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Abstract
Lophodermium comprises ascomycetous fungi that are both needle-cast pathogens and asymptomatic endophytes on a diversity of plant hosts. It is distinguished from other genera in the family Rhytismataceae by its filiform ascospores and ascocarps that open by a longitudinal slit. Nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nuclear ribosomal DNA were used to infer phylogenetic relationships within Lophodermium. Twenty-nine sequences from approximately 11 species of Lophodermium were analyzed together with eight sequences from isolates thought to represent six other genera of Rhytismataceae: Elytroderma, Lirula, Meloderma, Terriera, Tryblidiopsis and Colpoma. Two putative Meloderma desmazieresii isolates occurred within the Lophodermium clade but separate from one another, one grouped with L. indianum and the other with L. nitens. An isolate of Elytroderma deformans also occurred within the Lophodermium clade but on a solitary branch. The occurrence of these genera within the Lophodermium clade might be due to problems in generic concepts in Rhytismataceae, such as emphasis on spore morphology to delimit genera, to difficulty of isolating Rhytismataceae needle pathogens from material that also is colonized by Lophodermium or to a combination of both factors. We also evaluated the congruence of host distribution and several morphological characters on the ITS phylogeny. Lophodermium species from pine hosts formed a monophyletic sister group to Lophodermium species from more distant hosts from the southern hemisphere, but not to L. piceae from Picea. The ITS topology indicated that Lophodermium does not show strict cospeciation with pines at deeper branches, although several closely related isolates have closely related hosts. Pathogenic species occupy derived positions in the pine clade, suggesting that pathogenicity has evolved from endophytism. A new combination is proposed, Terriera minor (Tehon) P.R. Johnst.
We thank Daniel Piñero, Aaron Liston, and Francisco Espinosa-García for kindly reviewing earlier versions of this paper, and Alejandra Vazquez-Lobo for field and lab assistance. We also are indebted to Ron Deckert, David Minter and Brian Spooner for raising doubts concerning the identifications of our Meloderma and Elytroderma sequences. John David and Shaun Pennycook provided helpful advice on the correct spelling for desmazieresii. S. O.-G. thanks the Mycological Society of America for a travel grant. Nucleotide sequencing was provided by the Central Services Laboratory, Center for Gene Research and Biotechnology, Oregon State University. This research was supported by grants from CONACYT and PAPIIT to E. A. B. and by a fellowship from CONACYT and DGIA to S. O.-G.
