Systematic revision of Tubeufiaceae based on morphological and molecular data

Abstract

The family Tubeufiaceae is circumscribed for taxa in the Pleosporales that possess superficial, white, pallid to bright, ascomata, which may darken at maturity. The family currently includes 21 genera with varied taxonomic histories, a result of disparate opinions regarding the importance of several different morphological characters. In this study, nucleotide sequences from 28S rDNA from different taxa of the Tubeufiaceae and allied families were analysed under different optimality criteria (Maximum Parsimony, Likelihood and Bayesian) to assess phylogenetic relationships. Phylogenies obtained using different tree construction methods yielded essentially similar topologies. Results from the molecular data do not correspond to established morphological schemes. Characters such as colour of ascomata, shape of ascospores and anamorphic taxa do not appear to be significant in delineating several genera within the Tubeufiaceae, while at the familial level, Tubeufiaceae does not appear to be restricted to those bitunicate fungi characterised by superficial, white and pallid to bright ascomata and filiform ascospores. In addition, phylogenies also indicate that the Tubeufiaceae is more closely related to the Venturiaceae, and therefore its current taxonomic placement within the order Pleosporales is justified. Results also indicate that Acanthostigma, Boerlagiomyces and Letendraea are phylogenetically unrelated to other members of the Tubeufiaceae and therefore it is highly possible that they should be excluded from the Tubeufiaceae. In this study, the family Tubeufiaceae is redefined based on existing morphological information and phylogenies.