Coprophilous contributions to the phylogeny of Lasiosphaeriaceae and allied taxa within Sordariales (Ascomycota, Fungi)

The phylogenetic relationships of Lasiosphaeriaceae are complicated in that the family is paraphyletic and includes Sordariaceae and Chaetomiaceae, as well as several polyphyletic genera. This study focuses on the phylogenetic relationships of the coprophilous genera, Anopodium, Apodospora, Arnium, Fimetariella and Zygospermella. They are traditionally circumscribed based on ascospore characters, which have proven homoplasious in other genera within the family. Our results based on LSU nrDNA and ß–tubulin sequences distinguish four lineages of Lasiosphaeriaceae taxa. Anopodium joins the clade of morphologically similar, yellow-pigmented species of Cercophora and Lasiosphaeria. Apodospora is monophyletic and joins a larger group of taxa with unclear affinities to each other, while Arnium is polyphyletic being scattered throughout three of the four major clades of Lasiosphaeriaceae. Fimitariella is represented by a single collection and joins the clade containing Cercophora scortea and Podospora appendiculata. Zygospermella shows affinities to the Lasiosphaeris clade. Based on a combination of morphological and molecular data, Echria stat. nov. is recognized at the genus level for the former Arnium section and two new combinations are proposed: E. gigantospora and E. macrotheca.