Generic concepts and correlations in ascomycetes based on molecular and morphological data: Lecythothecium duriligni gen. et sp nov with a Sporidesmium anamorph, and Ascolacicola austriaca sp nov.

A new species in the new monotypic genus Lecythothecium, having a Sporidesm ium anamorph, and the new species Ascolacicola austriaca are described, ill ustrated with line drawings and photographs, and classified using a combina tion of morphology and sequence data. A new chloridium-like spnanamorph of Umbrinosphaeria caesariata is reported. To classify the two new species, ot her phenotypically similar perithecial ascomycete genera, viz. Ascotaiwania , Coniobrevicolla, Crassochaeta, Herbampulla, Savoryella and Umbrinosphaeri a, were compared morphologically and for the large nuclear ribosomal RNA ge ne (LSU rDNA). Despite the basic similarity in regard to perithecia, asci, apical annulus and ascospores, the classification of the two new species wa s problematic in that each possessed some phenotypic characters of several genera but could not be easily placed in any. Parsimony and distance analys es of LSU rDNA sequences of the fungi mentioned and representative taxa of seven ascomycetous orders were performed. The phylogeny showed Lecythotheci um duriligni with a Sporidesmium anamorph to have affinity with the Chaetos phaeriaceae (98-100%). Umbrinosphaeria caesariata having Sporidesmium and c hloridium-like synanamorphs also nested with high bootstrap value (98-100%) in the Chaetosphaeriaceae. The affinity of Ascolacicola austriaca lies wit h the Annulatascaceae/Trichosphaeriaceae in our phylogeny. The taxonomic an d phylogenetic value of the massive, wedge-shaped apical annulus that chara cterizes the Annulatascaceae but that is also present in other genera, incl uding Ascotaiwania, Lecythothecium, Crassochaeta, Herbampulla and Umbrinosp hearia, was tested in our phylogeny. The apical ring did not unite otherwis e phenotypically diverse fungi in a clade, as is often the case with taxa e stablished on the basis of a single character The Annulatascaceae was revea led to be polyphyletic.