Ribosomal and Protein Gene Phylogeny Reveals Novel Saprobic Fungal Species From Juglans regia and Urtica dioica

Abstract

During an ongoing investigation of Ascomycetes from plant substrates, three saprobic species were found from plant substrates. Two new species, <i>Leptosphaeria regiae</i> and <i>Neomicrosphaeropsis juglandis</i> were isolated from dead branches of <i>Juglans regia</i> from Turkey. Another species is introduced herein as <i>Subplenodomus urticae</i> sp. nov within the family Leptosphaeriaceae found on <i>Urtica dioica</i> in Italy. Multigene phylogenies based on combined LSU, ITS, SSU, and β-tubulin DNA sequence data generated from maximum likelihood and MrBayes analyses indicate that <i>Leptosphaeria regiae</i> is related to <i>L. slovacica</i> and forms an independent lineage within the genus <i>Leptosphaeria</i>. <i>Subplenodomus urticae</i> is basal to <i>S. iridicola</i> and its establishment as a new species is strongly supported. <i>Neomicrosphaeropsis juglandis</i> forms a moderately supported lineage in between <i>N. italica</i> and <i>N. elaeagni</i> in the Didymellaceae. Full morphological details are provided herein and phylogenetic relationships of the three new species are also discussed.