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The Family Torulaceae belongs to the Order Pleosporales (Class Dothideomycetes) and mainly comprises saprobes. The taxa are widely distributed in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. In this study, we collected three dead leaf specimens of Carex baccans and two submerged wood specimens in Yunnan Province, China. A biphasic approach of morphological examination and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses conducted for internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS), nuclear large subunit rDNA (28S), nuclear small subunit rDNA (18S), translation elongation factor 1-α (tef1) gene, and RNA polymerase II second-largest subunit (rpb2) revealed one new species Rutola kunmingensis and a new collection of Torula sundara. Rutola kunmingensis is characterized by black, powdery colonies, micronematous, creeping, reticular conidiophores bearing inconspicuous, monoblastic conidiogenous loci, and multi-septate, catenulate, verruculose, brown conidia. The conidiophores and conidia of each genus in Torulaceae are mapped onto the phylogenetic tree and the generic demarcations of this family are discussed and the significant divergence of ITS, 18S, 28S, rpb2, and tef1 sequences in Torulaceae is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycocaliciales comprise non-lichenized either saprotrophic or lichenicolous fungi which occur in temperate and tropical regions. The mazaediate, saprotrophic and monospecific genus, Pyrgidium, is currently assigned to this order, yet the phylogenetic placement of the genus has remained uncertain due to the absence of molecular data. In order to investigate the systematic position of Pyrgidium, two specimens collected in Brazil and Thailand, respectively, were used to generate mtSSU, SSU, LSU and ITS sequences. However, given that most other representatives of this order only have LSU and ITS sequences available, the phylogenetic reconstruction was limited to these two markers. The phylogenetic analyses confirmed placement of the genus within Mycocaliciales, the genus possessing a sister group relationship with the lichenicolous genus Sphinctrina. Detailed morphological descriptions and illustrations are provided, including those for type specimens of the various synonyms subsumed under the hitherto only accepted species, Pyrgidium montellicum (Beltr.) Tibell. The ascospore morphology was investigated using compound and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed for the ascospore size using PC-ORD 7. The molecular data and re-examination of the type specimens support the monospecific nature of this genus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stictidaceae comprises taxa with diverse lifestyles. Many species in this family are drought resistant and important for studying fungal adaptation and evolution. Stictidaceae comprises 32 genera, but many of them have been neglected for decades due to the lack of field collections and molecular data. In this study, we introduce a new species Fitzroyomyces hyaloseptisporus and a new combination Fitzroyomyces pandanicola. We also provide additional morphological and molecular data for Ostropomyces pruinosellus and O. thailandicus based on new collections isolated from an unidentified woody dicotyledonous host in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Taxonomic conclusions are made with the aid of morphological evidence and phylogenetic analysis of combined LSU, ITS and mtSSU sequence data. Characteristics such as the shape and septation of ascospores and conidia as well as lifestyles among genera of Stictidaceae are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ostropales sensu lato is a large group comprising both lichenized and non-lichenized fungi, with several lineages expressing optional lichenization where individuals of the same fungal species exhibit either saprotrophic or lichenized lifestyles depending on the substrate (bark or wood). Greatly variable phenotypic characteristics and large-scale phylogenies have led to frequent changes in the taxonomic circumscription of this order. Ostropales sensu lato is currently split into Graphidales, Gyalectales, Odontotrematales, Ostropales sensu stricto, and Thelenellales. Ostropales sensu stricto is now confined to the family Stictidaceae, which includes a large number of species that are poorly known, since they usually have small fruiting bodies that are rarely collected, and thus, their taxonomy remains partly unresolved. Here, we introduce a new genus Ostropomyces to accommodate a novel lineage related to Ostropa, which is composed of two new species, as well as a new species of Sphaeropezia, S. shangrilaensis. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses of mitochondrial small subunit spacers (mtSSU), large subunit nuclear rDNA (LSU), and internal transcribed spacers (ITS) sequence data, together with phenotypic data documented by detailed morphological and anatomical analyses, support the taxonomic affinity of the new taxa in Stictidaceae. Ancestral character state analysis did not resolve the ancestral nutritional status of Stictidaceae with confidence using Bayes traits, but a saprotrophic ancestor was indicated as most likely in a Bayesian binary Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling (MCMC) approach. Frequent switching in nutritional modes between lineages suggests that lifestyle transition played an important role in the evolution of this family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]