obtained while working under NSF-PEET grant #DEB9521926. The following persons also sent isolates: Gerald
Bills, Merck Research, Plagiostoma conradii; Scott Redlin,
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Apiognomnia
errabunda and Cryptodiaporthe corni; and Jack Rogers,
Washington State University, Pullman, Wuestneia molokaiensis. Finally, the skilled technical expertise of Douglas Linn,
John McKemy, Brenda Paul, Frank Washington and Janelle
Wood is acknowledged for handling the cultures and sequencing the newly obtained fungi.
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