Molecular taxonomy of bambusicolous fungi: Tetraplosphaeriaceae, a new pleosporalean family with Tetraploa-like anamorphs

A new pleosporalean family Tetraplosphaeriaceae is established to accommodate five new genera; 1) Tetraplosphaeria with small ascomata and anamorphs belonging to Tetraploa s. str., 2) Triplosphaeria characterised by hemispherical ascomata with rim-like side walls and anamorphs similar to Tetraploa but with three conidial setose appendages, 3) Polyplosphaeria with large ascomata surrounded by brown hyphae and anamorphs producing globose conidia with several setose appendages, 4) Pseudotetraploa, an anamorphic genus, having obpyriform conidia with pseudosepta and four to eight setose appendages, and 5) Quadricrura, an anamorphic genus, having globose conidia with one or two long setose appendages at the apex and four to five short setose appendages at the base. Fifteen new taxa in these genera mostly collected from bamboo are described and illustrated. They are linked by their Tetraploa s. l. anamorphs. To infer phylogenetic placement in the Pleosporales, analyses based on a combined dataset of small- and large-subunit nuclear ribosomal DNA (SSU+LSU nrDNA) was carried out. Tetraplosphaeriaceae, however, is basal to the main pleosporalean clade and therefore its relationship with other existing families was not completely resolved. To evaluate the validity of each taxon and to clarify the phylogenetic relationships within this family, further analyses using sequences from ITS-5.8S nrDNA (ITS), transcription elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF), and beta-tubulin (BT), were also conducted. Monophyly of the family and that of each genus were strongly supported by analyses based on a combined dataset of the three regions (ITS+TEF+BT). Our results also suggest that Tetraplosphaeria (anamorph: Tetraploa s. str.) is an ancestral lineage within this family. Taxonomic placement of the bambusicolous fungi in Astrosphaeriella, Kalmusia, Katumotoa, Massarina, Ophiosphaerella, Phaeosphaeria, Roussoella, Roussoellopsis, and Versicolorisporium, are also discussed based on the SSU+LSU phylogeny.