Phylogenetic placement of plant pathogenic Sclerotium species among teleomorph genera

Abstract

Phylogenetic analyses and morphological characteristics were used to assess the taxonomic placement of eight plant-pathogenic Sclerotium species. Members of this genus produce only sclerotia and no fruiting bodies or spores, so Sclerotium species have been difficult to place taxonomically. Sequences of rDNA large subunit (LSU) and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions were determined for isolates of Sclerotium cepivorum, S. coffeicola, S. denigrans, S. hydrophilum, Ceratorhiza oryzae-sativae, S. perniciosum, S. rhizodes, S. rolfsii and S. rolfsii var. delphinii. Parsimony analysis grouped two species previously thought to be in the Basidiomycota, S. denigrans and S. perniciosum, within the Ascomycota; these species were found to have affinities with the teleomorph genera Sclerotinia and Stromatinia and the asexual Sclerotium cepivorum, which was known earlier to be related to Sclerotinia species. The other Sclerotium species were placed in one of two basidiomycetous groups, genera Athelia or Ceratobasidium. Based on rDNA analysis and morphology the basidiomycetous Sclerotium hydrophilum and S. rhizodes were transferred to genus Ceratorhiza, the anamorph of Ceratobasidium species. Sclerotium coffeicola was found to be close to S. rolfsii var. delphinii and S. rolfsii var. rolfsii, which was shown earlier to have an Athelia teleomorph.

Distribution of Introns in Fungal Histone Genes

“…Those results do not seem strange because A. fumigatus is phylogenetically more closely related to N. fischeri than to A. nidulans , A. niger , and A. oryzae [19] (Fig. 1) and B. fuckeliana is phylogenetically closely related to S. sclerotiorum [20] (Fig. 1).…”

Biocontrol potential of three novel Trichoderma strains: isolation, evaluation and formulation

“…These attributes make it difficult to control using conventional practices. This pathogen, mostly associated with ornamental crops and certain field crops like groundnut, was hitherto not known to occur in cotton (Edmunds et al 2003; Farr et al 2006; Xu et al 2010). We have recently reported this pathogen to be infecting both seedlings and mature cotton plants in field (Mukherjee et al 2013a).…”

Three new records of plant parasitic phyllosphere fungi from Panama: Annellophora phoenicis, Cercospora corniculatae, and Sclerotium coffeicola

“…is a well-known threat for coffee in Panama (Piepenbring 2006). The systematic placement of S. coffeicola in the Atheliaceae is also unclear, since in spite of the available rDNA sequences, a conclusive phylogenetic analysis has not been undertaken (Xu et al 2010). …”