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A molecular phylogenetic assessment of Massarina ingoldiana sensu lato

     ¹ Hirosaki University, Hirosaki, Aomori
² Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hirosaki University, Bunkyo-cho 3, Hirosaki, Aomori, 036-8561, Japan
³ Dept of Plant Biology, Univ of Illinois, 505 S Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL, 61801, United States of America
⁴ Section for Biodiversity, Illinois Natural History Survey, 1816 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, United States of America
⁵ Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL

Massarina ingoldiana occurs worldwide on a variety of dead plant substrates in aquatic habitats. This species has been accommodated in Massarina or Lophiostoma in Pleosporales, Dothideomycetes, but the validity of either of these taxonomic placements has not been confirmed with molecular data. In addition, morphological variations occur among different populations of this species causing problems in identification. To evaluate the generic placement and monophyly of M. ingoldiana and the taxonomic usefulness of variable morphological features, phylogenetic analyses based on SSU and LSU sequences of ribosomal DNA were conducted for ten putative strains of this species and its relatives. Phylogenies revealed that M. ingoldiana sensu lato is polyphyletic and comprises two distinct lineages within Pleosporales. Neither lineage was congeneric with either Massarina or Lophiostoma. Based on molecular data and a reevaluation of morphology, two new genera, Lindgomyces and Tingoldiago, are established for the two lineages of M. ingoldiana sensu lato. Lindgomyces includes four species: L. ingoldiana comb. nov. (= M. ingoldiana sensu stricto), L. rotundata sp. nov. (=M. ingoldiana sensu lato), L. cinctospora sp. nov., and L. breviappendiculata comb. nov. (= Lophiostoma breviappendiculatum). A new aquatic family, Lindgomyceaceae, is proposed for Lindgomyces and its sister taxon, Massariosphaeria typhicola. Isolates of a fungus from submerged Phragmites, with ascospores very similar to those of M. ingoldiana, occurred in an additional single species lineage distant from that of M. ingoldiana (Lindgomyces). This fungus is described as Tingoldiago graminicola gen. & sp. nov. The discovery that Tingoldiago, which occurs in a lineage distantly related to Lindgomyces, but has morphologically similar ascospores and ascospore sheaths, suggests that the elaborate ascospore sheath found in M. ingoldiana has arisen in two separate lineages as a result of convergent evolution in response to the aquatic environment.

Key words: Ascomycetes, convergence, evolution, freshwater, Pleosporales