Search for: All records

Abstract Laboulbeniales(Ascomycota) are an order of understudied, biotrophic microfungi uniquely associated with arthropods. More than 2300 species are described but only a fraction of those have been sequenced. Molecular studies have shown that cryptic diversity and phenotypic plasticity are present within theLaboulbeniales. Thus far, all of the 146 genera described inLaboulbenialeshave been based on morphological characteristics; features commonly used to delineate genera are the organization of receptacle cells and the number of perithecial outer wall cells. The genusBotryandromyceswas erected to accommodate two species,B. heteroceriandB. ornatus(type), which share similar morphological characteristics and are different from other genera in their number of perithecial outer wall cells. Here, we generated sequences of multiple loci (18S, ITS, and 28S) ofB. heteroceriand severalLaboulbeniaspecies. Our phylogenetic analyses retrievedBotryandromyceswithinLaboulbeniawith high support. The twoBotryandromycesspecies are similar to relatedLaboulbeniaspecies in their upper receptacle (i.e., cells IV and V). We propose to transferBotryandromyces ornatusandB. heteroceritoLaboulbeniaasL. heteroceriandL. maireinom. nov., respectively, due to a complicated taxonomic history. These results advocate the use of molecular data and the necessity of an integrative taxonomy approach in the study ofLaboulbenialesnot only to delineate species, but also to investigate relationships among species, genera, and higher taxa as well as to understand the evolution of morphology in this group of fungi.