The order Botryosphaeriales represents several ecologically diverse fungal families that are commonly isolated as endophytes or pathogens from various woody hosts. The taxonomy of members of this order has been strongly influenced by sequence-based phylogenetics, and the abandonment of dual nomenclature. In this study, the phylogenetic relationships of the genera known from culture are evaluated based on DNA sequence data for six loci (SSU, LSU, ITS, EF1, BT, mtSSU). The results make it possible to recognise a total of six families. Other than the Botryosphaeriaceae (17 genera), Phyllostictaceae (Phyllosticta) and Planistromellaceae (Kellermania), newly introduced families include Aplosporellaceae (Aplosporella and Bagnisiella), Melanopsaceae (Melanops), and Saccharataceae (Saccharata). Furthermore, the evolution of morphological characters in the Botryosphaeriaceae were investigated via analysis of phylogeny-trait association. None of the traits presented a significant phylogenetic signal, suggesting that conidial and ascospore pigmentation, septation and appendages evolved more than once in the family. Molecular clock dating on radiations within the Botryosphaeriales based on estimated mutation rates of the rDNA SSU locus, suggests that the order originated in the Cretaceous period around 103 (45-188) mya, with most of the diversification in the Tertiary period. This coincides with important periods of radiation and spread of the main group of plants that these fungi infect, namely woody Angiosperms. The resulting host-associations and distribution could have influenced the diversification of these fungi.Taxonomic novelties:New families - Aplosporellaceae Slippers, Boissin & Crous, Melanopsaceae Phillips, Slippers, Boissin & Crous, Saccharataceae Slippers, Boissin & Crous.

Over the last decade, cryptic speciation has been discovered in an increasing number of taxa. Species complexes are useful models for the understanding of speciation processes. Motivated by the discovery of brooding specimens in the common Atlanto-Mediterranean broadcast spawning brittle star, Ophioderma longicauda, a recent study revealed the occurrence of divergent mitochondrial lineages. We analysed 218 specimens from 23 locations spread over the geographic range of the species with partial Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences. A subset of this sample was also surveyed with the internal transcribed spacer of the ribosomal DNA cluster (nuclear ITS-1). Our study revealed six highly divergent mitochondrial lineages, and the ITS-1 data confirmed that they most likely represent a species complex. Geographic ranges, abundances and genetic structures are contrasted among the putative cryptic species. Lineages in which brooding specimens have been found form a monophyletic group and are restricted to the Eastern Mediterranean basin, an oligotrophic zone. A phylogeny-trait association analysis revealed a phylogenetic signal for low 'chlorophyll a' values (our proxy for oligotrophy). An ecological shift related to the hyper oligotrophy of the Eastern Mediterranean region is therefore likely to have played a role in the evolution of brooding. This study revealed that a complex mixture of vicariance, population expansion, adaptive divergence and possibly high local diversification rates resulting from brooding has shaped the evolution of this species complex. The dating analysis showed that these events probably occurred in the Pleistocene epoch.

Understanding the evolutionary histories of invasive species is critical to adopt appropriate management strategies, but this process can be exceedingly complex to unravel. As illustrated in this study of the worldwide invasion of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, population genetic analyses using coalescent-based scenario testing together with Bayesian clustering and historical records provide opportunities to address this problem. The pest spread from its native Eurasian range to the Southern Hemisphere in the 1900s and recently to Northern America, where it poses economic and potentially ecological threats to planted and native Pinus spp. To investigate the origins and pathways of invasion, samples from five continents were analysed using microsatellite and sequence data. The results of clustering analysis and scenario testing suggest that the invasion history is much more complex than previously believed, with most of the populations being admixtures resulting from independent introductions from Europe and subsequent spread among the invaded areas. Clustering analyses revealed two major source gene pools, one of which the scenario testing suggests is an as yet unsampled source. Results also shed light on the microevolutionary processes occurring during introductions, and showed that only few specimens gave rise to some of the populations. Analyses of microsatellites using clustering and scenario testing considered against historical data drastically altered our understanding of the invasion history of S. noctilio and will have important implications for the strategies employed to fight its spread. This study illustrates the value of combining clustering and ABC methods in a comprehensive framework to dissect the complex patterns of spread of global invaders.