Uwebraunia and Dissoconium, two morphologically similar anamorph genera with different teleomorph affinity

More than 20 anamorph form genera, including Uwebraunia, have been Linked t o Mycosphaerella. The diversity of anamorphs associated with Mycosphaerella has led to hypotheses that the genus is either polyphyletic, or that the f eatures used to separate anamorphs are indicative of natural lineages withi n Mycosphaerella. Uwebraunia is morphologically similar to Dissoconium, a g enus suspected to include species hyperparasitic on other fungi. Phylogenet ic analysis of 5.8S, ITS1 and ITS2 rDNA operon of several Mycosphaerella sp p. with Uwebraunia, Dissoconium and other anamorphs, as well as species of Ramulispora (Tapesia teleomorph), using Mycocentrospora (teleomorph unknown ) as the outgroup taxon, identified three clades. One major clade represent ed species of Mycosphaerella sensu stricto, comprising several subclades th at correlate with the various anamorph form-genera. The other two clades we re distinct from the larger Mycosphaerella clade, and represented a smaller clade with Dissoconium anamorphs, and a Tapesia clade with Ramulispora ana morphs. Uwebraunia was shown to include two species representing Mycosphaer ella anamorphs. A third species was synonymous with Dissoconium dekkeri, fo rming a clade separate from Mycosphaerella sensu stricto. Species of Dissoc onium are thought to be hyperparasitic on other fungi, whereas species of U webraunia are apparent plant pathogens. These findings suggest that diverge nce occurred in the Mycosphaerella Lineage, followed by convergent evolutio n of morphological form, which accounts for the similar anamorphs.