Phylogeny and taxonomy of Ophiognomonia(Gnomoniaceae,Diaporthales),including twenty-five new species in this highly diverse genus

Species of Ophiognomonia are leaf-inhabiting endophytes,pathogens,and saprobes that infect plants in the families Betulaceae,Fagaceae,Juglandaceae,Lauraceae,Malvaceae,Platanaceae,Rosaceae,Salicaceae,and Sapindaceae.Based on extensive collecting,this speciesrich genus is now known to have a world wide distribution in primarily temperate areas,although some species are known from the subtropics.Analyses of DNA sequences from three markers including guanine nucleotide-binding protein subunit beta-like protein(MS204),translation elongation factor 1α(tef-1α),and the ITS region including ITS1,5.8 S rDNA and ITS2 regions(ITS)were used to define phylogenetic species in Ophiognomonia.Host plant association correlated with these species.Twenty-five new species of Ophiognomonia and two new combinations are proposed with descriptions and illustrations.In addition,descriptions and illustrations are provided for 12 other species of Ophiognomonia.A key is provided to the 45 currently accepted species of Ophiognomonia.The disposition of additional names in Ophiognomonia is also discussed.

Five Colletotrichum species are responsible for mango anthracnose in northeastern Brazil

Colletotrichum species are the most important and widespread form of decay affecting mango fruit worldwide.In this study,Colletotrichum species associated with fruit anthracnose isolated from mango in northeastern Brazil were subject to molecular and morphological analyses.The partial sequences of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene of 143 Colletotrichum isolates was amplified,as an initial measure of genetic diversity.A subset of 47 isolates,selected to represent the range of genetic diversity and geographic origin,were further sequenced using the partial actin,β-tubulin,calmodulin,glutamine synthetase genes and rDNA-ITS region.The multilocus sequence analysis,together with a critical examination of the phenotypic characters,revealed four previously described species(Colletotrichum asianum,Colletotrichum fructicola,Colletotrichum tropicale and Colletotrichum karstii)and one new species.The new species is introduced as Colletotrichum dianesei and formally described,illustrated and compared with similar taxa.Only C.asianum and C.karstii have previously been reported from mango,while the other species represent the first report associated with the mango fruits worldwide.All species are reported for the first time associated with the mango fruits in Brazil.

Extremotolerant rock inhabiting black fungi from Italian monumental sites

A wide sampling for isolating highly destructive and extremotolerant black fungi was performed from Italian monuments in selected historical sites which include the "Cortile della Pigna",Vatican Museum and the St Peter colonnade(Vatican City State),the monumental cemetery of Bonaria(Cagliari),and other monuments in the city of Cagliari.Thirty out of seventy-four strains isolated were identified basing on ITS Blastn comparison.Based on multilocus phylogeny and morphological data,one new genus and species Lithophila guttulata,five new species Knufia marmoricola,K.vaticanii,K.karalitana,K.mediterranea and Exophiala bonariae,order Chaetothyriales and one new genus and species,Saxophila tyrrhenica,and two new species Vermiconia calcicola and Devriesia sardiniae,order Capnodiales,were proposed.Ecological considerations are put forward.

Mountain tips as reservoirs for new rock-fungal entities: Saxomyces gen. nov. and four new species from the Alps

As part of a worldwide sampling nine black fungi were isolated from rocks collected in four distinct sites of the Alps at high altitudes.Based on a nucSSU,nucLSU and mtSSU multi-locus phylogeny,seven of them were found to cluster into a distinct and wellsupported clade in a basal position within the Class Dothideomycetes.As in other rock fungi these new groups of isolates were characterized by a meristematic growth and a scarcely differentiated morphology with highly melanized and thick-walled toruloid hyphae.Nonetheless,few peculiar characters were also observed as convoluted hyphal tips and the production of spherical propagules.The new genus and species Saxomyces alpinus and S.penninicus,are here described based on morphological and molecular data,in a yet to be defined order of the Dothideomycetes.The remaining two black fungi clustered in Cryomyces,a genus previously exclusively found in rocks from the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica.These two isolates were genetically distant from other Antarctic Cryomyces species based on ITS sequences,and they showed a peculiar morphology;they are here described as the new species C.montanus and C.funiculosus.Implications of our results on the evolution,adaptation and dispersal of rock-inhabiting fungi under extreme conditions are discussed.