A molecular phylogenetic reappraisal of the <I>Graphium</I> complex based on 18S rDNA sequences

Based on nuclear encoded small subunit (18S) rDNA sequences, a taxonomic reappraisal of Graphium (anamorphic fungi) was undertaken using neighbour-joining (NJ) and fast DNA maximum likelihood (fastDNAml) methods and compared with traditional classifications. In common with Graphium putredinis, Graphium penicillioides (the lectotype species) was found to be related to the Microascales, not the Ophiostomatales as previously believed. Both species might be heterogenous and should be treated as species aggregates. The representative mode of conidiogenesis for these two species was nodular-annellidic, rather than the dense-annellidic mode characteristic of the synnematous ophiostomatalean anamorphs. Graphium is emended to be restricted to G. penicillioides, G. putredinis, and related synnematous anamorphs of Petriella and Pseudallescheria, and a nomenclator for the nine species presently accepted in Graphium is presented. Pesotum, originally characterized mainly by sympodial conidiogenesis, is emended to inclu...