Teleomorph-anamorph connections: the new pyrenomycetous genus Carpoligna and its Pleurothecium anamorph

Several collections of a pyrenomycete identified as Chaetosphaeria were mad e from decorticated wood of twigs and branches in Costa Rica, Panama, Puert o Rico and continental USA. Discrete and continuous characters of the ascom ata, asci and ascospores in these collections show that they are very simil ar morphologically and represent populations of the Same species. However, culturing of single ascospore isolates from these collections yielded an an amorph unlike the typical phialidic anamorphs of Chaetosphaeria. This anamo rph fits the description of Pleurothercium recurvatum, for which a teleomor ph connection has not been yet established. Sequences of the ITS region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA of three collections from Costs Rica, Puerto Rico and USA were compared and found to be 98% similar. Parsimony and maximum l ikelihood analyses of sequences of the large subunit nuclear-encoded riboso mal DNA from representative taxa of eight ascomycetous orders show this asc omycete as a monophyletic group distinct from Chaetosphaeria. Statistical a nalyses of hypothetical trees based on the most parsimonious and the most l ikely trees rule out phylogenetic affinities of this pyrenomycete to Chaeto sphaeria. These analyses suggest possible affinities to the Hypocreales and /or the Microascales. Based on morphology of the anamorph and analyses of r ibosomal DNA sequence data, Carpoligna pleurothecii gen. et sp. nov. are de scribed. The implications of the phylogenetic relationships of Carpoligna i n the practical identification of morphologically similar pyrenomycetes are discussed.