Abstract
Zanclospora (Chaetosphaeriaceae) is a neglected, phialidic dematiaceous hyphomycete with striking phenotypic heterogeneity among its species. Little is known about its global biogeography due to its extreme scarcity and lack of records verified by molecular data. Phylogenetic analyses of six nuclear loci, supported by phenotypic data, revealed Zanclospora as highly polyphyletic, with species distributed among three distantly related lineages in Sordariomycetes. Zanclospora is a pleomorphic genus with multiple anamorphic stages, of which phaeostalagmus-like and stanjehughesia-like are newly discovered. The associated teleomorphs were previously classified in Chaetosphaeria. The generic concept is emended, and 17 species are accepted, 12 of which have been verified with DNA sequence data. Zanclospora thrives on decaying plant matter, but it also occurs in soil or as root endophytes. Its global diversity is inferred from metabarcoding data and published records based on field observations. Phylogenies of the environmental ITS1 and ITS2 sequences derived from soil, dead wood and root samples revealed seven and 15 phylotypes. The field records verified by DNA data indicate two main diversity centres in Australasia and Caribbean/Central America. In addition, environmental ITS data have shown that Southeast Asia represents a third hotspot of Zanclospora diversity. Our data confirm that Zanclospora is a rare genus.
Highlights
Zanclospora [1], typified with Z. novae-zelandiae, was established for dematiaceous hyphomycetes observed on plant litter or decaying wood and bark and characterised by setiform conidiophores, discrete phialides arranged in whorls and hyaline, unicellular, non-setulate conidia in slimy masses enveloping the conidiophores [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
In order to examine the evolutionary relationships of Zanclospora within the Sordariomycetidae, phylogenetic analysis was based on the combined 18S, 28S and rpb2 sequences of 108 representatives of the Sordariomycetes
Zanclospora novae-zelandiae clustered in the Chaetosphaeriales (100/1.0), while Z. stellata nested in the Vermiculariopsiellales and was transferred to a new genus Stephanophorella
Summary
Zanclospora [1], typified with Z. novae-zelandiae, was established for dematiaceous hyphomycetes observed on plant litter or decaying wood and bark and characterised by setiform conidiophores, discrete phialides arranged in whorls and hyaline, unicellular, non-setulate conidia in slimy masses enveloping the conidiophores [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. The morphological characters of conidiophores, phialides and conidia vary among species and contribute to the phenotypic heterogeneity of the genus. Conidiophores are simple or branched, occasionally accompanied by setae, branches are fertile, resembling the main stalk with secondary and tertiary branches often developed, or they are sterile and setiform, inserted into the main stalk.
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