Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales

Identification of fungi and the International Code of Nomenclature underpinning this process, rests strongly on the characterisation of morphological structures. Yet, the value of these characters to define species in many groups has become questionable or even superfluous. This has emerged as DNA-b...

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Main Authors:	Slippers, B., Roux, J., Wingfield, M.J., van der Walt, F.J.J., Jami, F, Mehl, J.W.M., Marais, G.J.
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Centraallbureau voor Schimmelcultures 2014
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4312931/

id	pubmed-4312931
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-43129312015-03-03 Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales Slippers, B. Roux, J. Wingfield, M.J. van der Walt, F.J.J. Jami, F Mehl, J.W.M. Marais, G.J. Research Article Identification of fungi and the International Code of Nomenclature underpinning this process, rests strongly on the characterisation of morphological structures. Yet, the value of these characters to define species in many groups has become questionable or even superfluous. This has emerged as DNA-based techniques have increasingly revealed cryptic species and species complexes. This problem is vividly illustrated in the present study where 105 isolates of the Botryosphaeriales were recovered from both healthy and diseased woody tissues of native Acacia spp. in Namibia and South Africa. Thirteen phylogenetically distinct groups were identified based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) rDNA PCR-RFLP and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) sequence data, two loci that are known to be reliable markers to distinguish species in the Botryosphaeriales. Four of these groups could be linked reliably to sequence data for formerly described species, including Botryosphaeria dothidea, Dothiorella dulcispinae, Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae and Spencermartinsia viticola. Nine groups, however, could not be linked to any other species known from culture and for which sequence data are available. These groups are, therefore, described as Aplosporella africana, A. papillata, Botryosphaeria auasmontanum, Dothiorella capri-amissi, Do. oblonga, Lasiodiplodia pyriformis, Spencermartinsia rosulata, Sphaeropsis variabilis and an undescribed Neofusicoccum sp. The species described here could not be reliably compared with the thousands of taxa described in these genera from other hosts and regions, where only morphological data are available. Such comparison would be possible only if all previously described taxa are epitypified, which is not a viable objective for the two families, Botryosphaeriaceae and Aplosporellaceae, in the Botryosphaeriales identified here. The extent of diversity of the Botryosphaeriales revealed in this and other recent studies is expected to reflect that of other undersampled regions and hosts, and illustrates the urgency to find more effective ways to describe species in this, and indeed other, groups of fungi. Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Centraallbureau voor Schimmelcultures 2014-09-22 2014-12 /pmc/articles/PMC4312931/ /pubmed/25737598 http://dx.doi.org/10.3767/003158514X684780 Text en © 2014 Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode You are free to share - to copy, distribute and transmit the work, under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non-commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No derivative works: You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work, which can be found at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author’s moral rights.
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Slippers, B. Roux, J. Wingfield, M.J. van der Walt, F.J.J. Jami, F Mehl, J.W.M. Marais, G.J.
spellingShingle	Slippers, B. Roux, J. Wingfield, M.J. van der Walt, F.J.J. Jami, F Mehl, J.W.M. Marais, G.J. Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
author_facet	Slippers, B. Roux, J. Wingfield, M.J. van der Walt, F.J.J. Jami, F Mehl, J.W.M. Marais, G.J.
author_sort	Slippers, B.
title	Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
title_short	Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
title_full	Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
title_fullStr	Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
title_full_unstemmed	Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales
title_sort	confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the botryosphaeriales
description	Identification of fungi and the International Code of Nomenclature underpinning this process, rests strongly on the characterisation of morphological structures. Yet, the value of these characters to define species in many groups has become questionable or even superfluous. This has emerged as DNA-based techniques have increasingly revealed cryptic species and species complexes. This problem is vividly illustrated in the present study where 105 isolates of the Botryosphaeriales were recovered from both healthy and diseased woody tissues of native Acacia spp. in Namibia and South Africa. Thirteen phylogenetically distinct groups were identified based on Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) rDNA PCR-RFLP and translation elongation factor 1-α (TEF1-α) sequence data, two loci that are known to be reliable markers to distinguish species in the Botryosphaeriales. Four of these groups could be linked reliably to sequence data for formerly described species, including Botryosphaeria dothidea, Dothiorella dulcispinae, Lasiodiplodia pseudotheobromae and Spencermartinsia viticola. Nine groups, however, could not be linked to any other species known from culture and for which sequence data are available. These groups are, therefore, described as Aplosporella africana, A. papillata, Botryosphaeria auasmontanum, Dothiorella capri-amissi, Do. oblonga, Lasiodiplodia pyriformis, Spencermartinsia rosulata, Sphaeropsis variabilis and an undescribed Neofusicoccum sp. The species described here could not be reliably compared with the thousands of taxa described in these genera from other hosts and regions, where only morphological data are available. Such comparison would be possible only if all previously described taxa are epitypified, which is not a viable objective for the two families, Botryosphaeriaceae and Aplosporellaceae, in the Botryosphaeriales identified here. The extent of diversity of the Botryosphaeriales revealed in this and other recent studies is expected to reflect that of other undersampled regions and hosts, and illustrates the urgency to find more effective ways to describe species in this, and indeed other, groups of fungi.
publisher	Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Centraallbureau voor Schimmelcultures
publishDate	2014
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4312931/
_version_	1613182877343678464

Confronting the constraints of morphological taxonomy in the Botryosphaeriales

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